ENTP Personality Type

ENTP Personality Traits

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he ENTP personality belongs to the rational temperament group and are referred to as “the debater”, “the visionary”, or “the inventor”. These people are inspired innovators, motivated to find new solutions to intellectually challenging problems. They enjoy engaging in debate and the art of winning arguments for it’s own sake. They can see an issue from many different angles and will often play devil’s advocate just for sport whether or not they actually believe in the case their making.

ENTP share the same functions as the INTP, namely that of (Ne) and the Extroverted Intuitive quirkiness. However, because the ENTP leads with Extroverted Intuition (Ne), they appear more conspicuously quirky than the INTP. They are curious and clever, constantly plucking odd insights from the world around them. They seek novelty and seek to comprehend the people, systems, and principles in their lives. Open-minded and unconventional, Visionaries want to analyze, understand, and influence other people.

ENTP people are capricious and mercurial. Jocular and humorous individuals who are easy going tend not to take things personally. They are open minded and mentally flexible but not so good with fulfilling mundane day to day chores errands and tasks. They are excellent at generating ideas and theories but lack the follow-through to bring them to fruition. The ENTP instead prefers to let others handle the drudgery and ground work of bringing their ideas to life. They see the world as their intellectual playground and as a place for them to unfold their experiments just to see what will happen.

ENTP Thinking Process

Though they are logical individuals, they are not strictly rationalists or systems thinkers but instead have a more original and unconventional bend to their thought processes. They are always scanning the outside world and connecting the dots and intuiting fresh insights they cook up from inside the igneous furnace of their active minds. They consider the implications and hidden meaning behind the obvious appearance of the physical world. They are able to zero in on the underlying connective tissue that binds seemingly unrelated things.

ENTP individuals are motivated by challenge, the more difficult the better. They are confident in their ability to solve problems with creativity and often believe that others are hampered by their over-reliance on tradition and fear of experimentation and taking risks. The Visionary relies on their ingenuity to deal with the world around them, and rarely finds preparation necessary. They will often jump into a new situation and trust their instincts to lead them through.

The ENTP is a master of re-inventing the wheel and can find many different ways to perform a task. They buck the norms or ignore them altogether. They do not restrict or limit themselves with stodgy protocol or rote procedures. They play by ear, putting an original spin on things which may turn out great or not so great but they will always enjoy the process of trying something new. Established procedures are uninspiring to the Visionary, who would much rather try a new method (or two) than go along with the standard.

ENTP enjoy playful banter. Their quick wit and command of language gives them the upper hand in debate where they often cheerfully poke fun at their opponent’s habits and eccentricities. While the ENTP enjoys pushing buttons, in the end they are usually happy to live and let live.

ENTP Personality Relationships

In relationships often make for exciting, spontaneous partners. They are bursting with ideas to explore together and they take pride in their ability to understand and communicate with others. They strive to improve and build on their relationships and strengthen bonds with their loved ones. The ideal mate for an ENTP appreciates their ingenuity, competence, and perceptiveness, and supports them in their ever-changing interests, schemes, and social pursuits.They are interested in hearing their partners problems so that they may go about inventing an ingenious resolution for it.

The ENTP encourages their mates to reach for the stars and support them with advice and suggestions. However, they may be competitive or even argumentative; they enjoy a good debate for its own sake. They typically need a partner who is emotionally resilient and doesn’t take offense at their intellectual challenges. An ENTP can be unreliable as they follow their inspiration, wherever it leads. They care little for order or routine, and may neglect mundane household chores as they pursue more stimulating activities.

ENTP Personality Careers

There is a curious anomaly regarding the ENTP‘s choice of occupations. ENTP people are society’s pioneering entrepreneurs who tend to have their hands in many pots. This was confirmed by a study which found that ENTP types most liked the work environment characteristic “independence and achievements” and “Opportunities for advancement and high pay but not job security” (Myers et al., 1998). A study of 341 software technical professionals found that ENTP and INTPs were the types most likely to choose to start their own business (Garden, 1997). The #1 adjective that non-type-saavy observers used to described female ENTP was “enterprising” (Thorne & Gough, 1991).

Executive
Entrepreneur
HR Recruiter
Management Consultant
Marketing Manager
Sales Manager
Corporate Trainer
Property Manager
Venture Capitalist
Ad Account Executive
Creative Director
Financial Planner
Stockbroker
Real Estate Agent
Cost Estimator

Public Relations Specialist
Reporter
Copywriter
Art Director
Producer or Director
Journalist
Market Researcher
Internet Architect
Photographer
Actor
School Psychologist
Organizational Psychologist
Chiropractor
Political Scientist
Attorney

Architect
Industrial Designer
Urban Planner
Industrial Engineer
Environmental Scientist
Drafter
Aerospace Engineer
Geologist
Detective
Criminalist
Public Administrator
Politician
Social Scientist
Health Care Administrator
Education Director

ENTP Statistics

ENTP is one of the rarer types in the population.
3% of the general population
4% of men
2% of women
In national sample “Leisure Activities,” ENTP type was overrepresented in “Taking classes, going to school,” “Writing,” “Playing sports,” “Playing with computers or video games”
ENTP type was Underrepresented in “Watching TV 3 or more hours per day.”
Academic subjects preferred: art, science.
1 of 2 types most frequent among college alcohol policy violators.
In national sample, the ENTP was the highest of all types in liking work environment characteristics “Independence & achievement” and “Opportunities for advancement & high pay, but not job security” and including “Variety of tasks” and “Clear structure” among top 3 characteristics
1 of top 3 types liking “International opportunities” as a characteristic.
Most important feature on an ideal job: creativity and originality.
In national sample, dissatisfied with “Promotions,” “Opportunities to use talents,” and “Salary” in their work.
In national sample, among those types most dissatisfied with their work and among those with the highest income.
ENTP along with ENFPs, had highest mean level of coping resources.
Overrepresented among those having Type A behavior.
In national sample, highest in coping with stress by “Confronting the problem.”
In national sample, ranked lowest in “Ever had heart disease/hypertension.”

ENTP Famous People

Adam Savage
Alexander the Great
Alfred Hitchcock
Barack Obama
Benjamin Franklin
Bill Hicks
Bill Maher
Billy Crystal
Blaise Pascal
Catherine the Great
Celine Dion
David Hume
David Hyde Pierce
David Spade
Edmund Burke
Federico Fellini
Henry Kissinger
Hugh Grant
John Adams
John Stuart Mill
John von Neumann
Jon Stewart
Julia Child
Leonardo da Vinci
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mao Zedong
Neil Patrick Harris
Newt Gingrich
Nikola Tesla
Richard Feynman
Robert Downey Jr.
Rose McGowan
Rowan Atkinson
Salma Hayek
Sarah McLachlan
Sir Walter Raleigh
Socrates
Stephen Colbert
Theodore Roosevelt
Thomas Edison
Tom Hanks
Voltaire
Walt Disney
Werner Heisenberg