If you clicked on this post, you probably know what Myers-Briggs/MBTI is. But just in case: Myers-Briggs is a “personality inventory” that defines 16 personalities, described through 4 dichotomies. More at the Myers & Briggs Foundation. Free test at 16 personalities.
Now, I will be blunt. The usefulness/scientificality of MBTI is hotly disputed. I have no interest in arguing that. The MBTI has been immensely helpful to me personally in both understanding myself and others. So I will continue to champion it.
If you’re a little obsessed with MBTI, you find typing other people to be FASCINATING. So I started researching the MBTI types of authors.There are a couple of good resources already. Most notably, the types of 101 famous authors and youngbloodblog’s discussion of writers according to MBTI. The discussion mentioned a (non-scientific) survey that yielded astonishing percentages of INFJ’s and INTJ’s among writers and editors. In the general public, those types make up 1-2% each. In the survey, they accounted for NEARLY 50%.
I was skeptical.
So I started collecting a list of YA authors’ MBTI types, as they’ve publicly discussed them. Here’s my list, which I’m sure is not complete.
- Maggie Stiefvater — INFJ
- Victoria Schwab — INTJ
- JK Rowling — INFJ
- Susan Dennard — INFP
- Sarah J Maas — INFJ
- Shannon Hale — ENFJ
- Courtney Stevens — INFJ
- John Green — INFP
Additions post-publish:
As authors release their type, I will try to add them.
- Victoria Aveyard — INTP
Conclusion
See a trend? My skepticism is put to rest. There is definitely some lopsided typing in the bookish world!
What’s your type? Who did I miss? Let me know in the comments!
PS — if you’re really into this, a lot of fans type their favorite characters. Do some Google searching if you enjoy that kind of thing. 🙂
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