My Liberal Identity:
You are a Reality-Based Intellectualist, also known as the liberal elite. You are a proud member of what’s known as the reality-based community, where science, reason, and non-Jesus-based thought reign supreme.
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Personality Type and Political Orientation
An article on Alternet today, Can You Guess a Person's Politics by Their Personality? Psychologist Team Says Yes
, by Maria Luisa Tucker, takes a look at how personality type relates to political affiliation: She looked at several gauges of personality, but oddly enough, did not include the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which is one of the oldest and more popular systems of personality assessment, used most widely in vocational assessments. My response to the article follows below:
For those of you familiar with the MBTI, the sixteen personality types that stem from personality difference combinations in four key areas also show personality differences between liberals and conservatives.
The four continua are Introvert/Extrovert, Intuitive/Sensing, Thinker/Feeler, and Perceiving/Judging.
In my opinion the Intuitive/Sensing continuum and the Perceiving/Judging cotinuum most clearly show these differences, varying somewhat depending on which of the other two continua they are combined with, particularly the Thinking/Feeling continuum. Thinking/Feeling and Extrovert/Introvert, on their own, are pretty well represented on both sides of the aisle, however.
In the Intuitive/Sensing continuum, Intuitives are the introspective people who think in shades of grey. Sensing people are more concrete, take-things-at-face-value, black and white thinkers. Intuitives, then, tend more to be liberal and Sensors tend more to be conservative.
Similarly, on the Perceiving/Judging continuum, Perceivers are the laid-back types, those who do things by the seat of their pants, and tend to be on the disorganized side. Judgers are the organized, fussy listmakers, and in their extreme forms are the bean counters of the world.
Combine the two, and NP will tend to be the most liberal of the four possible combinations of the two continua, and SJ will tend to be the most conservative.
I'm an INTP, by the way.
There's a lot more to it than this, but there's no room for me to write a novel in the comment box here.
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As an aside, I've read that Barack Obama is an ENFP, which correlates with my observations.
There are exceptions. I'm an ESTJ, and a pretty classic one, at that. I
just happen to think that anyone who really and truly looks at the facts
has to see that the hardline conservatives are seriously screwed up. As
far as I can tell, your average neocon pulls his opinions out of
his...pocket. He doesn't derive them from objective observation or logical
analysis.
There are exceptions. I'm an ESTJ, and a pretty classic one, at that. I
just happen to think that anyone who really and truly looks at the facts
has to see that the hardline conservatives are seriously screwed up. As
far as I can tell, your average neocon pulls his opinions out of
his...pocket. He doesn't derive them from objective observation or logical
analysis.
You liberals disgust me. Liberals are driven by Satan and lie constantly.
I'm a conservative right-wing Republican, yet I do not see in any way that
reflected in my MBTI "personality type" Apparently I'm a INTJ. But I am a
Physics and Electrical Engineering Double Major.
Anthony, your comment proves my point. Thanks for being so helpful.
This is where we hit real problems as a country, when we make up radical
and ridiculous things about those with whom we disagree. Goodness! I
could say that conservatives are woman-haters who relish the thought of
women skewered by coat-hangers and 9-year-old rape victims dying in
childbirth, but I know better. Nobody wants abortion. Sensible
conservatives (whom I delineate from hard-line neocons) and liberals can
agree that responsible sexual behavior is preferred. If only we could get
the more extreme people on both sides to focus on that and stop imaging
things about each other!
