# Steve Jobs: ENTJ or INTJ?



## Champagne Wishes

Curious... My husband saw a doc about him and said he reminds him a lot of me. He's been listed as both.


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## brookeg

My guess- ENTJ. I mean, "the executive"? haha. He's seems more extroverted than introverted, and a lot of business leaders, entrepreneurs, etc. are ENTJs! Also, consider ENTP...


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## Miso

He's not an ENTJ guys, this has been discussed so many times it makes my head dizzy. 

He's an ENTP.


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## Alumina

INTJ or ENTP

and he reminds me of very few people.


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## Debaser

Alumina said:


> INTJ or ENTP
> 
> and he reminds me of very few people.


This. These two types are actually very similar in a surprising number of ways, and consequently are confused a lot. I lean towards Jobs as ENTP, though. I think Bill Gates is an INTJ.


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## DarkSage

Steve Jobs was an action oriented micro-manager and was known for picking out even the smallest details and along with this considering his focus on aesthetics make me suspect that he was an ISTP. What I am sure about though is that he was definitely a Ti user because he often talked about the importance of simplifying complexities and ending up with clear simple solutions. This trait is often found in Ti users.


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## Xenograft

He's definitely an ENTP.


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## an absurd man

He was known to be obsessive about details, his thinking was very black & white, and vision involved systems building. For example he was obsessed about tightly integrating hardware, software, and applications, as opposed to the rest of the industry in which companies tended to focus on these separate areas alone.

If it's between INTJ and ENTP, he sounds more INTJ. 

I've also seen him typed as ISTP.


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## Rainbow

He had some weird interests - especially with how he chose to treat his health issues. He was practicing raw foodism and fasting (from what I heard), and I know many ENTJS who are into weird diet fads.
Also, an introvert making such a big company??? You have to network to get as far and high as he did.


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## Debaser

an Absurd Man said:


> He was known to be obsessive about details, his thinking was very black & white, and vision involved systems building. For example he was obsessed about tightly integrating hardware, software, and applications.
> 
> If it's between INTJ and ENTP, he sounds more INTJ.
> 
> I've also seen him typed as ISTP.


I was under the impression that INTJs aren't really obsessive about details, nor is their thinking always black and white. That sounds more ISTJ to me. I say ENTP because he definitely seemed to use both Ne and Ti, simple as that.


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## Champagne Wishes

Rainbow said:


> He had some weird interests - especially with how he chose to treat his health issues. He was practicing raw foodism and fasting (from what I heard), and I know many ENTJS who are into weird diet fads.
> Also, an introvert making such a big company??? You have to network to get as far and high as he did.


Ha, that's considered an ENTJ trait? I was a vegan and then a vegetarian for a year, then a raw foodist for almost a year. I did Paleo for a bit too, and I have a Hurom Slow Juicer that I use to make green juice.


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## an absurd man

Debaser said:


> I was under the impression that INTJs aren't really obsessive about details, nor is their thinking always black and white. That sounds more ISTJ to me. I say ENTP because he definitely seemed to use both Ne and Ti, simple as that.


INTJs can be obsessive about details if they are interesting/important or if under stress. Easier for an INTJ to think in a black & white manner than an ENTP, no?


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## Debaser

kb82 said:


> *Ha, that's considered an ENTJ trait?* I was a vegan and then a vegetarian for a year, then a raw foodist for almost a year. I did Paleo for a bit too, and I have a Hurom Slow Juicer that I use to make green juice.


I think the whole weird interests and beliefs thing is an Ni thing, so it would apply to INTJ, INFJ, ENFJ etc. as well.


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## Debaser

an Absurd Man said:


> INTJs can be obsessive about details if they are interesting/important or if under stress. Easier for an INTJ to think in a black & white manner than an ENTP, no?


Perhaps, but I never really saw Jobs as thinking in black-and-white anyway. He always seemed to think VERY creatively and outside the box. Full color thinking if you ask me. At any rate, assuming both of us want to claim Jobs, I think we both might be a bit biased. But that being said, I can easily see him as either type. ISTP not so much. I've seen that same typing before, but I don't get it. Seems like a very strong N to me.


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## Rainbow

kb82 said:


> Ha, that's considered an ENTJ trait?


I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but to me it seems like it is.


kb82 said:


> I was a vegan and then a vegetarian for a year, then a raw foodist for almost a year. I did Paleo for a bit too, and I have a Hurom Slow Juicer that I use to make green juice.


 @MsBossyPants is also a vegan. :tongue:


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## Fern

Everyone's wrong.
ISFP.

:wink:


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## chaoticbrain

He's NiFe, his business was cult-like and ran on a sort of emotional guilt tripping which Te users wouldn't engage in. His success came from his ability to predict the future (Ni) and cater to current social dynamics (Fe). Keep in mind just because you remind your husband of him doesn't mean your the same type.


