# Ethnicity and Personality Type



## Dr. Metallic (Nov 15, 2008)

Yes, I'm bringing up nature/nurture :dry:

Do you think your ethnic background contributes to your type?

In order of predominance, I'm: Italian, Swedish, and Dutch.
Mussolini made the trains run on time. Sounds like something rational that I would do :laughing:


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## de l'eau salée (Nov 10, 2008)

Hmmm, I guess it could be a possibility, but we're too mixed now to really make an assumption.

I'm Portuguese, English, and Dutch. You could never guess I'm Portuguese, though...


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## CJay3113 (Dec 31, 2008)

Not in my case. Perhaps my ISTJ mother had something to do with it. Talk about keeping me grounded..


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## mcgooglian (Nov 12, 2008)

I know I've got Irish, Scottish, German and English heritage. My ancestors on the German side got kicked out of quite a few countries for fighting so there's probably more in there.


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## Dr. Metallic (Nov 15, 2008)

Yeah, this all seems really difficult to pinpoint.


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## de l'eau salée (Nov 10, 2008)

"Ethnicity" all seems silly now that I think about it. There were more primitive civilizations before the actual countries we refer to our heritages as. Did our ancestors used to call themselves those heritages that existed before the modern-day countries? Will our future generation eventually be considered American?


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## εmptε (Nov 20, 2008)

*NT: SO many different heritages it's not even funny.*


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## CJay3113 (Dec 31, 2008)

Silhouetree said:


> "Ethnicity" all seems silly now that I think about it. There were more primitive civilizations before the actual countries we refer to our heritages as. Did our ancestors used to call themselves those heritages that existed before the modern-day countries? Will our future generation eventually be considered American?


I think it really is unimportant. Yeah, one day things will be different.

On another note, I looked mixed. I am Black with some Scottish in me (like 1/6). So I don't think this information could be helpful in "typing" someone.


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## Nightriser (Nov 8, 2008)

JoeMetallic said:


> Yes, I'm bringing up nature/nurture :dry:
> 
> Do you think your ethnic background contributes to your type?
> 
> ...


It's funny, I mentioned this to Schwarz a year ago. I had an ISTP friend with a somewhat similar heritage to my own (lacking the Korean) and Schwarz also has a heritage similar to my ISTP friend and me (again, minus the Korean). The three of us had similar interests. (Keep in mind that Schwarz sometimes morphs into an INTP.) 

Anyway, in all seriousness, I don't think it is a major contributor, although, in the INTP females group, I notice an awful lot of female Asians. 

Let's examine the rest of it: German, Polish, Dutch, British, Scottish. (Conservative list of heritage, possibly more.) 
I think the so-called "stiff upper lip" of the Brits fits my family well. They disdain sentimental or emotional outbursts. 
I don't know about any stereotypical attributes of the other ethnicities.


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## mcgooglian (Nov 12, 2008)

I know the Irish portion of my family is known for being pretty charming. All of them are easy to get along with and are hard to stay mad at. They do have the irish temper though and can get mad fairly easily. I know the English side of the family tend to conservative and hard working. My grandmother actually shoveled all the snow on our property after a blizzard by herself a few years ago with no problem (she's in her 70's now).


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## Decon (Dec 9, 2008)

For all I know, it's German and Native American. It could be tons more. Although I look "Aryan" as defined by Hitler: Sandy Blonde Hair, blue eyes, stand at 6' 2".


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## Indigo Knight (Apr 25, 2009)

You could always look at twin studies (if there are any about this topic). Their nature should be identical, so you would expect the differences (if there were any from personality) to be from nurture. I don't have data to back up either side at the moment, but I would think that nurture works with what nature gives. When I have more time, I might be able to search about things like this; if you are still interested, PM me in about a week. I can try to see what I can find then.


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## rotis (Apr 23, 2009)

japanese look twins


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## Schwarz (Nov 10, 2008)

I have, among my siblings (so we have identical ethnic backgrounds) an INTP, an INFP, an ISFP, an ESFP, an ISTJ, and a weird INFP/INTP combo. But we're mixed German, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish, so that combo covers a lot of ethnically stereotypical ground.


