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Is sheldon cooper from the big bang theory ISTJ or INTJ?

67K views 128 replies 64 participants last post by  jetser 
#1 ·
I can't really tell >.< He seems to use a fair amount of Si.. almost everyone seems to think he's INTJ
 
#3 ·
His script character was meant to be an IXTJ[Te-creative].
Cooper's dominant function is surely Si,although I don't have much to relate with it.The way he recalls his past life on every other dialogue I'd say Si.
Also,he shows an obligation to a lot of societal conventions which are reflected in his roommate agreement.
A classic Si-Ne episode:

 
#6 ·
Explain? I think I know precisely what you mean, but still - I'm not familiar with the show. Any specific examples or general patterns of behavior he exemplifies?
I ask because I'm pretty sure my pally that typed INTJ is really an ISTJ chick.... I just don't have the heart to tell her yet. You know? :>
 
#8 ·
Ah, I disagree. Sheldon's need to explicate seems very Te to me.
Contrast with Leslie Winkle (generally typed INTP), who corrected Sheldon's equations in the middle of the night and would have gone off home without a word about it.
 
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#10 ·
The character seems INFJ, 5wB-1w9-4w5, SP/SOC. But in a way that's too unreal.

The actor seems INFJ, 6w5-9w1-4w3, SP/SOC. Jim Parsons is pretty gifted onscreen.

Where is Thinking coming from? If it's because he's chronically inquisitive or cerebral, that's a characteristic anyone could have. Why Te auxiliary over Fe auxiliary? Cognitive functions are based on how one logically develops thoughts, so Te-aux would help someone to take the subjective (Introverted) potential of something (like the possible ways to answer a question) and apply it to the functional, objective world (how common life/activity works on a probable basis). The world to T preferrers is one needing to be more optimal than societal, and it will show in a disinterest in coming off as appealing as far as societal, people-oriented values go (exhaustive ethics, pleasantries...). T preferrers will find enjoyment in using successful methods in spite of if it appeals to community. It's about the effective results.

I watched Sheldon, and while he is bookish and seemingly oblivious to typical, grounded interaction, he actively maintains himself in a way that doesn't focus more on effectively producing a result. You'll rarely find an INTJ or ISTJ that is willingly as mindful as Sheldon is. His humor and quirks are how he establishes trust with his friends and others, and aren't an effect of being focused on efficient operations. If they were, he'd be less agreeable with his friends' attempts to correct or derail him. For T-preferrers, their moves are rational, and necessary to make the next move. They don't take kindly to criticisms unless it's helpful to their cause, if they feel their intentions are innocent enough.

Think of it like this: Ni is a function that typically wants to improve how something is currently done. It relies on future-sight to affect the present. Sheldon's behavior resembles the thinking style of one that values freedom of thought, flexibility and people accepting his particularly peculiar desire to socially express himself as he pleases, for the most part. INTJs value freedom of thought, aren't as flexible because they look to stricter objectives for accomplishment, and care less for expressing such manic ups and downs around people they'd call friends. It would be irrational to them, and they may even think their friends are nuts for putting up with it from them.

ISTJs? Just as inflexible towards satisfying societal appeal, and unconcerned about behaving like Sheldon does. They're too busy making sure all efforts are tested by time and performed as authentically as possible, since they rely on memory-sight (what is sustainable, for long-term gratification.) Sheldon is much, much too deliberately whimsical, and he knows it. Even if he were IXTJ, he would've realized by now how his capriciousness was working against his ability to keep his mind clear of needless distractions, like being chronically goofy.
 
#16 ·
Don't confuse his asperger with Si guys.

As I've read somewhere, Sheldon is beyond MBTI, he has evolved ^^

But he is most close to INTJ in my opinion. On the other hand, he obviously use Ti in most situations and sometimes Ne; his functional stack would be something like: Ti Ni Te Fi S?

I'd say he is an INTJ in MBTI terms, but Robespierre (LII) in socionics.
 
#19 ·
I always figured he's an INTP personally. He's much too emotional and seeking emotional validity for a Te type. Te types don't really give a fuck about that, especially PoLR ones with Te auxiliary like IxTJs are. If you want a similar comparison there's Data, INTP, from Star Trek:



Compared to Daria, actual INTJ:



Notice how she's so much more snide, sarcastic and deadpan. Or my favorite RL INTJ example:

 
#31 ·
Yes, Sheldon is an INTP. His subjective abstraction is not intuition, but logic. Logic which is convoluted and based on half-formed expansive hyptheses, as a general rule, which makes him more prone to mistakes despite his logic being abstractly sound. When he engages with the 'mundane' it is extremely Si. Lastly, his value judgments are always externalized and off the cuff. He is always chastizing and quick to judge in the way we'd stereotypically associate with SFJ. Kind of a mother hen, when the situation calls for it. He is clearly and specifically an INTP.

