Hello Everyone!

 

        I will be talking about the Myers-Briggs personality test again this week. In case you forgot or didn’t read my blog from last week, “The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator is a self-report inventory designed to identify a person’s personality type, strengths, and preferences” (verywellmind).  Isabel Myers and her mother Katherine Briggs developed the questionnaire based on their work with Carl Jung’s theory of personality types. MBTI is one of the most widely used instruments in psychology in the world today. There are 16 possible personality types you could get from the test. 

        This week I’ll be discussing the MBTI of four Death Eaters in the Harry Potter universe. “A Death Eater is the name Voldemort’s supporters gave themselves during the First Wizarding War” (Pottermore Wiki).  

        We’ll start this one off with the big bad man himself, Voldemort (a.k.a. Tom Riddle). Voldemort is an INTJ, also called the architect. INTJs are introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging. “People with INTJ personalities are highly analytical…and logical”, Voldemort is evidently very analytical and logical in his actions (verywellmind). INTJs “place greater emphasis on logic and objective information rather than subjective emotions” (verywellmind). Voldemort has been shown to not care or take emotions into account, he didn’t care about Snape’s love, Lily, and killed her for his own personal gain. “When INTJs develop an interest in something, they strive to become as knowledgeable and skilled as they can in that area” (verywellmind). 

        Voldemort, when he was still Tom Riddle and in school, was the top of his class. He was the head boy in his seventh year of school, head boys and girls are the students that are specially picked by the headmaster of the school to lead the rest of the student body. INTJs weaknesses include being “overly analytical and judgmental, very perfectionistic, dislikes talking about emotions, sometimes seems callous or insensitive”, all of these apply to Voldemort (verywellmind). I believe that Voldemort is a great example of an INTJ based on all of the information on the type that I can find. Not all INTJs are evil, though. I felt like that needed to be said. Temperance Brennan from the tv show Bones is an INTJ, as well as Bruce Wayne (Batman).

        Voldemort’s most faithful follower, Bellatrix Lestrange, is an ESFP (also called the entertainer). They are extroverted, sensing, feeling,  and perceiving. Some of the weaknesses of ESFPs are that they “dislike abstract theories, become bored easily, do not plan ahead, impulsive” (verywellmind). Also “ESFPs prefer to focus on the here-and-now rather than thinking about the distant future” (verywellmind). Some examples of these weaknesses and impulsivity in her personality are that “Bellatrix is opportunistic in battle, and often reckless in chasing after those she intends to target—in the Battle of Hogwarts, her attention shifts rapidly and she takes after anyone within reaching distance” (WordPress). 

        Bellatrix would “rather use direct violence, and enjoys torturing people” (WordPress);  “ESFPs place a greater emphasis [on] personal feelings rather than logic and facts when making decisions” this shows that Bellatrix fits this aspect as well (verywellmind). “This function is focused on enforcing order on the outside world” (verywellmind). “Bellatrix, out of her deep-seated resentment for Pureblood families associating with [Muggles] and even marrying them, targets them first in any encounter”, this is her way of enforcing the order of the wizarding world the way she wants it to be (WordPress). 

        Another one of Voldemort’s somewhat loyal followers, Lucius Malfoy, is an ESFJ (a.k.a. The consul). ESFJs are “extraverted, sensing, feeling, and judging” (verywellmind). “ESFJs also have a strong desire to exert control over their environment” and Lucius is a “skilled emotional manipulator, whose every word seems targeted to elicit an emotional response out of someone” (verywellmind)(WordPress). The manipulation is Lucius’ way of controlling the people and the environment around him. Many ESJFs “derive their value system from external sources including the community at large rather than from intrinsic, ethical, and moral guidelines” and their weaknesses include sensitivity to criticism and approval-seeking behaviors (verywellmind). Examples of these behaviors within Lucius Malfoy are when he is “willing to take the side of whomever seems to be in charge” and the fact that he is “not a leader so much as he is an opportunistic follower, able to charm his way into higher positions” (WordPress). He looks more to the environment and who he can gain the most from instead of basing his behavior on ethical guidelines. 

        Lucius Malfoy grew up in a family that believed in “blood purity” and a hierarchy of families based on the purity of that blood. So, ESFJs that are “raised in a less enriched environment may have skewed ethics as adults and are more likely to be manipulative and self-centered” (verywellmind). Lucius “gives no sense of being able to analyze his own actions or realize that they are wrong” and he is “incredibly proud of and arrogant about his Pureblood family” (WordPress). 

         Also, I do want to reiterate that none of these types is inherently bad. In another situation or environment, the characteristics that made them so terrible probably would have made them very positive influences in society. So here is the link to the test that I find is most commonly used by members of the public to see their types in case you wanted to take it to see your type too!

        Thank you so much for reading my fifth blog post! I hope that was entertaining, insightful, and you weren’t bored!

 

Here is a chart for those of you who may want to see where your MBTI puts you in the Hogwarts houses! I don’t know how accurate it is because it wasn’t accurate for me.

 

Sources

“Bellatrix Lestrange.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange.

Charity. “Harry Potter: Bellatrix Lestrange [ESFP].” Funky MBTI, 8 Aug. 2020, funkymbti.wordpress.com/2020/08/10/harry-potter-bellatrix-lestrange-esfp/. 

Charity. “Harry Potter: Lucius Malfoy [ESFJ].” Funky MBTI, 8 Aug. 2020, funkymbti.wordpress.com/2020/08/09/harry-potter-lucius-malfoy-esfj/. 

Charity. “Harry Potter: Tom Riddle / Lord Voldemort [INTJ].” Funky MBTI, 15 Aug. 2020, funkymbti.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/harry-potter-tom-riddle-lord-voldemort-intj/. 

Cherry, Kendra. “Are You Social and Spontaneous? You Might Be an ESFP.” Verywell Mind, 23 June 2020, www.verywellmind.com/esfp-extraverted-sensing-feeling-perceiving-2795984. 

Cherry, Kendra. “ESFJ (Extraverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging) Personality Trait Type.” Verywell Mind, 28 June 2020, www.verywellmind.com/esfj-extraverted-sensing-feeling-judging-2795983. 

Cherry, Kendra. “Know the Characteristics of the INTJ Personality Type.” Verywell Mind, www.verywellmind.com/intj-introverted-intuitive-thinking-judging-2795988. 

Cherry, Kendra. “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: The 16 Personality Types.” Verywell Mind, 17 Sept. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/the-myers-briggs-type-indicator-2795583. 

“Death Eaters.” Pottermore Wiki, pottermore.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Eaters. 

Donn, Emily. “Harry Potter: Jason Isaacs Didn’t Want to Play Lucius Malfoy.” ScreenRant, 28 Jan. 2017, screenrant.com/harry-potter-jason-isaacs-lucius-malfoy-audition/.

“I Made This Chart (Based on This One) for a Harry Potter-Themed Activity We Did…: Harry Potter Personality, Personality Chart, Mbti Personality.” Pinterest, www.pinterest.com/pin/194921490101938938/.

“Learn about the 16 Personality Types from under the Hood.” Excellence Assured, 5 May 2020, excellenceassured.com/16-personality-types. 

Pottermore. “The Different Meanings behind Lord Voldemort’s Many Names.” Wizarding World, Wizarding World Digital, 2 Oct. 2019, www.wizardingworld.com/features/the-different-meanings-behind-lord-voldemorts-many-names.