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## The Wanderering ______

Honestly without being able to see how Steve Jobs operates in real life, we will never know what type he is. Everyone will assume INTJ or ENTP or ENTJ because he was a successful entrepreneur. But MBTI isn't about what your job was, its about functions. Steve Jobs could be an INFP for all we know.


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## Debaser

chaoticbrain said:


> He's NiFe, *his business was cult-like and ran on a sort of emotional guilt tripping which Te users wouldn't engage in.* His success came from his ability to predict the future (Ni) and cater to current social dynamics (Fe). Keep in mind just because you remind your husband of him doesn't mean your the same type.


You'd be surprised. A Te user would be concerned with what is most efficient, practical, and works the best, not "emotional guilt tripping." In fact an Fe user would be far more concerned with the emotional effect on others and feel bad about it so they wouldn't do it. Just because one uses Te does not mean they do not understand emotion or how to manipulate people with it. Not as though what you're saying makes any sense whatsoever in regards to Apple anyway. Social pressure and a "cool" factor as part of a marketing scheme, yes. "Emotional guilt tripping?" That sounds more like Hallmark or something.

Oh, and the whole manipulating people thing that you seem to be suggesting sounds pretty ENTP to me. It also seems to me a lot like you are confusing Apple fans with Steve Jobs himself. The cult leader isn't the feeler; the followers are.


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## Debaser

The Wanderering ______ said:


> Honestly without being able to see how Steve Jobs operates in real life, we will never know what type he is. Everyone will assume INTJ or ENTP or ENTJ because he was a successful entrepreneur. But MBTI isn't about what your job was, its about functions. Steve Jobs could be an INFP for all we know.


The same could be said for pretty much any public figure. However, we can infer what functions they most likely had based on how they operated and presented themselves.


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## The Wanderering ______

Debaser said:


> The same could be said for pretty much any public figure. However, we can infer what functions they most likely had based on how they operated and presented themselves.


Yes, but functions are about more than just what you see. We could be perceiving Steve Jobs's image which may or may not have anything to do with his functions.


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## Debaser

The Wanderering ______ said:


> Yes, but functions are about more than just what you see. We could be perceiving Steve Jobs's image which may or may not have anything to do with his functions.


True. But really, we have nothing more to go on than what we saw and the most reliable information about his life behind-the-scenes we can get. It's all speculation, not an exact scientific process. Threads like this wouldn't exist at all if we would only wrote about what we can be certain about. Hell, MBTI isn't exactly a certain or scientific process itself.


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## The Wanderering ______

Debaser said:


> Hell, MBTI isn't exactly a certain or scientific process itself.


I want to take this quote and hang it on every thread on this site.


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## an absurd man

Debaser said:


> Perhaps, but I never really saw Jobs as thinking in black-and-white anyway.





chaoticbrain said:


> He's NiFe, his business was cult-like and ran on a sort of emotional guilt tripping which Te users wouldn't engage in. His success came from his ability to predict the future (Ni) and cater to current social dynamics (Fe).


What I meant by his black & white thinking was the way he thought "You're either an A player or you're shit." You're either great or you're nothing to him. It's in this was he created a cult-like following amongst loyal employees who wanted to his approval. Whether he did this purposefully or whether it was innate, we may never know.

On his ability to charm your face off (later on in life at least) to get what he wanted only to throw you away later... Fe type? Maybe, but not necessarily.


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## Miso

an Absurd Man said:


> If it's between INTJ and ENTP, he sounds more INTJ.
> 
> I've also seen him typed as ISTP.


He's an extrovert. I have had a few friends who worked at Apple corporate, during his time as CEO, say he definitely was NOT an introvert. He was _private_, but not introverted. Which are two different things.

He was never exhausted by social interactions. Some people viewed his indifference to talk and interact with people as shyness. No, he was discerning about who he interacted with. Can you imagine being a brilliant idea person and listening to hundreds of people talk about their "ideas" (which all suck and don't have focus)? Conversations he was engaged in, he was very commanding and even lead most of conversations. 

I can talk circles around my INTJ friends. They're reserved. Methodical. Patient. Very good listeners. They have to sit and think before they project. Jobs was hardly patient, ever. He also was quick minded and projected very rapidly (while still being generally correct) about most ideas.

Also...

INTJ: Dominant Introverted Intuition
ENTP: Dominant Extraverted Intuition

He is _definitely not _an INTJ.


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## an absurd man

Miso said:


> He's an Extrovert and...
> 
> INTJ: Dominant Introverted Intuition
> ENTP: Dominant Extraverted Intuition
> 
> He is _definitely not _an INTJ.


I don't think he was an INTJ either. I only picked examples of his personality and strategy that looked more INTJ than ENTP and didn't mean it as conclusive.

I'm starting to see ENTP, but not completely convinced.


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## kimpossible119

I say he's more of an ENTJ. Either that or an ENTP with some form of OCD.


