What is Obama's Personality Type?

Several of you have been writing me to ask what is Obama's personality type.

First off, it's difficult to guess the types of public figures. Mainly because we only get to see what they want us to see, and Obama has not officially disclosed his type.

However, that hasn't stopped many of us in the type community from making a guess.  Read my article below to find out if Obama is who you think he is -- your kindred spirit or a very different type from you. I also make a guess about Michelle's type. You can make your own guesses by posting a comment below.   

Let me also wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!  It's a great day to do something special for yourself.   

Janet Penley

Are Obama's preferences INFP?

I belong to a large professional group of MBTI users called The Association of Psychological Type. This fall we were polled as to what type we thought Obama was. The two most frequent guesses were ENFP or INFP. Personally, I think Obama is an INFP, and here's why.

About eight years ago, I had the opportunity to spend an evening with Obama at my neighbor's house. We were living in Chicago then, and my across-the-street neighbors were politically active in the local Democratic scene. They'd met Obama, and although we were out of his district and couldn't vote for him, they wanted to support him by introducing him to others.  They invited a few of the neighbors over for a small, informal, get-together, and lucky for me I decided to go. 

Right at the beginning, I felt sure that I was talking to a kindred spirit, a fellow I-N-F type.  In fact, at first I thought he was my type, INFJ. I was impressed with his vision, his idealism, his values, his intelligence, his sincerity, his ability to communicate, and his ability to connect with each of us. He talked about his book, the local political race he had just lost, and his desire to have everyone share in our country's prosperity. He showed an interest in my MotherStyles work and asked me to send him some information because he thought his wife would be interested.

Extraversion or Introversion? Obama spends so much time in the spotlight, it's easy to think he is Extraverted. As an Introvert myself, there is no way I could have survived two years of campaigning and people-interaction. But Obama would not be the first Introvert to override his natural preferences to achieve his larger goals. In magazine articles, I've noticed phrases about him like: "he likes time to think things through before speaking or acting"  and "sometimes he appears distracted or bored with people." On the campaign trail, compared to McCain, generally pegged as an ESTP, he tended to give complicated answers, another attribute of IN types.  In addition, we've all noticed his ability to put on a calm exterior, play things close to his vest, and not fly off the handle. All these qualities are more typical of Introverted types than Extraverted types. To sum up, here's a quote attributed to Obama, "The most important thing you need ... is to have big chunks of time during the day when all you're doing is thinking."

Thinking or Feeling? An ENTJ friend guessed that Obama was an INTP. She'd heard from people that had met him that he appeared "cold", leading her to think he was an Introverted Thinker. Also, people were inclined to call him "professorial"--quite INTP.  However, the man I met before he hit the spotlight was warm and deeply rooted in his core values. In fact, his whole campaign was grounded in inspiration, values, hope -- all generally associated with the NF temperament. Perhaps he's become more emotionally withdrawn as a way to cope with constant Extraverting. 

Our First INFP leader? Although it's impossible to say if Obama is our first INFP president, it's safe to say we haven't experienced an INFP leader or perhaps even an Introverted leader in a long time. One blog summed it up this way: "We are trading in a white, right-handed ESTJ for a black, left-handed INFP. It should be interesting!"

I think Carl Jung, the founder of psychological type, would say that America is beginning to integrate its shadow. By that I mean, Extraversion-Sensing-Thinking-Judging have traditionally been over-valued in our culture, and the opposite functions, Introversion-Intuition-Feeling-Perceiving have been under-valued. This creates a lack of balance. Obama's election may come from our country's innate desire for greater wholeness. A need to incorporate the missing pieces of our collective consciousness. It isn't just Obama's race that makes him a minority, it is also his personality type.    

Is Michelle an E-J type?

Chicago magazine just ran an in-depth article on Michelle. After reading it, I'm pretty sure she prefers Extraversion and Judging. One interviewee said, "She's very present with people. As busy as she is, when she's talking to them, she's with them." I found that to be true when I sat a few tables from the Obama's at a restaurant, before they entered the public eye. Not to disturb their dinner, I simply smiled and gave Michelle a thumbs up sign. When she realized I was looking at her, her face lit up, and she started smiling and waving. I also read that to relax and recharge she spends  Saturdays going out to lunch and a movie with a group of her friends and their various kids -- which says to me, a preference for Extraversion.

As far as Judging, we hear a lot about her need for order and how Obama hasn't always lived up to her expectations on the home front. I read that she'd make a list of chores for him to do at home while he was an Illinois senator, and insisted on shared childcare responsibilities.

