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MBTI, Enneagram and Gangs

Elfboy

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Nov 26, 2008
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9,625
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
which MBTI/Enneagram type is most likely to be associated with gangs? do you believe there is a significant correlation at all?
 

Savage Idealist

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Aug 17, 2010
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2,841
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I don't beleive that there's any particular correlation between type and gangs. I mean, being complex (albeit violent) social organizations, SJ and enneagram 6 could be possible, but I ighly doubt that that type is the most common.

I suppose we could always test gang members concerning their type, but something tells me that wouldn't go well at all. I wonder why though.
 

KDude

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When I was younger, the whole gang thing was bordering on "trendy" (this is early 90's. A lot of gangster rap was starting around then. Which played a large part of it, I think). People I knew would immediately spring to mind as SPs and maybe some SJs. There is a big kind of unhealthy ESTP feel to the atmosphere though. Regardless of type. Displays of in your face Se, leverage, lots of rough humor, and not a lot of foresight, etc.. Even when some were probably F. One guy I went to school with had a huge Napoleon complex and wasn't the typical type at all at first. He was the first guy who turned me on to the Cure actually. :p Then he turned all Benny Blanco.. he was sensitive, yet reacted violently. He tried to get hard and now he's serving 60 years until parole (murder). I have other stories like that, but to answer your question, ESTP 7.
 

Elfboy

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sx/sp
I don't know a lot of gangsters, but I can see a correlation with enneatype 6, 7, 2, 3 and 8 (8s usually only if they can be the leader :smoke: ) and MBTI E and S. obviously, there is going to be a correlation with instinctual subtypes. social variant types are drastically more likely to engage in such behavior than self preservation types.
 

Evguenia

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Sep 1, 2009
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MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
1w2
Not really. People tend join gangs out of desperate socieconomic conditions to seek a sense of identity and a sense of social security. Anyone can join a gang and function within its social hierarchy. However, personality may influence the specific role that the person takes up within a gang. I see ESTJs, ENTJs, and ENTPs as the most likely gang leaders. I think that the social structure within which those who join gangs tend to live can turn pretty much anybody into defiant individuals dissatisfied with the capitalist society. The kind of people who make up a gang also depends on the type of the gang... there are gangs which are more of a frat type, recreational gangs, which many people join in order to have fun. Then there are the more business-oriented, financial-type gangs, where those who join have primarily business-related/monetary motives. Perhaps the E-FPs would be more predominant in the former, while E/I - TJs would be more predominant in the latter. But that is general speculation at best.

Admittedly, I don't know as much about the enneagram as I perhaps should.
 

KDude

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The social hierarchy is an interesting point. That need to belong somewhere. Whenever I'd see these guys, they had this kind of bonding. I wonder how much they even believed it though. I had to laugh under my breath a bit at the whole "vatos lacos!" kind of stuff they'd say. It was just as weird as the kind of bonding I'd see in other (more legitimate) communities. Half of them didn't even seem to know each other. Yet they'd celebrate their group like they were all brothers. Even taking on new names.
 

Thunderbringer

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Jul 6, 2010
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MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
6's (especially phobic) tend to be the E-types most likely to join gangs. Unhealthy and some average 3's and 2's may also look into joining gangs, but those types would rather reach for something greater. In fact, any E-type could probably have a reason for joining a gang, but the core value of a gang tends to be the looking out for each other which most 6's are attracted to.
 

Vorm Krieg

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I don't know. What types are usually abused outsiders who were neglected at home and in school and fell through the societal cracks?
If we'd wish to type the ones who didn't became sociopaths, that is.
 

KDude

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]What types are usually abused outsiders who were neglected at home and in school and fell through the societal cracks?

That's possibly any type.

I don't think abused people gravitate towards gangs though. If that was the case, I might have done it myself.. I've had my share of problems too. But like I indicated, I even laughed at the gang experience. Some people have made a point to say to me that I've always floated around on the outside of things.. that I tend to know people from any sort of "group". But I'm never part of anything.

If it was up to me, I'd think that would be the case with a lot of introverts (especially Ji dom). Although I've read in a couple of descriptions that ISTPs have a thing for sticking with their "brothers" in a way. Lenore Thomson makes an explicit point about it. Even with INTPs, she mentioned the same compulsion - except the NTP bonding is usually in some intellectual or academic field. IFPs are described somewhat differently.
 

Vorm Krieg

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That's possibly any type.

I don't think they all abused people gravitate towards gangs though. If that was the case, I might have done it myself.. I've had my share of problems too. But like I indicated, I even laughed at the gang experience. Some people have made a point to say to me that I've always floated around on the outside of things.. that I tend to know people from any sort of "group". But I'm never part of anything.

If it was up to me, I'd think that would be the case with a lot of introverts (especially Ji dom). Although I've read in a couple of descriptions that ISTPs have a thing for sticking with their "brothers" in a way. Lenore Thomson makes an explicit point about it. Even with INTPs, she mentioned the same compulsion - except the NTP bonding is usually in some intellectual or academic field.
No, of course not everyone who were abused joined a gang. But I'd say that most gang members probably experienced alot of hardships in their childhood, and never felt that they belonged somewhere. The feeling of being a part of something resides in every human, and a rough upbringing makes a jaded persona.

I seriously do not believe gangs and MBTI/Enneagram theory has any correlation. Perhaps the chances of the leader being a xxTJ or E8 are a little higher, but the reasons for joining one holds no relation to type.

Oh, and the xxTP bonding you're talking about would probably be Fe, no?
 

KDude

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Oh, and the xxTP bonding you're talking about would probably be Fe, no?

I suppose so.. but one limited by the ITP's niche or realm of interests and perceptions. Rather than the inclination towards Fe, for it's own sake.
 

Evguenia

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MBTI Type
ENTJ
Enneagram
1w2
People do join gangs for many, many reasons. Abuse and poverty tend to be most common, but by far not always. There are some people who join gangs in order to have some assistance on running their business. There are some people who join gangs just to have fun. And there are some gangs that are so embedded into the community that gang membership runs in families. Which again highlights the diversity of people who join gangs.

In addition, some people can be coerced into joining a gang when the gang is in a desperate situation, such as being theratened by a more powerful gang over territory or wanting to take over territory. There people are often coerced into joining by means of physical harrassment. Some of these people tend to stick, while others are dropped by the gang once the gang crisis is over.
 

guesswho

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Most gang leaders are ESTJs.

The best gang leaders are ISTJs, and possibly some INTJs rarely.
 

Athenian200

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4w5
Well, I think Extraverts are more likely to join gangs, because they're fairly socially complex organizations. Introverts would rather go it alone with crime, stealing things in secret.

I also think Perceiving types are more likely, because they don't think ahead the way Judging types tend to.

So, all together, that means that ExxP types are more likely gang members. Although I can see an ExxJ being a gang leader, I can't really see them as members...

In a really bad town where people have to band together to survive, though, any type might join one.
 
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