Lucy - ESFx
I could see her being either J or P, similarly, I'm a bit iffy about the E.

I honestly don't know about Lucy. Most of her character development revolves around her curiosity and how much she loves Aslan; and honestly, any personality type could fit that. All I know is she's an F.

Susan - ENTJ
social (though as previously discussed, does not necessarily mean E
and I could easily see her being I), likes to have a plan, and I think it's
NT which causes her to stop believing in Narnia

With this, it depends on if we're talking about Movie!Susan or Book!Susan, because the two of them are quite different. Movie!Susan was definitely INTJ, but Book!Susan was an F.

One has to be careful with the idea that someone would leave their faith behind because they're an NT. That can lead to the idea that religious people = F, and atheists = T. Spirituality transcends personality, and what belief system you ultimately choose depends solely on the strength of your relationship with Christ. And God doesn't form relationships with people based on their personality type.

There's also a misunderstanding about personality types that has risen in a lot of circles, that T = logic and rationality, and F = following your feelings. This is simply untrue. And as an F myself, I have to say that making opinions and decisions based on feelings, instead of what's logical and rational, is not only irresponsible but dangerous. And both T's and F's fall into this trap equally. Feelings are flighty and changing and can lead you anywhere. Being logical and rational simply means paying attention to the facts and what makes sense. Choosing one of these over another has nothing to do with personality type. (Good thing too, or all of us F's would be in big trouble. )

Rather, the difference between T and F is one is practical and the other personal. A T's main focus is on the situation - the plan or goal - and what it will take to achieve it. An F's focus is going to be on the people around them - whether or not everyone is comfortable, or (in the case of the more self-conscious F's) whether or not everyone might be judging them. T's are known for being blunt; in some cases, rude and biting. They don't care if they're hurting someone's feelings. They tell it like it is and do what needs to be done; and if anyone has a problem with it, they'd better put on their big girl panties and deal with it, because the T is certainly not going to cater to them or treat them like some special snowflake. F's on the other hand, are known for their empathy; they are the helpers and healers who feel born to serve others, and who will often refuse to do something if they feel it could hurt someone's feelings or cause a fight. F's thrive in caregiving, charity work, teaching, nursing, etc. T's thrive better where people are not directly involved - jobs where the work is not for anyone, but rather an end in itself, such as science; or work where people have to be outright disregarded to succeed, such as business. T's are good at climbing the corporate ladder because they know that nice guys finish last. They can fire workers without a qualm if that worker is unnecessary or getting in the way of the ultimate goal; they can do things F's wouldn't have the heart to do, in order to achieve success. A T's main fault is that they run over people, or act cruelly, in order to attain their goals. An F's main fault is they are not completely honest about their own opinions and wishes because they don't want to "make waves"; they are people pleasers who get run over. A T's main virtue is they get the dirty work done so that the world can continue working in an orderly fashion. An F's main virtue is they take care of people in need, value kindness, and genuinely like people.

With this in mind, we can see Movie!Susan is a T. She is very practical, and is not afraid to shout her opinion if she thinks one of her siblings is being an idiot or isn't handling something the right way. Who cares if it hurts their feelings! There are more important things to worry about right now. That's definitely T. Book!Susan, however, is different. She is very empathetic, being the one who is most bothered whenever they have to kill an animal for the sake of survival. And she is very motherly toward her younger siblings. "Susan the Gentle" is her nickname, not Susan the Practical. Kindness is her main focus. And when she's older, her main focus is socializing, and having others view her as being very grown up. These are all F qualities. Specifically, ESFP qualities. (Interestingly, one of my best friends growing up was an ESFP who reminded me very much of Susan. She was very kind, gentle, and motherly. When she grew up, she had the same fate as Susan - leaving her faith in God behind, trying to be "grown up", and focusing mainly on parties and friends.)

Edmund - ENFx
He craves attention/recognition, which makes me lean towards E. Bit
iffy on N, definitely follows feelings/emotions, and again stumped on J/P

Edmund is definitely a T. Empathy isn't exactly his strong point; plus he's got that lovable snarky, know-it-all quality about him. I'm going to say ENTP for him.

Peter - ISTP
On this one well... This one just felt right, but then again, Peter was
never my favorite character, so my impression of him might be a bit off.