Although we'll just have to wait and see what her other letters turn out to be, I'm guessing ENFJ or ENTJ. Intuition (N) because she has excelled in higher education despite socioeconomic obstacles. Feeling (F) because she is very family oriented. Thinking (T) because she's a career woman and she says her priorities as first lady will be fair pay for women and work/family issues. She could also be an S (Sensing) type because she's portrayed as more practical and down-to-earth than Obama. She once said that her main role is helping Obama realize he is not a perfect man.  From now on, of course, the media and public will help her out with that.  

What do you think? Post your thoughts and comments below.

Comments

[Lisa]

How exciting that you got to meet Obama! And how exciting for me to know you're an INFJ like me...we are so rare and I feel like an oddball most of the time. Plus, I'm lefthanded, which makes me even odder. Anyway, I know everything is on a continuum and maybe I'm extremely introverted, but I just couldn't imagine the rigors of campaigning as an I...and Obama seems so good at it, so I just assumed he was an E. I figured he was an F, because he just seems so warm and as we're seeing this week, he's maybe TOO accommodating of others' views, at times to the detriment of his goals...Have you considered he might be a J...he seems to like to keep a regular schedule and is very disciplined with his exercise...

Thanks for some interesting insights!

[Carol]

My guess: Michelle is an ESFJ. That is because she said she wanted to spend the first six months "getting into a routine" with her family at the White House. She and her husband "made a deal" with the daughters about getting a dog if daddy became president. And, she likes it when her kids have sleepovers!

[Linda INFP (NZ)]

I really hope Obama is a strong INFP. Being one myself, I know how ennervating and exhausting it is to be in the spotlight. But he's young! He's a guy! He's your first black President! And that should give him an automatic 'coating', if nothing else!

[Kim]

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss this subject! I tend to think Obama is INTP--I say this as an INFP (and another INFP I know agrees, even though we both thought at first he was INFP). I think he was strongly influenced by an NF mother and an STJ grandmother--and that he acquired that gracious style with people from his Hawaiian and Indonesian (and to some extent African) cultural experiences. He definitely has an idealistic vision for America but there is an abstract quality to it that makes me question a true F preference. I think I would have read in his autobiography a story or two where dominant introverted feeling caused him some kind of pain--getting too caught up in the sad stories of residents of Chicago's South Side, wanting to help them realize their potential as individual human beings rather than concentrating on the political (and valuable) task of "organizing". He does care for the people he works for, but I sensed an ability to detach himself, not drown in their pain. I think we would have heard of some story where he really put himself out for one or two or three people whose special needs he perceived cried out for extra attention. Or some story about overcoming sensitivity to criticism. What does come through loud and clear since he won is his admiration for intellectual competence and scientific inquiry. He seems quite comfortable with the tough T-ness of Rahm Emmanuel. The general steadiness that he exudes seems more T-like than F, especially highly subjective dominant introverted feeling. By the way, I've heard Lincoln was INFP and there are enough similarities in their ways of viewing the world for Obama to want to emulate him. But Lincoln suffered from serious mood disorders, a condition all too familiar for INFPs.

[Kim]

Can't resist adding more thoughts on this subject, though I'm less certain about the following ideas. I think Michelle is ESTJ. I don't think she has to be an F to want to do right by her girls as they get settled in DC (at the very least, it's a great organizing opportunity!) To me there is a no-nonsense quality about her that seems more T-like. I think Barack is comfortable with her J style (remember years ago she complained he often left the butter out on the counter..) after living with his no nonsense bank-employed grandmother (ISTJ?) (and his possibly NFJ mother, who got up at 4 in the morning to give him English lessons in Indonesia?) He does say Michelle is the practical one (S?). Her signature suggests S because she joins every letter together. Also her eye for fashion? We know she really didnt want him to run for president at first. When asked why she finally agreed to it, she said that she asked herself who else was there to lead the kind of country that she wanted her girls to grow up in---and there was no one else. This seemed to me like a decision making approach based on logical consequences (T).

[Kim]

Janet, it is so amazing to hear that you passed along type information to Obama years ago. I have had this feeling that he was at least somewhat type-aware for many months. I marveled at his exercise regimen until I heard that he uses it to have time to think by himself--that thinking time would be a huge incentive for an I on the go all day long.
I've had the sense that Michelle sets up the conditions for a disciplined lifestyle and that Barack accepts its value--in fact I sense they admire each other for their respective strengths, and perhaps knowledge about type has helped them do that. Wouldn't you love to know if that was true?

[Lisa (INFJ)]

What an interesting discussion! Thanks, Janet, and all who gave me food for thought!