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## thehigher (Apr 20, 2009)

filipino austrailian and *******


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## ImbecilicSage (Apr 29, 2009)

So people also advocate nationalistic stereotypes here? Personally I find that somewhat strange, but whatever. I actually do have a fetish for English women, regarding the accent, aesthetic trends, and to some extent cultural. Regarding the latter particularly, I don't really understand it as I will agree (based on personal experience) many are very conservative, and as most here could probably infer I'm a pretty eccentric person (I would think anyway). My humor tends to be pretty cynical, so maybe that's something a lot who meet me enjoy, but obviously underneath what I outwardly portray I'm actually a pretty emotional person (that can often flood out after awhile, while I try to stay very unmoved the rest of the time). Maybe it has to do with "opposites attracting" or something along those lines, but I wouldn't want to pay credence to a cliche personally... 

If anyone actually wanted me to share this, I'm of Irish, Italian, and Finnish heritage definitively. I'm likely of some English heritage, though I don't know for sure there, and my grandfather had told my mother we were of some Native American heritage, though I wouldn't know what tribe, nor would I know how factual that would be, as if you knew what kind of person he was, you'd understand he wasn't really known for great validity regarding most things. I personally don't think type has much to do with heritage base, ethnicity, or nationality. Regarding the latter, I do think social conditioning could play a part, but that's not genetic then and obviously doesn't contribute to the TRUE measure of someone's character; I do believe people who are English or of most Asian nations as another example could be pretty strong perceivers, even if they may outwardly act as Js to better conform with societal standards. 

My last sentence seemingly had me contradict my first, but when I made nationalistic references I WAS in fact trying to think empirically, not stereotypically.


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## NephilimAzrael (Oct 26, 2008)

[rant] I am Irish in heritage to a very high percentage, with some old norse ancestors, as well as Normans, Scot protocelt etc.. However, this has no effect upon my personality type, nor is it significantly relevant to my culture being an influence. If such were the case then genetic information would be highly influential and personality types such as the INTJ would come from particular genetic groups. My ethnicity and culture as influential on my personality may be accurate as a sociology measure of improving integration into limited groups, but there is diversity amongst us here alone, even in that our ethnicities differ as our type groups do, I certainly don't expect most INTJs to be protoceltic/Irish/Scottish etc, but rather the different genetic traits that manifest influence our talents in relation to the *environments* in which we develop. As such, the adaptation of different traits and behaviours is not so easily associated to a single influence such as ethnicity..[/rant]


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## Schwarz (Nov 10, 2008)

NephilimAzrael said:


> [rant] I am Irish in heritage to a very high percentage, with some old norse ancestors, as well as Normans, Scot protocelt etc.. However, this has no effect upon my personality type, nor is it significantly relevant to my culture being an influence. If such were the case then genetic information would be highly influential and personality types such as the INTJ would come from particular genetic groups. My ethnicity and culture as influential on my personality may be accurate as a sociology measure of improving integration into limited groups, but there is diversity amongst us here alone, even in that our ethnicities differ as our type groups do, I certainly don't expect most INTJs to be protoceltic/Irish/Scottish etc, but rather the different genetic traits that manifest influence our talents in relation to the *environments* in which we develop. As such, the adaptation of different traits and behaviours is not so easily associated to a single influence such as ethnicity..[/rant]


Of course, ethnicity and culture have nothing to do with genetics whatsover.


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## NephilimAzrael (Oct 26, 2008)

Schwarz said:


> Of course, ethnicity and culture have nothing to do with genetics whatsover.


Are you countering any particular point? Or are you confused as to what I wrote?


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## man (May 1, 2009)

i think it has more to do with culture and less with actual ethnicity


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## Andrea (Apr 20, 2009)

how many of you believe that there is a potential correlation between type and ethnicity (instead culture), and that it can be detected here in this thread? nothing personal of course.


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## Schattenjaeger (Jul 9, 2009)

andrea said:


> how many of you believe that there is a potential correlation between type and ethnicity (instead culture), and that it can be detected here in this thread? nothing personal of course.


Well, I don't think we'll get representative results *gg*
But it would be quite funny.


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## vanWinchester (May 29, 2009)

Hm, I know about *Swiss *and *Italian *heritage. Everything else...nooo idea. Wouldn't be surprised if I had German and Spanish heritage too (long family history). I should ask my dad next time. But that could take a while. ^^°


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## rotis (Apr 23, 2009)

I call asian as swift colored people


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## Kevinaswell (May 6, 2009)

Are a lot of INTP's German and Polish?

Cuz if so, yes.


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## Kohtumine (Aug 16, 2009)

Americans are the only people in the world I know that are so fucking *OBSSESED* with listing "their heritage" as a list of "races" they are made up. This is because your whole culture is racist right off the bat from your established social structure and the structure your government uses to category each one of you.