Peter is really hard because he has such a good grasp on both his T and F sides. I suppose he could be an ISTP, but his penchant for taking charge and coming up with plans is more suggestive of J. I'm going to say he's an ESFJ with a strong T streak.

Jill - INFJ
N is the only one I'm really iffy about here

If she is, she's a very bitter INFJ. Her bluntness, which honestly crosses over into rudness many times, is more suggestive of T. I'm thinking INTJ.

Eustace - INTJ?
A little iffy on this entire one, but it sort of works.

The difficulty with this is Eustace is such a different person before and after his redemption. Before, he definitely exhibits INTJ behavior, but I think that is learned from his parents. Everything he says is something he basically parrots based on what he was taught, as most children do. After his redemption, I think we see a more "true Eustace", and this Eustace is surprisingly empathetic and kind. I'm pretty sure he's an NF, but I'm unsure about the other letters. My guess is INFP.

Puddleglum - xxxx
I'll be honest, I don't even know where to start with Puddleglum.

I'm going to say he's definitely ISTP.

Now how about the other characters? I'll have a go.

Aslan: ...I feel like it's almost blasphemous to try to assign him a type?
Jadis: INTJ or ISTJ.
Digory: Hmm... maybe ISFP?
Polly: ESFJ
Uncle Andrew: SP for sure. Not sure on the other letters.
Tumnus: (It's been too long since the book for me to remember)
Mr. Beaver: ESFJ
Mrs. Beaver: ESFJ or ISFJ
Aravis: Probably an STP, but I haven't read this book in awhile.
Shasta: (It's been too long since the book for me to remember)
Bree: ENFP, maybe?
Hwin: (It's been too long since the book for me to remember)
Caspian: I want to say an NF of some kind. Perhaps ENFJ.
Trumpkin: An STJ for sure. Not sure of the first letter.
Reepicheep: For sure an EJ. Maybe ESTJ?
Rilian: Not sure.
Tirian: Not sure.
Jewel: Not sure.

The problem with typing the Narnia characters is the books are very short, so we don't have much material to go by.

~Riella

I think I'd agree with Edmund being ENTP; that feels like a good fit.

Jill's rather tough to type because she's such a damaged girl at the beginning of The Silver Chair, and that affects her behavior. She is bitter. She also tends to be quite emotional, though, as well—she's crying at the beginning of the book, she broke down in a sobbing fit after Eustace fell off the cliff, and she's often struggling not to "blub" in other difficult times. Not exactly a cool-minded executor of what needs to get done. I need to reread The Last Battle again, but at this time, I'm rather tempted to say ISFJ.

It's a bit difficult to type Puddleglum because he is so influenced by the culture of the marsh-wiggles and that really affects how the reader views him, but we do know that he's very dependable and faithful and practical. I was thinking ISTJ, but considering that Puddleglum is noted for his bravery and willingness to embark on such a crazy, dangerous adventure, I think that Ithie is probably on the money with pegging him as ISTP—they're better known for having an adventurous spirit.

Even though Eustace softens up a lot after his experience as a dragon—and thank goodness for that—I'd say he still seems like a T. He tends to come across as the practical, "rational" type—for instance, after Eustace has found Jill crying behind the gym, he starts to say something like there's no good in crying, but then is cut off because Jill snaps at him. That strikes me as a very T thing to say. INTJ feels like a pretty good fit, actually, but I've only read The Silver Chair recently, and still need to do a full reread of the whole series—that might change my opinion.

I think one paragraph that gives a nice little snapshot of the personalities of Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum would be when they've just met Rilian and Lewis tells us what each of their impressions are:

[quote="In Chapter Eleven of The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis":gctigl4k]They were thoroughly tired of the Knight's talk before they had finished supper. Puddleglum was thinking, "I wonder what game that witch is really playing with this young fool." Scrubb was thinking, "He's a great baby, really: tied to that woman's apron strings; he's a sap." And Jill was thinking, "He's the silliest, most conceited, selfish pig I've met for a long time."

Puddleglum is analyzing the situation, Eustace is scoffing at Rilian's lack of independence and assertiveness, and Jill seems like she's almost personally offended at Rilian's behavior.

