Which Personality Types are the Best Typists?
And How They Can Improve
In the last article, we discussed the Greek concept of “Aporia” and how embracing not knowing another’s type brings clarity. In this article, I will share two more tools to improve your typing skills, discuss which types are the most gifted at typing, and share specific feedback for each type to improve their typing skills.
Two More Tools to Improve Your Typing Skills
1) Make Perception Your Best Friend
As much time as we spend analyzing type vectors and cognitive functions, a significant portion of discerning another’s personality type exists below the surface. Utilizing your perception functions, though not always measurable, is essential to advancing your typing skills.
Imagine an ISTP or INTP typist looking at another person. With their perception functions (mainly their Ne Parent and Si Child), they will receive several “sense impressions” about that person. What often happens, though, is that their Ti Hero and Te Nemesis comb through those perceptions to refute them. “This perception can’t be true because of x, y, or z.” They struggle to let their perception breathe, especially when it’s not immediately justifiable through logic.
It’s hard for many of us to lean on our perception — particularly if you are a judgment-dominant type (ExxJ or IxxP). However, to type well, we must build a trusting relationship with our perception. This does not happen overnight. It takes time. Leaning into our perception, while recognizing that it's not infallible, will help build up faith in this tool that is unlike any other. So, what do you see when you look at another person?
2) Increase Your Frequency as a Receiver of Insight
To enhance our typing skills, both with analysis and perception, we must build a positive relationship with different parts of ourselves. Notice the impressions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas that are evoked when observing or interacting with another person.
If you are an Ni user, do you feel free or trapped by the person next to you? Perhaps they are a concrete type, and especially an Se-using concrete type.
If you are a Ti user, you feel that sharing your thoughts with one person feels like a warm hug. Perhaps they have the compatible Te function.
Perhaps you are an Si user, and sharing your own experience isn’t received openly by the other person. Perhaps they are very abstract and/or another Si user.
Perhaps you are an Fi user, sharing your feelings, values, and opinions about a certain topic. Perhaps the other person is in tune with your every expression and eager to hear more. Perhaps they have the compatible Fe function.
This is a fragile idea. There are many reasons why good or bad interactions take place. But building a relationship with your mind, heart, and body turns them into finely tuned mechanisms to interpret the complexities of others. But, like building trust in our perception, we must allow our inner reactions across the intuition-judgment spectrum to be picked up and valued. We can use ourselves as a beacon of feedback to interpret others’ traits.
Who’s the best at typing?
There is often the controversial question of who’s best at typing. I will share some thoughts on this topic in the section below. I will also share what I think each type needs to improve their typing.
Natural … too natural: ESTP | INFJ
It’s been floated that the ESTP and INFJ can be the best at typing. I agree that their inborn proclivities give them exceptional natural talents with typing. Having perception dominance and having both Se + Fe, they are the most externally attuned and oriented to others. Their instinctual insight into the experiences and state of others can seem uncanny and, sometimes, inexplicable.
Without structures for interpretation, however, and without any systematic overlay of typing tools, they will easily get lost in the raw experience of others. Here, they struggle to siphon their tremendous awareness into meaningful analysis. But with training, their analytical capabilities heighten, unlocking their natural insight into others.
Untamed but talented: ENTP
Having perception dominance appears to be an advantage in typing — how can you see below the surface unless you allow yourself to be unclouded by the judgments of thinking and feeling?
The ENTP can absorb “energy” too, though they may struggle to localize where the energy is coming from. However, the unique combination of Ne Hero with Fe Child, and the logical processor of Ti parent, empowers the ENTP to experience someone in a very abstract, patterned way and systematically analyze them quickly.
Given their proclivity to be stuck in their own somatic experience (Si Inferior), and struggling with environmental accuracy — the literal experience of other people — there are weak spots the ENTP must carefully filter through. The least of which is the assumptiveness that Te Critic may succumb to.
Talented, with a catch: ENFJ | ISTP
You might push back and say: “If the ESTP and INFJ are at the top, the ISTP and ENFJ are an easy second.” And they may be. Their rarity in the type-space becomes one obstacle to that. However, with the ISTP and ENFJ, the biggest enemy standing between them is being a great typist themselves.
