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Pollyanna's Type ?

yeghor

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Pollyanna is a novel about an orphan girl who plays this game she calls "Glad Game"...and that made me curious about what her type might be...

"The title character is named Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we didn't need to use them!""

So, what do you think her type might be?

How the circumstances of her upbringing might have affected her demeanor?

Can we use those circumstances to reverse-engineer how certain environmental conditions in childhood may divert people to certain coping strategies or certain MBTI functions?

How would the "Glad Game" do you think relate to MBTI functions?
 

Aleria

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Some ExFJ. Probably ENFJ...

The "Glad Game" is more about her upbringing (as her father taught it to her) then CFs, IMO...
 

yeghor

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Some ExFJ. Probably ENFJ...

The "Glad Game" is more about her upbringing (as her father taught it to her) then CFs, IMO...

Changing perspective and using imagination seems to be connected to N function...though Polyanna'a core motivation seems to be escaping from feeling bad IMO...

And the glad game thing, she was able to learn and adapt it...Not everyone can adapt such a game...someone too realist or pragmatic for instance...

Why ENFJ specifically?
 

Aleria

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It's a long time since I read the book, but I remember a nearly overwhelming concern about other's needs and welfare in her personality, and the importance of some societal values to her (sorry for not being more specific, but my memories about the book are a bit clouded). It resembles Fe-dom a lot...

I remember seeing Fe all over the place while I was reading. If you read it recently you'll be more able to analyse it (agreeing, or disagreeing!).
 

yeghor

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It's a long time since I read the book, but I remember a nearly overwhelming concern about other's needs and welfare in her personality, and the importance of some societal values to her (sorry for not being more specific, but my memories about the book are a bit clouded). It resembles Fe-dom a lot...

I remember seeing Fe all over the place while I was reading. If you read it recently you'll be more able to analyse it (agreeing, or disagreeing!).

It's been long for me as well...I think the perspective shifting would require Ne though...so a Ne-dom trying to find alternative perspectives to be happy? An ENFP?
 

Lexicon

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I always figured ENFx.
 

Aleria

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It's been long for me as well...I think the perspective shifting would require Ne though...so a Ne-dom trying to find alternative perspectives to be happy? An ENFP?

Shifting perspectives is more a Ni trait, Ne would be more about seeing and exploring possibilities...

Here:

These types have the disconcerting habit of solving a problem by shifting their perspective and defining the situation some other way. For example, a recent article advises the parents of a fussy or demanding baby not to describe the infants as difficult but to recognize that such children have vivid, strong, and rich personalities. This is how Introverted Intuition works. The material facts remain the same, but we organize them in a new conceptual pattern that changes their meaning and give us new options for behavior.

http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~yingh/type/infjmore.html

So I'm going with ENFJ... :D
 

yeghor

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Shifting perspectives is more a Ni trait, Ne would be more about seeing and exploring possibilities...

Here:

http://www.ece.ubc.ca/~yingh/type/infjmore.html

So I'm going with ENFJ... :D

Ni is very lenient when it comes to others' behaviour and external objects (such as events, ideas or thoughts outside of me) but ruthlessly realistic when it comes to my own behaviour...

The perspective shifting thing of Ni helps to view the object under scrutiny from as many angles as possible (including the self of Ni-dom)...for a wholistic view\identification of the object...Ni desires to be anchored to a fixed point\conclusion...

Whereas Ne-dom IMO helps the Ne person to view external objects from as many different angles as possible to find a way around them so as to prevent other objects from restricting the Ne-dom person...Ne desires to not be grounded and have alternatives\options available as an escape route from restriction...restriction suffocates Ne...

This excerpt from the link you gave may support that view: "Introverted intuition is used by most types to contend with ambiguities of meaning and perception--that is, to see that a situation can be interpreted in more than one way.

Where Extraverted Intuitives see many behavioral options, Introverted Intuitives acknowledge many conceptual standpoints."...

ENFJs OTOH I believe would try to create some kind of a happy group of admirers around them...that would feed the Fe-dom person with constant flow of positive Fe feedback...?