Also, the Data/Daria Dichotomy is hilarious and fairly apropos. They are both great examples of their respective types: INTP/INTJ.
 
#21 ·
Why the hell are people suggesting INTJ, an Ni dom?? Do people truly have no idea what an Ni-dom looks like? I'm kind of in-between xSTJ and INTP but I'm leaning more towards INTP.
 
#23 ·
Breaking it down to cognitive functions you may be right (however if you go this way I don't see how you put INTPs and ISTJs in the same line), but he certainly don't behave like a Perciver in terms of MBTI. He is epithany of Judging, a Judger per se. So either:
a) we are talking about different systems and you are making pure jungian analys or socionics analys here (as I mentioned before, he fits LII model in the socionics)
b) you are wrong

I also highly doubt that INTPs are in any way "more emotional" than any other type. INTP Fe is (unfortunatelly) very superficial.
 
#25 ·
That being said, I think Sheldon is an ISTJ. He uses past comparisons way more than an INTP usually would.
The guy creatively comes up with new scientific theories. How does he do that without Ti, Ni, or Ne in his top two functions? There's no way an ISTJ could compete with a Ni, Ne or Ti user at such exploits. I don't doubt a highly intelligent ISTJ could outwit a dim INTP at using Ne, but we're dealing entirely with super genius scientists.

I don't wish to cast a vote on Sheldon. He seems like a Fi & Ti user to me, with no Fe or Te, which is impossible.
 
#27 ·
Well, here's this conversation again.

Sheldon is immature and an extreme caricature of reasonable human traits. That, and he does seem to display what we'd regard as Aspergers.

That said, how anyone could walk away thinking he is S, or an ISTJ, is beyond me. He is so abstract and so cerebral that he is absolutely helpless in the real world. If you want to argue about whether he uses Ni or Ne (hint: he's a very strong J), fine. But don't confuse him for a person who is actually capable of living, interacting with, and understanding the actual, physical world. The whole point of his character is to highlight how utterly incompetent he is at anything outside his sphere of abstract brilliance. It's theoretical physics, people. It's not even applied physics, which he scoffs at regularly!

But, hell. You know what? I always thought Sheldon was an ESFP, because he talks so much. And in that one episode he hugs Penny so he's totally touchy-feely. And he gets really excited sometimes. Actually he and Penny are so similar it's ridiculous. I mean, why not, right?
 
#28 ·
It's interesting you say that. If Sheldon is an INTJ it means he would have an 'inner' ESFP (same functions, opposite order) and so may behave like one from time to time (e.g. especially when in 'the grip' of the inferior).

I'm actually undecided on Sheldon's type but I think IXTJ over INTP because INTPs to me are a little more rebellious?

I'm kinda interested to know because he reminds me of someone IRL, and I can't decide between IXTJ or INTP for this person either. However obviously Sheldon isn't actually a real person :p
 
#32 ·
After thinking about it, I think Sheldon is a super genius INTP with a disability that makes Fe near-impossible for him to use.

He has very strong Si, but that's standard for the third function of a genius. I remember reading somewhere that Einstein developed his normal 4 functions so well that he also developed a 5th function. Not to mention if Sheldon has aspergers his brain won't be wasting much capacity on inferior Fe, so he has more capacity for his other functions.
 
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#41 ·
I see ISTJs eat really nice, varied, and healthy food (dom Si) whereas Sheldon gets the same boring thing every time he goes to see Penny at the Cheesecake factory. (inf Se) Every INTJ I've met eats the same, boring food (inf Se), claiming that good food is boring. Even though I have inf Si I wouldn't be able to eat such a restricted diet and yet I get into the "same food over again" loop, but it is more varied than the INTJ's.

Bad possibilities? That implies bad Ne which both ITJs have. INTJs however disdain Ne in favor of Ni which allow them to ignore Ne. ISTJs have a looming fear of the future becuase their dom Si keeps their Ne in their consciousness. (ISTJs please correct me if I'm wrong)

He has Ni like conceptions and ideas like that episode when he had writer's block and finally figured out about electron diffraction after looking at some broken glass (Se + Ni). Then confirmed it to well known evidence (Te).
 
#42 ·
I see ISTJs eat really nice, varied, and healthy food (dom Si) whereas Sheldon gets the same boring thing every time he goes to see Penny at the Cheesecake factory. (inf Se) Every INTJ I've met eats the same, boring food (inf Se), claiming that good food is boring. Even though I have inf Si I wouldn't be able to eat such a restricted diet and yet I get into the "same food over again" loop, but it is more varied than the INTJ's.
I've seen someone use that exact same argument in reverse. Their argument was that Si likes repetition and Se doesn't.
 
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#43 ·
I think if I were to try to pin a personality on him, he's a Thinking judgment-dom from a cog function standpoint.