Here in my 3rd world banana country where I live in, no one knows or cares how our ancestry is formed up, this doesn't say anything about us in the slightest and we know that, people are different because that's because every single people in the human species is different, even in the same "race" (god , why do I have to say so obvious remarks), so saying I'm 1/8 basque, 1/8 lappon, 3/8 han, 2/8 tokelau, 1/8 tannu tuva means absolutely nothing, I might as well say my first ancestors are from a place in africa and so everyone else's (unless you're a neanderthal or a **** floresiensis, which I doubt) and be done with this stupid and ridiculous topic.


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## FrozenFire (Aug 18, 2009)

Interesting discussion, I found these links regarding MBTI and race: 

http://elps.hs.iastate.edu/hged/document/MBTI_Dan_Main.pdf - look at slides 30 and 31. 

http://www.ndu.edu/library/ic6/93S86.pdf


The first link I put up involves a few stats among 3 races in America - Caucasians, African Americans, and Hispanics. Basically it has some zany correlations, but the 3 notable ones are: 

ISTJ
caucasians - 11.1 %
african americans - 15.0 %
hispanics - 11.3 %

ISFJ
caucasians - 14.5 %
african americans - 12.7 %
hispanics - 11.2 %

ESFJ
caucasians - 12.0 %
african americans - 8.6 %
hispanics - 18.0 %


In the second link, it basically states that in a 1972 study, african americans showed high representation of E, S, T, and J. It also states that in Hawaii, those of Japanese descent were more I, J, IJ, SJ than their caucasian counterparts.


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## Kohtumine (Aug 16, 2009)

FrozenFire said:


> Interesting discussion, I found these links regarding MBTI and race:
> 
> http://elps.hs.iastate.edu/hged/document/MBTI_Dan_Main.pdf - look at slides 30 and 31.
> 
> ...


Bullshit studies, "Hispanics" is a race? News to me, "Caucasians"? What do you mean Mediterranean, Nordic, Alpines, Basque, Celtic? those idiots don't know anything, didn't even attemp to read this shit, its whole foundations are bullshit. Bah!


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## FrozenFire (Aug 18, 2009)

Tlatoani said:


> Bullshit studies, "Hispanics" is a race? News to me, "Caucasians"? What do you mean Mediterranean, Nordic, Alpines, Basque, Celtic? those idiots don't know anything, didn't even attemp to read this shit, its whole foundations are bullshit. Bah!


Keep in mind this is for America. Hispanic is a race, at least according to the United States definition. Caucasian means white. African American signifies black.


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## kdm1984 (Jul 8, 2009)

Test samples also aren't accurate all of the time. How many people have taken the test the first time to find out they really weren't that type when they looked into the system further?

I think work situations lead to many false representations of SJ. My INFP brother took the test the first time and came out ISFJ. When he looked at the descriptions further, he realized that really wasn't his type, but he came out ISFJ because he was thinking about how he was supposed to be at work.


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## FrozenFire (Aug 18, 2009)

kdm1984 said:


> Test samples also aren't accurate all of the time. How many people have taken the test the first time to find out they really weren't that type when they looked into the system further?
> 
> I think work situations lead to many false representations of SJ. My INFP brother took the test the first time and came out ISFJ. When he looked at the descriptions further, he realized that really wasn't his type, but he came out ISFJ because he was thinking about how he was supposed to be at work.


Eh true, you have a good point there. Unless they tested these people repeatedly, or unless they were previously familiar with MBTI. But yeah I guess the first time you take the test is not an accurate measure of your type. Heck, I got an Extroverted result the first time I took it.


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## Lyonessian (Jun 16, 2009)

Italian, Portuguese and Native Brazilian confirmed, maybe Spanish, Southern French and African.
I have a Mediterranean demeanour :tongue: By that I mean, traits that are appreciated by many in that macroregion, and influenced Brazilian culture as well. And match ENFP profile more than just a bit.


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## Kohtumine (Aug 16, 2009)

FrozenFire said:


> Keep in mind this is for America. Hispanic is a race, at least according to the United States definition. Caucasian means white. African American signifies black.


Oh I understand, it is a means of separating people cleanly and without error. Because race is mutually exclusive, you can't be white and black at the same time right? The same is true because "Hispanics" can't be White, or Black, Amirite?


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## kdm1984 (Jul 8, 2009)

FrozenFire said:


> Eh true, you have a good point there. Unless they tested these people repeatedly, or unless they were previously familiar with MBTI. But yeah I guess the first time you take the test is not an accurate measure of your type. Heck, I got an Extroverted result the first time I took it.


Yeah, I got INTJ myself, lol.