From memory, Shasta strikes me as being an ENFP, but I really need to reread that book, too. It's been a while.

Fun discussion!

Jill's rather tough to type because she's such a damaged girl at the beginning of The Silver Chair, and that affects her behavior. She is bitter. She also tends to be quite emotional, though, as well—she's crying at the beginning of the book, she broke down in a sobbing fit after Eustace fell off the cliff, and she's often struggling not to "blub" in other difficult times. Not exactly a cool-minded executor of what needs to get done.

That could be. The same was true in the case of Zuko from Avatar:TLA, who could act very T-ish at times, when really he was just a very hurt INFP.

I have to point out though that, just because T's are executors, that doesn't mean they never cry or that they are, on average, cool-minded. Though not all of them own to it, they're all vulnerable humans like everyone else. Some of the most emotional, prone-to-crying people I know are T's. It is quite possible - maybe even probable - that Jill is an F. But I wouldn't rule out the T possibility just because she cries.

~Riella

That could be. The same was true in the case of Zuko from Avatar:TLA, who could act very T-ish at times, when really he was just a very hurt INFP.

Right. That's mainly why Jill is so extremely difficult to type—whatever she's been through in life that has left her with so little faith and trust in anything or anyone, it's definitely affected her personality and left her quite prickly, guarded and cold. In fact, she may even be "shadow typing" in the early parts of The Silver Chair, because she feels so threatened by everything all the time. It's very interesting to watch her soften up as her character progresses, but it sure makes her hard to type!

I have to point out though that, just because T's are executors, that doesn't mean they never cry or that they are, on average, cool-minded. Though not all of them own to it, they're all vulnerable humans like everyone else. Some of the most emotional, prone-to-crying people I know are T's. It is quite possible - maybe even probable - that Jill is an F. But I wouldn't rule out the T possibility just because she cries.

Oh, definitely! Ts can be very emotional as well, and Feelers definitely don't have the market cornered on crying. I think we generally tend to associate frequent outpouring of emotion with Feeling, though, especially when it principally affects choices and behavior.

A couple other things about Jill that make me lean towards F rather than T would be how when they've just blindly fallen down a rockslide and have encountered the Gnomes of Despair, one of the first things Jill thinks of is that she felt like she would like to cheer them up. Given the situation and what kind of terrible danger the three questers were in, trying to cheer up a potentially hostile army of spear-wielding gnomes would be the last thing on many people's minds. And then, in The Last Battle, we see how gentle and kind she is to Puzzle—she's really the only one who sticks up for him and treats him sympathetically.

That said, she's extremely challenging to type with any kind of certainty and I'm really not sure. I rather think that even Jill Pole herself would admit that she's always been a piece of work; I think that's why she's so easy for people (read: me) to identify with. Anyway, ISFJ-with-a-lot-of-issues is just my hunch.

I got ENFJ when I took the test last but with a very low score on J. I always get an E when I take the test but I think I'm an introvert living an extroverts life.... I turn to dark thoughts and become restless and depressed if I have to spend one day or afternoon alone, but on the other hand when I'm out all the time doing things and hanging out with people I become mentally exhausted and just want to get away. So I don't know.

I got ENFJ when I took the test last but with a very low score on J. I always get an E when I take the test but I think I'm an introvert living an extroverts life.... I turn to dark thoughts and become restless and depressed if I have to spend one day or afternoon alone, but on the other hand when I'm out all the time doing things and hanging out with people I become mentally exhausted and just want to get away. So I don't know.

I would have trouble with scoring very low on either P or J, too—I had no idea if I was an INFJ or an INFP for quite a while. This is a good, basic description of the difference between Judging and Perceiving, so that might be helpful to you in deciding what side of the fence you're on. That's a very useful site in general for information on MBTI.

I'm not really sure whether you're an extrovert or an introvert, either, based on what you describe... I can see why you're confused! If you're overworked right now, that could explain why social interaction is so tiring for you. It might be a good idea just to think back over the past ten years or so and see whether you, on average, tended to seek company or retreat into solitude when you were feeling drained.

Oh, and here is the info page on extraversion vs introversion, just in case that might help, too. Also, reading through some of the personality type descriptions might be illuminating, since you may find that one of them paints a much more accurate picture of you than the others do.