All he ever does is judge. This or that isn't right, isn't good enough, doesn't follow the letter, deviates from the norm, etc.

Even his internal monologue appears to be a steady stream of judgment. Sheldon sitting back and perceiving the world as it is, rather than trying to make some order of it, would be a big break from his regular behavior pattern.

So I'm thinking either Te-dom or Ti-dom.
 
#55 ·
Things like sensory/neurological disorders throw typing off. And there are so many cultural elements here. Never watched this shit show, because I have a brain... But the theoretical physicist thing for example. That tells you nothing. Experimental physics is fucking dead. Name one famous experimental physicist in the past 50 years, you can't. Theoretical gets all the glory. Einstein, Planck, Hawking, Sagan, Feynman, Heisenberg, etc.. every famous physicist is a theoretician. Name me a single living experimental physicist off the top of your head, you can't. So, you can't say he favors Ti because he went theoretical, because that is where shit is happening. And his disdain for "softer sciences" is only part of that culture. Every physicist thinks he is better than a biologist. And theoretical is the purest field. Reminds me of a great moment when a theoretical physicist shut up Richard Dawkins by telling him that he wasn't a "scientist" but a "biologist". That elitism exists. Doesn't matter the type. Every TP thinks they are above every other scientific field. This is why I think there are so many typing problems in general, because nobody actually understands the inner culture of these things.

I mentioned the fact that Freeman Dyson gave a better breakdown of the personality difference between Feynman and Einstein in one paragraph, than any person who has ever been involved in typology. Because he actually knew the men, and understood the context of the culture they were in.
 
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#58 ·
My thoughts reading your post:

You know a lot about this show for having not watched it due to having a brain. Also, what an asinine thing to say.
Experimental physics is not actually dead at all, quite literally, despite your ultimately irrelevant argument concerning it. Though some of them should stop accidentally thinking they disproved Special Relativity because of GPS delays caused by Special Relativity.
Hyperbole is funny.
Yeah, him being a theoretical physicist doesn't mean Ti. Rather, how it is gone about. There is a big difference between how a Te and a Ti go about theoretical physics.
It isn't his disdain but how he goes about it that shows Te or Fe.
That theoretical physicist who 'shut up' Dawkins sounds like a moron and would presumably benefit from a dictionary and the ability to not waste time in a debate with nonsense.
Scientific social culture must be interesting to study and tedious to experience. I know some great thinkers who were turned off of certain scientific careers due to the politics and general culture of it... just as some great minds are turned off from teaching and politics. Too bad.



ISTJ..

INTJs aren't detail bound. They may ask "where's the logic", but they rarely ask "where's the evidence". sheldon is bound to immediate evidence.

INTJs are described as masterminds remember- mastermind implies creative. Sheldon is bound by the tangible.
Sheldon is bound to evidence because he is a scientist and a logical thinker. If he were not bound to evidence, he wouldn't be a respected scientist. It's a discipline and an intellect thing. There are INTJs who blow off evidence (though, presumably against their Te), and INTJs who won't budge without it... the latter because of their scientific discipline. Sheldon is not remotely bound to immediate evidence - other than that he comprehends the rational value of empirical logic. Logic demands evidence. That being said, the thirst for evidence is something I associate more with Te, for good reason. The rational requirement of evidence is a Thinking thing... the perception of it, and how that is gone about, would be S... but everyone has S, and the attitude of it is not hugely significant here, if I understand you right.

By your logic, I'd be an ISTJ. You aren't gonna get very far with that one.

Whaaaaaa....

I'm with ballast. I am simply shocked that anyone at all, let alone a majority in this thread, believe Sheldon is an S. He is the epitome of anti-S. It is a running joke on the show that he is so abstract and theoretical that any task relating to the physical world renders him helpless. He taught himself to swim out of a book, even though he has never been in the water and never intends on swimming, apparently. Classic inferior S / excessively dominant N.

This is not up for debate. It is so not up for debate, it makes me want to poop. If you don't recognize Sheldon is an N, you know less about personality type than someone who has never even heard of it. And that's kinda disturbing.
I've met ASD people whom I believe are very much SJ types who come across very..... well, in ways like Sheldon. They talk about big things, in a way that can be seen as theoretical, but is more just on the subject of theory than anything. If you really listen, an autistic ISTJ will come across perhaps like an N, but they are mostly just giving Te-opinion on things that are already out there. It screws with our perception of N and S but mostly only in the realm of stereotype. Autistic people can carry with them some tropes we associate with N types as well as them seeming more inclined to subjects of interest we'd associate more with N types.

Typing autistic people is troublesome... and no, it isn't as simple as we'd want to make it. I totally get why people would type him as an S if autism were in their minds on the subject. I don't think that autistic people are really that much harder to type, but I do see how they could cause trouble for some people.

That being said, Sheldon is definitely an N. NTP.
 
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