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

Well, I'm essentially "American" and I'd say American society favors extroverts and sensors. I feel kind of like the opposite of the norm. I tend to think personality is genetic and the way in which it manifests itself is influenced by your environment. In that sense, I think ethnic culture can influence how you develop.

My dad's side is German, and there seem to be a lot NTs amongst them. It makes for a sort of no-nonsense, abrasive atmosphere that I don't identify with, but also one which values independence and intelligence which I do identify with. If I has been raised with that, I think I would have had my sensitive side rubbed the wrong way a lot. All of the feelers who grew up in that environment tends toward depression heavily.

My mom's side is European Latin (Spanish & Italian) and there's a variety of MBTI types, but they really emphasize emotion. If you are not a warm, emotional person, then you are nasty, mean robot. Family is important, and they value culture, the arts, religion and morality. They tend to be very loud and expressive people. So it was pretty NF friendly.

I did not fully fit in with this because I am not demonstrative with my emotions. I would be criticized for being quiet and seemingly unemotional.

On the other hand, it provided a much more encouraging and nurturing environment than my German side. The Latin side tends to be sensitive and compassionate, and that was ideal for my temperament. I think it was best that my mom raised me and not my dad....


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## OrangeAppled (Jun 26, 2009)

FrozenFire said:


> Keep in mind this is for America. Hispanic is a race, at least according to the United States definition. Caucasian means white. African American signifies black.


Actually no, Hispanic is not a race; you can be any race and be considered Hispanic. It is an arbitrary ethnic classification. I say arbitrary, because it lumps together people from all Spanish speaking cultures/countries together regardless of race, nationality, and heritage.

That's like saying all people from the US, UK, Canada and Australia are a race and share the same culture simply because they all speak English.

You could have a white person from Argentina with a German and Italian heritage and they would be called Hispanic in the US. You could have a black person from Puerto Rico and they would be called Hispanic. You could have a person from Mexico who has mixed Spanish and Amerindian background and they would be called Hispanic. A white Spaniard from Europe may even be called Hispanic. It's a completely useless labeling.


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## VenusMisty (Dec 29, 2009)

French, Irish, Alsatian, German, Scotch-Irish, English, Native American.


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## roxtehproxy (Sep 9, 2009)

I'm a mixed breed, and each ethnic background makes up to be fifths at the most, being; Scottish, English, French, Portuguese and some other unidentified racial inheritance.


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## Aerorobyn (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm a mut. I couldn't say whether or not my ethnic backgrounds contribute to my overall type, but it's certainly possible. 

My mixture: Native American (Cherokee), German, English, Irish, Scottish, French. 

There could be others, but I am only aware of these.


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## Musique247 (Nov 14, 2010)

I see that this is an old thread.... I see a lot of people here (some have mentioned this already) defining their ethnicities. Well, technically speaking we can all go down a long list and say "Oh I have this in me, and that...". But what environment did you grow up in, and how did culture influence that? For myself, my mother is German, and my father is American (to be more specific African-American, or _'black'_). However, in describing German culture, I strongly relate to @OrangeAppled and her description. My mother's family (because I cannot speak for all Germans) are intellectual, caring, and nurturing. They are also direct and honest (they don't bullsh!t). My fathers side is very narcissistic, materialistic, and status driven, and are not very objective. I prefer not the describe this in relation to culture, because I always meet people that defy these 'categorizations'. While ethnicity and culture can be interrelated, we cannot forget how the individual perceives / senses their culture, which can alter it from what we 'know'. 

My parents are both very intelligent people, but very opposite in personality. She rather discuss issues, and my father rather ignore. She is organized and timely, he is unorganized and messy. They are both temperamental, but damn if they don't love each other.  They give the best advice, both offering different perspectives. My mother is like this because her family was like this, my father is like this because his family wasn't. I feel that this has influenced me more than what I can contribute to a 'generalized' culture. 

And on a side-note, I am frustrated with the categorization system. I love meeting people from different cultures, but I don't have the need to define everyone I need and compare them to some stereotype that I don't even know to be valid. 

Below I decided to include some definitions... interesting to see what you all think of the original definition of _Cauc_*asian*. 



> World English Dictionary
> ethnic or ethnical (ˈɛθnɪk)
> 
> — adj
> ...





> cul·ture
> [kuhl-cher]
> 1.the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
> 
> ...





> Cau·ca·sian
> 
> 1. Anthropology . of, pertaining to, or characteristic of one of the traditional racial divisions of humankind, marked by *fair to dark skin,* *straight to tightly curled hair*, and *light to very dark eyes*, and o*riginally inhabiting Europe, parts of North Africa, western Asia, and India*: no longer in technical use.
> 
> ...