Sometimes they are so caught up with their logical or ethical judgments that it removes them from the raw experience of another person. Too much thinking can get in the way. This is the disadvantage of the judgment Hero — disconnecting from raw feedback to favor your mind.
However, when the ISTP and ENFJ learn to trust and lean on their perception functions, they can become extremely precise typists. But it will take time. It will feel strange to put their Hero in the back seat, at first. Being able to dissect and analyze input is not the primary issue. It is tapping into their instincts to experience a person firsthand that guides their path to skillfully analyzing type. So, ISTP and ENFJ, what do you see?
The Sisiphyus Path: ESFJ | ISFJ | ESTJ | ISTJ
Skipping ahead, we arrive at the most difficult typing path. It’s perhaps unsurprising to see the four SJs having the hardest time with typing, at first. Being heavily locked into their internal, concrete experience makes it difficult to adapt their insights to other people. Their starting point here is steep.
However, where the SJs have an advantage is their incredibly high amount of Si. This allows their internal experience to be calibrated to what others invoke within them. “This person makes me feel like ___.” In comparison, “That person makes me feel differently. Why?” — the second tool I provided in the opening may be more natural for SJs.
One of the challenges in diagnosing SJ's ability lies in the fact that there are few of them in the personality space. ISTJs are probably the most common of them, but even they are rare. I would be delighted to see more SJs be interested in learning personality theory and applying it in their unique framework.
ISFJ | ESFJ
Out of the SJ’s, I hypothesize that the ISFJ is most natural in typing others. The perception dominance — though it is Si perception — mixed with the Fe + Ne, gives them a unique, though limited, external awareness. They have an instinctual feel for people, especially when their Ne Inferior + Se Nemesis are being used through objective, somewhat trusting eyes. They will easily recall where they’ve encountered a person like that before.
I was speaking to an ISFJ extended family member some time ago. She did not know the intricacies of functions, interaction styles, archetypes, etc., but she did have a natural grasp of the letter dichotomies. With this alone, she was easily and accurately able to type every single one of her four family members, with the letters alone. This may not sound impressive (“It’s family after all!”), but it is. Those closest to us can be the hardest to type. (See “The Typing Paradox” for more.)
ESFJs, likewise, have a good sense for people with Fe Hero and Ne Child. I haven’t found an ESFJ who believes in type enough to study it in depth. Their judgment Hero will be a challenge for them, but their strong social orientation can correct this obstacle. They’d have to study thoroughly and, like the ISFJ, learn to reference their own experience in relation to other people, to unlock their typing potential.
The SJ’s must develop a plethora of familiarity with different kinds of people. Leveraging their extreme awareness of what they’ve encountered and what experience it gave them, this becomes their beacon of insight into others.
ESTJ | ISTJ
This conversation intensifies with the two STJs. I can hear many argue that they are the worst at typing. Being filled up with their own experience through Si + Fi does give them certain obstacles. However, they have another advantage in understanding others besides their high Si: Te.
Te does not typically have the graceful social awareness that Fe does, but it does serve a social function. When Si and Te are paired together, they can answer this unique question: “What category of person is that?”
My awareness of the STJ’s ability to understand others dawned on me about five years ago when I was watching the famous horror show, The Haunting of Hill House. Scary, but deeply personal, I was taken aback by the graceful depths given to each character. The creator and director of the show, Mike Flanagan, I believe to be an ISTJ.
I admit, at first I didn’t believe it was possible for an ISTJ to create something so … well, creative. But then I felt humbled. Of course they can.
With a lifetime dedicated to the understanding of story and primarily, character, Flannagan is uniquely positioned to capture the humanity in his characters. It dawned on me that he was able to understand a character deeply through mindset, what they believe, how they view the world, etc. Primarily a Te mechanism.
Where the SJs — particularly STJs — have an advantage is in their ability to decipher a “type” of person. While they struggle to "absorb" a person directly, they have a top-down understanding of assigning and seeing archetypal traits in a person. Through experiencing a wide variety of people, and bringing a dynamic education of the personality typing tools with them, they will be able to classify people quickly. From there, it’s only a few small steps to becoming a reliable typist.
This last step for them may be the hardest, however: training their perception functions to experience a person as they are. This requires the use of their external perception functions — Se and Ne. If you are an SJ, don’t worry about getting this calibration exactly “right.” Focus on bringing the perception thermometer out of the shed, sanding it, cleaning it, and putting it to work. It will sharpen with use.
