The MBTI® Test ESFJ Personality Type and Emotional Intelligence

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The level at which an individual processes, maintains, and deals with emotions can be traced back to his or her Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) personality type. To better understand how your emotions affect yourself and your relationships with others, it behooves you to learn more about your MBTI type. This week, we’ll discuss the strengths and weaknesses of an Extraverted Feeling with Introverted Sensing (ESFJ) type’s emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is considered “a complex ability to regulate your impulses, empathize with others, and persist and be resilient in the face of obstacles.” (Pearman, 2002, CPP) ESFJ types , for example, are very compassionate and sympathetic people, keeping an open mind when it comes to the thoughts, opinions, and traditions of others. They do what they can to help those that are close to them and offer reinforcement and reassurance whenever needed. They are fairly faithful to themselves and others when it comes to their emotions, taking responsibility for them or accepting them at face value. (Pearman, 2002, CPP)

ESFJ personality types enjoy helping others through their actions, often devoting their energy to some form of charity work or service—they especially enjoy the feeling of being acknowledged for their work. They enjoy schedules and prefer a very structured kind of change, one that is easy to anticipate and plan for. This desire for structure is also a quality that Myers-Briggs ESFJ types hold in various areas of their life, and they excel most when these parameters are met, such as in environments where duties and tasks are clearly assigned and where everyone is contented with their position. (Pearman, 2002, CPP)

MBTI ESFJ types are pretty confident in themselves all around, which means that they are particularly affected by extreme negative criticism. However, this aside, ESFJ types spend a great deal of their time doing their best to make others happy, whether that means strengthening relationships, working well with others in various situations, responding to others’ actions and inquiries openly, knowing everything about their friends, helping them with their emotional issues, recognizing social patterns that may relay underlying problems, and showing respect even in situations that may have become awkward or uncomfortable. (Pearman, 2002, CPP)

Although ESFJ types are often incredibly emotionally intelligent, both with their own emotions and those of others, there are still areas for improvement. For example, Myers Briggs ESFJ types should try to view their relationships and emotions in a larger context, rather than getting caught up in the details of each interaction. Furthermore, ESFJ’s should also step outside of their comfort zone and interact more with individuals whose personality types are generally different than those they usually get along with, as this will help them learn to handle others. Similar to this, ESFJ types would also benefit from crafting various new techniques for dealing with disagreements—as the ESFJ type meets new people with different personalities, this will come in handy. If ESFJ types work toward developing these new skills, they can further the development of their emotional intelligence, and become an all-around more approachable person. (Pearman, 2002, CPP)

Discover how your personality best manages conflict, how the different parts of your personality work together to make decisions or gather information, how your personality type best communicates with others, and how you best deal with change in your life.

Learn to communicate more efficiently by understanding how your personality type best interacts with others with the MBTI test below:

References

Introduction To Type® and Emotional Intelligence. (Pearman, R. CPP, 2002)

Learn More About the MBTI ESFJ Personality Type

• Explore our MBTI ESFJ Personality Type Page

ESFJ Careers

Click on one of these corresponding popular ESFJ Careers for detailed information including Career Stats, Income Stats, Daily Tasks and Required Education: Hotel, Motel, or Resort Clerk, Kindergarten Teacher, Meeting, Convention, or Event Planner, Personal or Home Care Aide, Radiologic Technologist, Receptionist or Information Clerk, Registered Nurse,Secretary, Teacher Assistant, and Teller.

Explore additional information that delves deeper into the ESFJ Personality Type by examining various personality and career based subjects:

• How the MBTI ESFJ Type relates to Innovation
• How the MBTI ESFJ Type relates to Project Management
• How the MBTI ESFJ Type relates to Leadership
• How the MBTI ESFJ Type relates to Communication

Click On Your Personality Type & Read About Your Emotional Intelligence:

Click on a link below to read more about different MBTI Personality Types