Accurately typing yourself can be a long and winding road—and I'm afraid I speak from experience there —but it's still a very worthwhile journey to undertake, I think.

I am an introvert for sure. I try to avoid soical situation. Though it is weird I either like a very small group of friends around(people who I can be more open with) or a very large crowd to get lost in(such as at a festival). I avoid moderate sizes groups that contain people I half know or don't like.

so in conclusion I am comfortable with people I know very well or people I don't know really at all(well usually depends on first impressions and whether I have much of a chance of meeting this person in the future again).

I have always being somewhat a 40% P and 60% J. I have a slight preference of getting things done and decided I guess. Sometimes howevr I like to gather more information.

that might be helpful to you in deciding what side of the fence you're on.

Why do you have to be on one side of the fence? It is quite possible for a person to have a blended personality, meaning that your personality could be a fusion of different types. This is often the case with people who score in the 40-60% range. Personally, I'm an INT/FP/J. I tend to balance emotional and pragmatic needs. And I usually have a thought-out plan, but I seldom stick to it.

Now on to more important topics: Harry Potter. There's another system, related to Myers-Briggs, called Keirsey Temperament Types. Basically, the sixteen MB personalities are sorted into 4 temperaments.

One theory is that the 4 houses of Hogwarts are based on the four temperaments:
http://www.keirsey.com/sorthat.aspx

Ravenclaw - NT - Rational Temperament
Gryffindor - NF - Idealist Temperament
Slytherin - SP - Artisan Temperament
Hufflepuff - SJ - Guardian Temperament

If Hermione was an INT/FJ, that would explain why the sorting hat had a hard time deciding whether to put her in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because she would be both rational and idealist.

If Harry was an EN/SFP, then he would be both an idealist and an artisan, so the sorting had could have placed him in Gryffindor or Slytherin.

One might ask why it would be important to sort the personalities into temperaments? Well, the theory is that temperament is determined before birth, whereas your specific personality type within your temperament isn't nailed down till much later, if ever. Major life events have been known to change people's personalities, but not temperaments.

Why do you have to be on one side of the fence? It is quite possible for a person to have a blended personality, meaning that your personality could be a fusion of different types. This is often the case with people who score in the 40-60% range. Personally, I'm an INT/FP/J. I tend to balance emotional and pragmatic needs. And I usually have a thought-out plan, but I seldom stick to it.

Ah, I probably could've worded that better. Lemme see if I can elaborate.

Every person is a blend, to some degree, unless someone scores 100% on each function, which would be pretty crazy. Usually, though, there's going to be four functions that have primacy in regards to how the individual brain works. Sometimes there's going to be a very pronounced preference for one function or another, and in others, it's going to be a lot more subtle, but there's still a preference. Basically, if you have a tendency to lean towards one side of the fence, that's probably the side you're going to fall on. I kind of like to think of it as your "default settings" or "factory settings"—basically, your brain's preferred method of operation when it's in its natural, normal state.

Of course, there are instances of people who are perfectly balanced in between two functions, but I think they're supposed to be pretty rare. Most likely just about everyone tips the scale in one way or another, but it can be so subtle (and result in such ambiguous test results) that it makes it very hard for a person to know what their actual function is.

As far as I'm aware, being a Judger—on its own—doesn't mean that you follow through with your plans. It just means that you make plans and spend a lot of time thinking about goals and the future. Following through tends to be much more prevalent among SJ types.

Looking into how the different functions affect each other can be really helpful if it's a toss-up between a few types and you aren't actually a genuine X. This was how I was able to determine that I was an INFJ rather than an INFP, which was something that I was really confused about for quite a while because of getting very inconclusive test results.

The relationships between functions is known as the cognitive functions or the Eight Function-Attitudes. Every type has its own unique combination and order, and there's a rundown on these cognitive functions for each MBTI type on their individual wikipedia pages. Here's the cognitive functions for INFJ as an example. Even though INFP shares three functions with INFJ, if you look at its cognitive functions, you'll notice that every single one of them is different than the cognitive functions of INFJ. There's a huge ripple effect across the entire personality type when you change one function.