Whereas Pollyanna feels more like trying to keep herself happy internally...?
 

Aleria

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She sometimes forces her lifestyle on others... It's more explicit with her moody aunt. And I don't see her behavior as escaping from restrictions as she normally accepts the situation, but tries to fit it in another perspective... It's important to see that her Ni-aux is filtered by her Fe-dom.

But I can see how people can see her as ENFP...
 

yeghor

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She sometimes forces her lifestyle on others... It's more explicit with her moody aunt. And I don't see her behavior as escaping from restrictions as she normally accepts the situation, but tries to fit it in another perspective... It's important to see that her Ni-aux is filtered by her Fe-dom.

But I can see how people can see her as ENFP...

I need to read the novel or watch the movie again...can't really remember the details...:blush:
 

yeghor

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There something about Robin Williams' character in movie Dead Poets Society that feels like an ENFJ to me...I don't know if I've met any ENFJ IRL...



There's something about his interaction style with the kids that irks me...as if he's overpowering them, bending their minds to his ideal (Fe?)...

If this is how ENFJ really looks\acts like, it doesn't fit with my perception of Polyanna, though I still have to get into details of her story...
 

Aleria

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There something about Robin Williams' character in movie Dead Poets Society that feels like an ENFJ to me...I don't know if I've met any ENFJ IRL...



There's something about his interaction style with the kids that irks me...as if he's overpowering them, bending their minds to his ideal (Fe?)...

If this is how ENFJ really looks\acts like, it doesn't fit with my perception of Polyanna, though I still have to get into details of her story...

OTOH, I find him a classic example of an ENFP! I read somewhere about him being one, really. My reasons to agree is that it was really his vibe to me (I have some ENFP friends and this bubbly enthusiastic approach to things is really common among them, specially ENFP 7s). But it has been a long time since I watched the movie to remember the details of his character too... :/

ENFJs have enthusiasm, but it's more "caring" than "bubbly", I don't know how to explain exactly, but it's different, and Pollyanna is more like this in my point of view...

But I really have to read the book and watch the movie to be more accurate...
 

yeghor

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OTOH, I find him a classic example of an ENFP! I read somewhere about him being one, really. My reasons to agree is that it was really his vibe to me (I have some ENFP friends and this bubbly enthusiastic approach to things is really common among them, specially ENFP 7s). But it has been a long time since I watched the movie to remember the details of his character too... :/

ENFJs have enthusiasm, but it's more "caring" than "bubbly", I don't know how to explain exactly, but it's different, and Pollyanna is more like this in my point of view...

But I really have to read the book and watch the movie to be more accurate...

Robin Williams feels like an ENFP but his character in Dead Poets Society feels more like an ENFJ...(to me)...

I understand your point about the difference between caring and bubbly...ENFJs come across as more parental whereas ENFPs more childish...

I've always imagined PolyAnna to be someone like this though:

 

yeghor

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She sometimes forces her lifestyle on others... It's more explicit with her moody aunt. And I don't see her behavior as escaping from restrictions as she normally accepts the situation, but tries to fit it in another perspective... It's important to see that her Ni-aux is filtered by her Fe-dom.

But I can see how people can see her as ENFP...

I've just watched the 60s Polyanna movie...She's like an ENFJ in the movie version...parenting everyone...Her aunt feels like an ESFJ trying to act like an ESTJ...

She doesn't seem to be in much (physical or mental) distress in the movie though...? I've thought ,n the novel she was trying to remain happy despite distressing situations, misfortunes and against odds...?
 

skylights

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Even if it was a learned mechanism, it seems very 7.

I echo that Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society seemed very ENFJ.
 

Elfboy

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Even if it was a learned mechanism, it seems very 7.
I echo that Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society seemed very ENFJ.

I agree with ENFJ and 7
ENFJ 7w6>2w1>9w1 So/Sx
[MENTION=20531]yeghor[/MENTION]
I think her aunt was a true xSTJ of some sort. no ESFJ can sustain being that dry, formal and businesslike. the guy her aunt likes is ENFP 7w6 So/Sx
 
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