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## Time to Paradox (May 17, 2010)

Black; ISTJ.


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## dreamer 1977 (Dec 14, 2010)

Half Irish American, Half Pakistani. ISFP. 

People's ethnicity has nothing to do with their personality type. I'm sure cultures prefer certain personality types but does that mean you are more likely to possess that trait? I don't think so. I would think that all that would do is reward those with certain personality traits and ostracize those that do not.



Cogdecree said:


> You didn't single which area you were curious about, so I'm guessing all, and this is based on cultural observation or what is displayed as I have noted earlier, there has not been any studies done with MBTI to what the OP is asking.
> 
> The USA is overall a TJ culture with whites making up at least 60% of the US contributing to such. You'll find items like materialism, wealth measurement, and a time based focus within this group.
> 
> ...


That's all generalizations.


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## soya (Jun 29, 2010)

INFP. I'm Irish and Croatian. I don't think nationality or ethnicity determine personality type, but it's interesting to think about the possible role genetics might have in temperament.

I do think it would be controversial to have descriptions written up for ethnic groups of people in a format similar to dog breed temperament descriptions, though.

Saying " Labrador Retrievers are kindly, good-natured, and take most things in stride" is more PC than saying "Western Europeans are kindly, good-natured, and take most things in stride".


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## amybop (May 11, 2011)

I'm ENFP, and my ethnicity is 50% Ashkenazi (Jewish.. although according to Jewish beliefs, Judaism is a race, so therefore I would be 100% Jewish), and some mix of Irish, French, German, English, and Scottish.


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## pretty.Odd (Oct 7, 2010)

I'm a black INFP.


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## MonieJ (Nov 22, 2010)

Black:ISTJ


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## nevermore (Oct 1, 2010)

Canadian INTP (and yes, that's totally an ethnicity :crazy


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## buddhistcarnivore (Jan 30, 2014)

I am Polish, Russian, and English. I think the people on my Polish and Russian side are mostly ESFJs, ISTJs, and ENTPS while most of the people on my English side are ENTPs and INTJs.


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## School (Apr 29, 2014)

I'm Norwegian, with some Sami  and Finnish blood. 

My personality type is INTP.


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## denasmee (Jun 24, 2013)

hawaiin, Italian, philipino, Spanish, and indian. I am an INFJ. 

Sent from my 1015E using Tapatalk


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## Grandmaster Yoda (Jan 18, 2014)

50% Greek.
Greek Philosophers, INTP philosophers, connection, I know everything now.


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## King Nothing (Sep 8, 2013)

75% Russian and 25% Austrian, fourth and fifth generation, nothing to do with my personality.


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

100% Vietnamese . But I'm born and raise in California . Highly doubt ethnicity has anything to do with personality type most Asian American that I know are ENTP of some sort of T type 


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## honoshikun (Sep 16, 2013)

Irish, Spanish, German, Polish, and Russian

ENFP


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## Kingdom Crusader (Jan 4, 2012)

I'm an INTP and at least mostly Vietnamese. And having to deal with my parents' cultural, as well as personality rooted views, have influenced me to some degree. I also have American culture thrown into the mix. 

I have observed in the past 3 decades that Vietnamese are overwhelmingly Si dominant, with a few ESFJs here and there. I've only met 2 suspected INTPs, and no ENTPs. There's relatively few extroverts among us, at least in my locale (Houston).


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## metaphor (Mar 10, 2014)

80% Spanish 20% French and I'm INFP


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## Fire Away (Nov 29, 2013)

LOL...another one of these fucking threads. :laughing:


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## AnDieFreude (May 10, 2014)

Half Irish, half English INFP


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## ai.tran.75 (Feb 26, 2014)

Asian_Chick said:


> I'm an INTP and at least mostly Vietnamese. And having to deal with my parents' cultural, as well as personality rooted views, have influenced me to some degree. I also have American culture thrown into the mix.
> 
> I have observed in the past 3 decades that Vietnamese are overwhelmingly Si dominant, with a few ESFJs here and there. I've only met 2 suspected INTPs, and no ENTPs. There's relatively few extroverts among us, at least in my locale (Houston).


Si dominant is a definite - never notice it but quite true. I don't think there are many of us who are intrigue by socionics/jung either 


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## tangosthenes (Oct 29, 2011)

I just realized that if you're half English, half Chinese, you're 100% Chinglish.

INTP, All ethnicities of the British Isles + Cherokee. I suppose that makes me Chinglish as well.


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