If you find the descriptions on wikipedia too vague and you're uncertain about exactly what each cognitive function means, the ol' Google search can be helpful for that. Or posting here, because I enjoy discussing this stuff.

Anyway, you may already know about all of that stuff and still disagree with my conclusions, but I'm just posting it for the benefit of anyone who ends up reading this post.

Now on to more important topics: Harry Potter. There's another system, related to Myers-Briggs, called Keirsey Temperament Types. Basically, the sixteen MB personalities are sorted into 4 temperaments.

One theory is that the 4 houses of Hogwarts are based on the four temperaments:
http://www.keirsey.com/sorthat.aspx

[...]

If Hermione was an INT/FJ, that would explain why the sorting hat had a hard time deciding whether to put her in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because she would be both rational and idealist.

If Harry was an EN/SFP, then he would be both an idealist and an artisan, so the sorting had could have placed him in Gryffindor or Slytherin.

That's a really neat take on it! We were discussing something a bit similar a while back in this thread regarding the Sorting Hat and cognitive functions, which was clever, but maybe not completely accurate. Your idea regarding Harry and Hermione and their Sorting Hat results is very compelling, though, especially considering what we know about them. I'm intrigued.

However, I do score as Hufflepuff on the Pottermore quiz, and I don't really see myself as being in the SJ camp at all... if I wasn't an NF, I'm pretty sure I'd be an NT, as Feeling is my "lowest" function at 38%. Hmm.

One might ask why it would be important to sort the personalities into temperaments? Well, the theory is that temperament is determined before birth, whereas your specific personality type within your temperament isn't nailed down till much later, if ever. Major life events have been known to change people's personalities, but not temperaments.

I have to say, I have absolutely no idea when personality types are definitively formed. Thinking back, I feel like I've been an INFJ for a long, long time, but I don't know if I was born an INFJ. Where personality type comes from and when it appears is definitely up for debate.

I'm not sure if major life events can actually change a person's personality type, though. There's an entirely different set of "shadow functions" for each type that can surface when an individual is under stress. It can seem like someone's personality has changed, but in reality, they're just under stress and it's affecting the way their brain is working. (For those who are interested in learning more, you can read about shadow functions underneath the cognitive functions on each personality type wikipedia page.) The human brain is a very mysterious place, though, so that's certainly up for debate as well.

Wow, this post ended up long. Sorry, I'm known to ramble.

Why do you have to be on one side of the fence? It is quite possible for a person to have a blended personality, meaning that your personality could be a fusion of different types. This is often the case with people who score in the 40-60% range. Personally, I'm an INT/FP/J. I tend to balance emotional and pragmatic needs. And I usually have a thought-out plan, but I seldom stick to it.

Every person on earth has at least some E, I, S, N, T, F, P, and J in them. The question is what you have more of than another, and what you most often tend to fall back on. The reason people should find out what side of the fence they're on is because, as Rose said, just one difference in letter will affect all the other letters. Even if someone has a very strong F side and a very strong T side - so much that they're almost equal - there is one they have more of than another, and whichever one that is is affecting their other functions as well. If you are missing one piece of the puzzle, in some ways you're missing the whole puzzle.

Also, just because someone learns to acquire T behavior, or J behavior, or F behavior, or what have you, that does not mean they themselves are a T, a J, or an F. We all learn to acquire certain functions in order to adapt to our surroundings, but this is quite different than our natural or default settings. Who we learn to be, or who we make ourselves into, is much different than our inherent natures. For example, among my family members, I'm often called "the cold voice of reason and rational thought", which is often stereotyped as a T characteristic. But I actually have a very high F score, and don't register on the T scale much at all. I simply learned to adapt T behavior due to my surroundings. This means I can live as a T, but I myself am not a T. I'm an F all the way.

Also, for the record, I'm almost 100% J, and I almost never stick to the plans I make. It's the fact that I make the plans in the first place that makes me a J.

One theory is that the 4 houses of Hogwarts are based on the four temperaments:
http://www.keirsey.com/sorthat.aspx

Ravenclaw - NT - Rational Temperament
Gryffindor - NF - Idealist Temperament
Slytherin - SP - Artisan Temperament
Hufflepuff - SJ - Guardian Temperament

If Hermione was an INT/FJ, that would explain why the sorting hat had a hard time deciding whether to put her in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because she would be both rational and idealist.

