Psychology Facts

▼ ESTJ - The Director ▼

In the Myers-Briggs, ESTJ stands for Extraverted (likes to spend time with people), Sensing (pays attention to the five senses), Thinking (weighs principles and facts heavily), and Judging (prefers a more structured lifestyle).

ESTJs are also committed to traditions, standards, and laws. They have strong beliefs and possess sensible judgment—and they expect that others will uphold these same principles as well.

David Keirsey, the creator of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, suggests that the ESTJ personality type is the "Guardian Supervisor." This is one of four Guardian archetypes, the others being Inspector, Provider, and Protector.

An estimated 8% to 12% of the U.S. population has an ESTJ personality type. That makes this one of the most common, along with ISTJ, ISFJ, and ESFJ.

Key ESTJ Personality Type Characteristics

Individuals with this personality type tend to place a high value on tradition, rules, and security. Maintaining the status quo is important to ESTJs, and they often become involved in civic duties, government branches, and .

Because of their orthodox approach to life, an ESTJ can sometimes be seen as rigid, stubborn, and unyielding. Their take-charge attitude makes it easy for ESTJs to assume  positions.

Their self-confidence and strong convictions help ESTJs excel at putting plans into action. However, at times, they can appear critical and overly aggressive—particularly when other people fail to live up to their high standards.

People often describe ESTJs as predictable, stable, committed, and practical. They tend to be very frank and honest when it comes to sharing their opinions, which can sometimes be seen as harsh or overly critical.

Strengths

Practical and realistic

Dependable

Self-confident

Hard-working

Traditional

Strong leadership skills

Weaknesses

Insensitive

Inflexible

Not good at expressing feelings

Argumentative

Bossy

Cognitive Functions for ESTJ

Dominant: Extraverted Thinking

ESTJs rely on objective information and logic rather than personal feelings.

They are skilled at making objective, impersonal, and impartial decisions. Rather than focusing on their own subjective feelings when making judgments, they consider facts and logic to make rational choices

People with ESTJ personality types tend to be very practical. They enjoy learning about things they can see an immediate, real-world use for and tend to lose interest in things that are abstract or theoretical. ESTJs enjoy concrete facts as opposed to abstract information.

ESTJs are good at making fast and decisive choices.This trait makes them good leaders but it can also sometimes cause them to be viewed as harsh or abrasive.

Auxiliary: Introverted Sensing

ESTJs are good with a great deal of detail. Their memories of past events can be quite vivid and they often utilize recollections of past experiences to make connections with present events.

Because their sensing function is focused inwardly, ESTJs tend to be less concerned with novelty and more focused on familiarity. They enjoy having  and  they can depend upon. While this gives them stability and predictability, it can also make them stubborn and unyielding.

Tertiary: Extraverted Intuition

This aspect of the ESTJ seeks out novel ideas and possibilities. It compels people with this personality type to explore their .

As they process new ideas and information, ESTJs may explore possible meanings in order to spot new connections or patterns. This allows them to look at incoming information and recognize that there may be more than one interpretation or possible outcome.

Inferior: Introverted Feeling

When this function is used, it may lead ESTJs to make decisions based more on feelings than on logic. These are often internal valuations that lead to "gut feelings" about some situations.

While this function is not used as often, in some cases, an ESTJ might allow their subjective feelings to override their objective interpretation of a situation. ESTJs tend not to give much thought to their own feelings so this function often operates on a largely unconscious basis.

ESTJs You Might Know

Hillary Clinton

Michelle Obama

Emma Watson

Dr. Phil

Ivanka Trump

James Monroe

Grover Cleveland

Dwight Schrute (The office)

Regina George (Mean Girls)

Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Popular ESTJ Careers:

Police officer

Member of the military

Judge

Politician

Teacher

School administrator

Business manager

Accountant

Banker