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[ENFJ] The US's (as a nation) Myers-Briggs Profile is ENFJ (Huffington Post article))

Scott N Denver

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Reading this article, I get the feeling that the author doesn't know much about MBTI.

I'll bet he author is a NF, and is projecting NF values onto american society. US culture is generally considered ESTJ overall, especially work/business-wise.
 

Sparrow

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i would hope to think that a phd of psychology knew what he was talking about!
 
E

Epiphany

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I'll bet he author is a NF, and is projecting NF values onto american society. US culture is generally considered ESTJ overall, especially work/business-wise.

That could be.

i would hope to think that a phd of psychology knew what he was talking about!

I would hope so too, but I have to question his results. He doesn't really give any specific examples. On what grounds does he make the assertion that we trust interrelationships, theories, and future possibilities more than facts, details, and present realities? Whatever conclusions he comes to, I'm sure someone else could provide examples which directly contradict his assessment. He states that "we like our decisions to create harmony even if they're not logical and objective." I don't even understand what he is saying here. I bet there are plenty of other countries who would disagree with him and view the U.S. as more concerned about self-preservation and wealth than creating harmony.

Ed Gurowitz, Ph.D.

So what about us as a nation? As I thought about it, I decided that the USA is ENFJ

Extraverted - we draw our energy as a people from outside; isolationism has never really gained a foothold here.

Intuition - we trust interrelationships, theories, and future possibilities more than we do facts, details, and present realities.

Feeling - we like our decisions to create harmony even if they're not logical and objective - more McCoy than Spock.

Judging - we orient to the world by making decisions quickly and sticking to them.

Conversely, when you look from here Obama's Nobel Prize makes sense. After eight year of irritating the rest of the world, we now have a President who is an expression of our national character - open, optimistic, communicative, warm, charismatic. We are once again in relationship with others and with ourselves, and oriented toward collaboration and harmony.

This is absurd. Obama was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after serving less than a month in office. How does that make sense at all? How can a politician earn a prestigious award that he didn't do anything to deserve? Was it given to him based upon what he promised to do? The fact that they gave it to him at the beginning of his term without accomplishing anything has devalued the award, itself.
 

Southern Kross

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What a load of nonsense. There is a whole series of dubious claims in that article and not just about MBTI. I can't believe this guy has a Ph.D in anything.

Viewed in this way, the unhappiness of most Americans with the Bush years makes sense - how Bush/Cheney wanted us to be goes against our national character - isolationist, ignoring reality (why else would we have gone to war in Iraq when the enemy was funded by Bush's friends the Saudis?), making decisions that turned the world against us and sticking to unpopular or illogical choices (climate change, health care, torture, Guantanamo).
:doh:

Is his memory really that short and distorted...
 

Virtual ghost

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What a load of nonsense. There is a whole series of dubious claims in that article and not just about MBTI. I can't believe this guy has a Ph.D in anything.


Just because some one says that he/she has a Ph.D that doesn't mean that the person actually has one. Not to mention that having a Ph.D is more than just possesing a piece of paper.

(just saying)
 

Andy

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Just because some one says that he/she has a Ph.D that doesn't mean that the person actually has one. Not to mention that having a Ph.D is more than just possesing a piece of paper.

(just saying)

Or maybe his PhD is in electronics, or something equally unrelated to psychology.
 

Litvyak

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* Extraverted - we draw our energy as a people from outside; isolationism has never really gained a foothold here.

Excuse me? Never gained a foothold? Are we talking about the same country?
It has been a policy of the US for a century. What about the Monroe doctrine?

# Intuition - we trust interrelationships, theories, and future possibilities more than we do facts, details, and present realities.

Pragmatism describes the american way of thinking perfectly. Present realities are so much more important to them than abstract theories imo.
 

Southern Kross

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Just because some one says that he/she has a Ph.D that doesn't mean that the person actually has one. Not to mention that having a Ph.D is more than just possesing a piece of paper.

(just saying)
True. Isn't it illegal or something to falsely claim you have one? :confused:

Or maybe his PhD is in electronics, or something equally unrelated to psychology.
I would expect, perhaps foolishly, that someone with a Ph.D would have a certain amount of universally applicable intellect and general reasoning capablities.
 

PeaceBaby

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If the US was an ENFJ:

--the US would already have universal health care
--the US would have gun legislation to help control the usage of firearms in crime
--the US would have stronger foreign aid policies

etc etc ... we are no idealist temperament in my books ...
 

Esoteric Wench

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Ugh! While these armchair analyses are sometimes interesting frolics, they should never be confused with a serious, empirically based discussion of personality traits. Plus, this guy obviously doesn't have a sophisticated understanding of the instrument. It is NOT a Cosmo personality test people. Double ugh!

Interesting segue:

I've read from several sources that these are the MBTI types (per testing not just speculation) of these politicians:
  • Barack Obama - ENFJ
  • Bill Clinton - ENFP
  • Vladimir Putin - ISTJ
True? Well, just because it's written down somewhere doesn't make it true. Nonetheless, I could spend about three weeks meandering the implications. Doesn't surprise me at all. Not at all. LOL!

:rofl1:
 

highlander

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Reading this article, I get the feeling that the author doesn't know much about MBTI.

You need to dumb things down for the masses. Writing to a layman, I thought he did a decent job overall in the article.

I'll bet he author is a NF, and is projecting NF values onto american society. US culture is generally considered ESTJ overall, especially work/business-wise.

I would have said ENTJ or ESTJ - yes. It is a Te culture. The only question in my mind is N vs S. It feels like there is a lot of N there somehow - I can't explain it. (Maybe now I am projecting)

If the US was an ENFJ:

--the US would already have universal health care
--the US would have gun legislation to help control the usage of firearms in crime
--the US would have stronger foreign aid policies

etc etc ... we are no idealist temperament in my books ...

Ain't that the truth :)
 

Xellotath

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What an unenlightened article, in general.
He didnt talk about functions at all. Oh well, let the crazy old man believe he's part of a sociological organism with a personality.

but I guess when you're that age, anthropomorphizing categories might be the best you can do.

That being said,
Had it been Fe-country, I would have jumped off a cliff long ago. Law mixed with social graces? Ew. ew. ew.
 

highlander

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What an unenlightened article, in general.
He didnt talk about functions at all. Oh well, let the crazy old man believe he's part of a sociological organism with a personality.

but I guess when you're that age, anthropomorphizing categories might be the best you can do.

That being said,
Had it been Fe-country, I would have jumped off a cliff long ago. Law mixed with social graces? Ew. ew. ew.

If one person in 50 knows the 16 types, one in 10,000 has heard of functions. Maybe.

If I were going to explain what a car is to someone who isn't familiar with it, I wouldn't get into the inner workings of the internal combustion engine.
 

Xellotath

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Just because you are aiming at spoonfeeding type theory to people, doesn't mean you're allowed to be intellectually sloppy, specially if you have a Ph.D.

.. Unless you feel jungian typology is in dire need of pompom girls.
 

highlander

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Just because you are aiming at spoonfeeding type theory to people, doesn't mean you're allowed to be intellectually sloppy, specially if you have a Ph.D.

.. Unless you feel jungian typology is in dire need of pompom girls.

It's an interesting question. You have to simplify to explain things to people. I think it requires some level of intellectual sloppiness. This is the problem that a lot of technical people have. They can't explain things to an executive - they get mired in the details and precision of points they are trying to make.

Why does it matter that a person has a Ph.D?
 
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