The Odd Men Out: INTP | INFP | ENFP
Beyond the ENTP, ranking the three remaining NP types appears to be a wash.
INFP
Of the four NP types and behind the ENTP, I hypothesize the INFP will have the next greatest advantage at typing. Though they can run into the same problem as the STJs — Si + Fi equaling too much self-awareness — the INFP possesses the insight to see deeply into others.
INFPs can become aware of others' visions and intentions that contribute to their typing tool-kit. Sensitive to others' perspectives, the typing vectors may come more naturally as their intuitive awareness can rapidly extract patterns from others' thinking and communication.
The resistant energy attached to their Te Inferior and Fe Nemesis can blind them to the true nature of others’ state — not to mention Se Trickster — but when they can hold genuine and courageous space for others, their Te and Fe will see more clearly. If their attention is directed outward, pattern recognition and depth of insight will come naturally and serve them well in typing others.
ENFP
ENFPs share many of the INFP’s gifts too, but their insight is more spontaneous. In my observations, their Ne Hero and Te Child can become too eager to arrive at a conclusion. When they are in a rush to prove their point, they easily create arguments to support their perspective. But these arguments may lack the convincing power of thoroughness.
While their openness to possibilities is a powerful gift in typing, it can hurt their accuracy when they chase after possibilities.
“Well, this trait means __, but it could also mean __, and this makes it most likely for __ to be the case, but also __ can be just as easily the case.” And in response to another’s argument, “I don’t agree with that because of this one reason.” Being able to easily argue any perspective is both their weakness and their strength in typing.
ENFPs possess an extreme talent for seeing into the lives of others. It's what can make them so effective in communicating and connecting with people. For ENFPs, if they stop short at only making arguments that support what they hope someone's type is, they will fall short as typists. However, if they use their arguments to also support other arguments for what type a person is, their perspective will open, and their sight will become clearer.
Go deep, ENFPs, to connect with the essence of a person, trust but don’t over-rely on your perceptions, and argue both for the truth you want and the truth you don’t want. If you can do that, you may just find the Truth of a person’s type.
INTP
I’ve known a handful of INTPs who are interested in learning to type others. I have known fewer who are interested in becoming typists. If you know INTPs in your life, you probably know that many of them can become good at anything — especially with mental skills.
The INTP’s brilliance is also an obstacle for them, as the vectors in the typing space, as well as the cognitive functions, stand on assumptions that require faith to even use.
As an example, INTPs often struggle with taking personality tests because it is difficult for them to accept the validity of the question. When they see a question on a test, they are more likely to analyze the rationale of the question — “Stupid question, vague question,” — rather than connect intuitively with the question. This same resistance — a challenging attitude toward others’ reasoning — will present a challenge in typing.
The INTP will likely have to go on their own intellectual journey to verify the validity of the archetypes, functions, type preferences, typing vectors, and many other things in order to have confidence in the validity of the typing tools.
But, if through this journey the INTP gets comfortable with all the typing tools, I believe they can become exceptional typists. Their abstraction and concern for others can empower their Hero to cut through the unlikely aspects of someone's type and rigorously test against all types to arrive at a strong conclusion.
The Wildcards: ENTJ | INTJ | ESFP | ISFP
These four types are all of one quadra — sharing the functions in their top slots. This is the SFP/NTJ quadra, otherwise known as the “Gamma Quadra,” or the “Wayfarers.” More so for these types than others, the question “How good can they be at typing others?” comes down to another question: “How much do you want to be?”
When Ni + Fi are together, their skills are shaped by how much they desire something and how much they want to invest in it. With the exception of the INTJ, these types are somewhat rare in the personality space. They are often more interested in pursuing productive, expressive lives.
Their biggest obstacle in exploring the personality world will be the questionable reputation of personality theories.
INTJ
INTJs have the advantage of the deeply intuitive Ni Hero. When paired with building expertise in Te Parent, they easily apply standards, tests, and vectors to other people. However, INTJs may struggle to trust their perception because of how it looks to others. “If I don’t have a sound rationale for what I perceive, how can my analysis be impactful?”
