Myers-Briggs Personalities and Our Perceptions of Them

This thesis project is an exploration of the Myers-Briggs personality types, with a focus the INTJ and ESFP types and how they are viewed either positively or negatively. I began by asking questions regarding perceptions of these types. One question I contemplated was whether there was any sort of pattern that can be found regarding people preferring a specific type to be their friend. My hypothesis was that Extraverted, sensitive people are favored over introverted, rational people as far as friendship and marriage, but with the opposite being true in situations requiring high levels of intelligence or leadership. I found that there were not necessarily overarching patterns, as far as one particular personality consistently being preferred over another, but rather that similarly typed individuals are naturally more compatible and thus are more likely to seek friendship or marriage with one another. In the areas of intelligence/competence, Introverted and Intuitive individuals performed better than the other types, but mixed results were observed in roles necessitated leadership or teamwork. As a whole, similar personality types were able to work well with one another, whether this be in friendship, marriage, or as part of a team in the workplace