If Harry was an EN/SFP, then he would be both an idealist and an artisan, so the sorting had could have placed him in Gryffindor or Slytherin.

This is interesting, but it fails as a system pretty quickly. Every Slytherin I know in real life has been an SJ. McGonagall was an SJ, yet she was in Gryffindor. My two NF friends are both Hufflepuffs. I've never met a Hufflepuff who was an SJ. Harry Potter himself was most likely an STP -- he doesn't show signs of being an NF at all. Fred and George were about as ESFP-ish as you can get, yet they were Gryffindors. Basically, your house is determined by qualities unrelated to your personality type/temperament.

One might ask why it would be important to sort the personalities into temperaments? Well, the theory is that temperament is determined before birth, whereas your specific personality type within your temperament isn't nailed down till much later, if ever. Major life events have been known to change people's personalities, but not temperaments.

I've never known of a single letter being able to change. Like I said, we can learn new behaviors and adapt to new things, but that doesn't change our default setting.

It occurs to me that the words "personalities" and "temperaments", though the most often used in reference to the four groups and 16 types, are both basically misnomers. They tend to give people the wrong idea of what these types actually entail or refer to. If you get two INFJs together - or any two people of the same type - they are both going to have different personalities and temperaments. These 16 types are more like default settings/inherent natures than anything else. The term "personality type" almost always gives people the wrong impression, because things like hobbies and personal tastes are often tied up with the idea of "personality"; and the 16 types don't really touch on that. As for the word "temperament", it is sometimes used to mean "default setting/inherent nature", in which case it's on the mark. But the word "temperament" is also often used to refer to the types of moods one is prone to, whether one is active or passive in situations, etc., and that sort of thing is not necessarily related to type (allowing for there to be passive ISTJs and active ISTJs, moody ENFPs and cheerful ENFPs, etc.). So it all depends on one's use of the word "temperament". If one means the former definition - the default setting of a person - it is an accurate term, not just for the four groups, but for the sixteen types themselves

There is great value in grouping the 16 types into four major groups, but it isn't because of any differences between a personality vs. a temperament. The advantage in grouping the 16 types into four groups is that the types within those four groups are more similar to each other than they are to types in the other groups. They tend to have similar interests and world views. SJs, for example, tend to be more traditional, conservative, and patriotic on average. So they're the Guardians. NFs tend to love books, philosophy, and value creativity. So they're the Dreamers. NTs tend to be super rational, pick things apart in their minds, find out how things work and how we can use our knowledge and discoveries. They're the Scientists. SPs tend to be active go-getters that value freedom and expression. They're the Artisans. Even though there are different types within these groups, they share their core values with one another, and are more likely to see the world through the same basic lens. So it is both accurate and helpful to group them together.

~Riella

Ran across this online and I thought it was neat/cute, so I figured I'd share it:

http://widdershinsacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mbti-animals.jpg

Yay, I got panda! Apparently that means I'm fascinating... annnd on the verge of extinction.

Ran across this online and I thought it was neat/cute, so I figured I'd share it:

http://widdershinsacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/mbti-animals.jpg

Yay, I got panda! Apparently that means I'm fascinating... annnd on the verge of extinction.

Well, it looks like I'm a dog. (HAHA YES, I finally found a reason to use that emote! )

I wonder, though, why the person who made that poster thinks the appropriate animal to represent the ESFJ is an elephant about to fall over.

~Riella

Darn. I wanted to be an owl. Oh well. Tigers are also cool and I'm only one cognitive function away from being an owl.

Could someone elaborate on the difference between J/P? I've been doing a lot of thinking on this and might have worked out the others (maybe), but i'm still unclear on that one.

Could someone elaborate on the difference between J/P? I've been doing a lot of thinking on this and might have worked out the others (maybe), but i'm still unclear on that one.

J/P basically has to do with planning/pantsing (whether you plan things out in detail, or just take things as they come) and what time frame you focus on most (whether you plan ahead and think about the future a lot, or live in the moment.)

Js are the planners. Ps live in the moment. Another difference is Js tend to be more responsible, but also worry more; while Ps tend to be more care-free and free spirited.

~Riella