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## BroNerd

I've been reading Walter Isaacson's biography on Steve Jobs. It's kind of hard to pinpoint him as a certain type but perhaps an anti-establishment ENTJ. His vision for the Macintosh definitely was very Ni-like. His desire to have control of the world around him and how he dealt with his colleagues/subordinates was very J-like.
It's tempting to type him as a P since he was very offbeat and liked to surprise/shock people impulsively (particularly to test whether the person could handle him) but that could be explained by tertiary Se. The inferior Fi can be seen from his sudden and erratic emotional outbursts.

I'm going with ENTJ for now...the one what-if though is that his Feeling function does seem more apparent than his Sensing function, the guy was a clear N but I think that could be explained by ENTJ with very well-developed Ni. Steve Jobs was definitely not an introvert. Everything I've read in the biography suggests extrovert.


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## Nathan005

*Misunderstanding of the I type*

As a public speaking INTJ - I think quite a few people are confused about the difference between *I* and *E*.

Most people think I am an *E* because I am an entertainer - which I enjoy, and I know that I must do to achieve success. (I want to persuade people to think like me)
However I could not function if I didn't have time by myself to walk through my thoughts
I often walk around and speak with others on the work place - and I used them as a sounding board
Not to think through things out loud, but to test theories of how others will respond
I get their perspective to understand how they think and make a better choice.
I test theories out loud, and sometimes think out loud (a *P* vs *J* trait I would argue - I do this before I have made a judgment) 
I also have no problem with quick thoughts and jump to conclusions very quickly, in conversation I speak, and think faster than most others. (it drives me crazy when people take to long to get their ideas out)
I am not exhausted by social interaction, unless the subject is boring or with stupid people, as long as we are pursuing ideas together - but its not about the people, its about the idea, or thoughts.
In listening I am not naturally patient I often interrupt, especially if people are off topic or in a tangent.
I can't recall a single time where I have not been able to process faster than everyone around me 
the only time I'm slow is when people are boring or will not listen, or I'm trying not to offend them.

I would argue Jobs as an *I* because he did not find strength in personal relationships.
Most of his personal relationships he used for what he could get from people as opposed to what he enjoyed from people.
He had no problem offending people and didn't care if they liked him.
He viewed social graces as lies that people told each other to feel better - not a very *E* trait.
He didn't seem to share uncensored information (what an *E* would do) he shared what he had already processed. in new discovery he was always analyzing. He would often reject and Idea (why he was probably a *J*) go away, process and return the next day with the idea accepted 
again he processed the idea alone - like an *I* - then based on the information made a new Judgment that is now truth

Not a type expert yet, but as an Introvert in public speaking I know how others misperceive me.


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## Nathan005

After reading the type description and seeing how an analyst (NT) responds to the E trait

ENTJ is very reasonable


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## Word Dispenser

Champagne Wishes said:


> Steve jobs: ENTJ or INTJ?


I'd say neither or.

Probably an xNTP. I'd lean towards the introverted spectrum.


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## Cesspool

Neither. ISTP.


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## MetaMD

Nathan005 said:


> As a public speaking INTJ - I think quite a few people are confused about the difference between *I* and *E*.
> 
> I would argue Jobs as an *I* because he did not find strength in personal relationships.
> Most of his personal relationships he used for what he could get from people as opposed to what he enjoyed from people.
> He had no problem offending people and didn't care if they liked him.
> He viewed social graces as lies that people told each other to feel better - not a very *E* trait.
> He didn't seem to share uncensored information (what an *E* would do) he shared what he had already processed. in new discovery he was always analyzing. He would often reject and Idea (why he was probably a *J*) go away, process and return the next day with the idea accepted
> again he processed the idea alone - like an *I* - then based on the information made a new Judgment that is now truth
> 
> Not a type expert yet, but as an Introvert in public speaking I know how others misperceive me.


To Nathan005,

You do have a good point about introverts, but you confused about I/E and T/F. The above personality quality you mentioned about Jobs is Thinker quality, not Introvert quality. Thinkers don't value interpersonal relationship as much as Feelers do. "He viewed social graces as lies that people told each other to feel better." This is a very Thinker-like analysis from Jobs. 

Introvert/Extrovert is where you are recharged. Introverts are recharged energetically by being alone to process information. Extroverts get recharged from being around people. It has nothing to do with valuing relationships. Extroverts just get energy from human interactions.


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## MetaMD

kimpossible119 said:


> I say he's more of an ENTJ. Either that or an ENTP with some form of OCD.


Totally agree with you. lol


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## Hei

Neither, definite ENTP


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## piano

oh, please. he's ISTP.

Ti-Ni is the epitome of minimalism/simplicity. design aesthetic is Se-Ni and the technological aspect/application of it is Ti. Ti-Ni and Ti-Si are both detail oriented but the end product is different.


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