They have reason to distrust their intuition. Perception is not always accurate. It can mislead. It can have false biases that lead to double-binds. All true. And yet, perception is the highest skill of the Ni Hero. The ability to experience the energy and life of another being is essential for being a dynamic typist.
Their Ti Critic can prevent them from reaching their potential as a typist. Giving themselves permission to utilize and build confidence in their intuition will serve them greatly here.
Being aware, also, of the projection that Fe Trickster can succumb to, will help them stay in their arena of higher external awareness. Partnering their Te Parent, Se Inferior, and Ne Nemesis together can help compensate for their social blind spots to see deeply into a person. Then, they can accurately filter information into their logical structure. The soundness of this structure is bar none — save, perhaps, their ENTJ counterpart.
ENTJ
ENTJs share many of the skills with the INTJ. Though ENTJs sometimes lack the tact to see deeply into a person, they can easily apply any area of knowledge — especially metric-related analysis — to others. Applying the vectors and using the typing tools to measure the likelihood of certain personality traits will be natural for them.
Te Heros can be surprisingly insightful into others, as they wield the awareness of another’s perspective and belief. The wildcard of Se Child may be their greatest trait. Look at all the measurements, yes! But can you connect, also, with that person’s experience? Can you build a trusting relationship with your perception functions?
When accounting for mishaps, ENTJs can become efficient and reliable typists. When these skills are systematized, it's hard to outperform an ENTJ whose typing machine is a well-oiled mechanism of insight.
ESFP | ISFP
The ESFP and ISFP are perhaps the hardest to predict their typing skills. Seldom interested in the world of typology, and often devoted to more concrete, practical pursuits, it may seem that most SFPs won’t find a home in the type-analysis world.
My first contention is that we simply need more ESFPs and ISFPs in this space! They are more insightful than most think. The ISFP, reflective and expressive, brings unique gifts into this space. The ESFP brings their spontaneity and social insight with them. For both SFPs, the typing process will likely have to be more action-oriented. Either seeing someone else in action, or participating more actively with another, will supply the high Se function with real experience to absorb. Being able to comb through this with a partnered Fi function can supply impressive insights into seeing others’ types.
ESFPs are often attracted to more professional or labor-intensive work. They typically have little interest in analyzing others. But, Se Hero and Te Child together have an instinctual awareness that other people are different. Te Child may even make up their own categories — simplistic but useful— to understand others. Armed with some typing knowledge and skills, the ESFP’s potential is as high as their interest. Their biggest skill is their awareness of how others communicate.
Lastly, the ISFP. ISFPs, typically sensitive souls who are quiet and observant, will notice many traits in a person that remain unspoken. Like the ESFP, knowledge and skill for typing others depend on the ISFP’s interest, and how helpful they believe those skills will be to them.
For the ISFP to become confident and capable in their skill, it will require their Se Parent perception to become highly attuned to others, and both their Te Inferior and Fe Nemesis to be courageous, both in empathizing with others, but, more importantly, being able to accurately interpret and categorize others' communication and behavior. They will likely need a knowledgeable mentor to develop their typing skills.
But I placed the ISFP last because they are the apex of the wildcard classification. Often undervalued and under-respected for their abilities, the ISFP stands uniquely in a position of high potential to become skilled at understanding other people’s types.
“Where do I go from here?”
At the risk of elevating the perception functions to the top spot, I likely have understated the importance of using communication vectors and function analysis. This playlist explores the core typing vectors. Studying these is foundational to your typing skills.
Doing exercises where you study others and notice things about them is a vital way to sharpen your awareness. Look at how people are dressed, their posture, what “energy” they emit, their general warmth or distance, how they make you feel, and whatever else you notice that awakens your perception.
Then, doing other exercises where you pick a typing vector to work on — “Are they abstract or concrete?” — and practice applying it will make the practice manageable. Going further, can you extend to function analysis?
“Was that Ti statement or an Fi statement?”
“Was the seeming Fi statement actually an Si statement indicating their sensory experience?”
These are vital. If you need more practice with typing others, my group offers typing workshops to help you practice your typing skills.
But, like our last article exploring the importance of not knowing, it’s worthwhile never to be too sure about a person. People will surprise us. And our insight, both judgment and perception, remains open to more as long as we do too.
