Ed Mackenzie MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Ed Mackenzie? Ed Mackenzie is an INFP personality type in MBTI, 5w6 - - 592 in Enneagram, RCOAI in Big 5, EII in Socionics.
Ahh, another INFJ/INFP vote split. Fictional characters are often either too vaguely drawn or inconsistent to effectively type, and people are free to read into them what they choose. All the same, I'm up for offering my thoughts when the vote's divided between INFJ and INFP because these two types are so often mistaken for one another or mistyped as one another. Getting as close a read as possible on INFx characters can help to avoid mistaking them for one another in real life. So, my read on Ed: I get the split vote because he has qualities that could either be INFJ or INFP, but he can consistently be read as an INFP, whereas reading him as an INFJ requires overlooking inconsistencies. What he shares in common with both: he's extremely good at reading people. Nothing gets past him. I understand the ISFJ votes because he's depicted as a 'safe' alternative to Nathan, but ISFJs can be somewhat naive/ overly trusting, taking people at face value. Ed is perceptive in a way that’s unique to INFx. He's also creative and sensitive, although he doesn't readily show it because he doesn't like to draw attention to himself. And, he's conflict avoidant and a good mediator who doesn't like to 'make waves'. This is often more readily associated with INFJs than INFPs due to INFJs’ auxiliary Fe and because the archetypal focus on INFPs' individualism can obscure how mediating and unwilling to rock the boat they usually are. I suspect this is a significant reason why many have voted INFJ. However, in reality, this is a trait INFJs and INFPs share up to a point, although there are differences in how they respond to conflicted situations, and I’ll address that. What's more consistent with INFP: first, he’s quite passive. He’s married a very assertive woman and is generally content to let her take the reins. This is more common for INFPs in relationships than for INFJs, who are more likely to see themselves and their significant other as independent agents who’ll remain together for as long as it works. INFPs’ tertiary Si means they like a level of comfort and routine, and their inferior extraverted judging means they’re often comfortable relinquishing control to others. Ed is deeply loyal to the relationship, even to his own detriment, describing Madeline as his ‘one’. INFPs are very idealistic and more likely to see a significant other as ‘the one’ than INFJs, whose internal Ni-Ti approaches relationships with a bit more critical detachment. Madeline thinks he’s ‘safe’ in part because she doesn’t think he’ll ever leave her. Although Ed closes off in the second season, this instinct to close off emotionally when hurt is equally common for INFJs and INFPs. Crucially, he never leaves and ultimately opens up his heart to her again. When INFJs are so deeply betrayed, they find it easier than INFPs to emotionally close the door and not look back. INFJs' proneness to the so-called ‘door slam’ is partly because they give so much of themselves to everyone, causing them to burn out when someone crosses a line, and there isn’t evidence that Ed does that. He’s selective: he’s very caring toward his family, but he isn’t out there facilitating harmony with everyone. He doesn’t understand why Madeline is constantly inserting herself into people’s lives to try to help them. He also tells Nathan that sometimes people just don’t get along, and that should be fine. He doesn’t alter his behaviour according to what will achieve harmony, either; he behaves in accordance with how he’s internally feeling, and believes firmly in authenticity even when it makes things awkward. In the school meeting, he stands grumpily in the back instead of sitting with everyone else, and at Amabella’s birthday party he speaks his mind to Madeline and fights back when Nathan bullies him, despite being surrounded by people. These are public displays of personal emotion which create social tension, things an INFJ would avoid no matter how upset they were internally. He also can’t conceal what he’s feeling when he performs the song at the end of season one: his discomfort in being the centre of attention is blatantly obvious. That said, he’s unexpectedly talented. He has the INFP quality of seeming rather bland, but having these bursts of creativity and zaniness that reveal what’s underneath. Everyone seems genuinely surprised by his talent. Unlike INFJs, who easily adapt to various social situations and are therefore more likely to be mistaken for someone entirely different from who they are, INFPs can come off as rather ‘invisible’ and boring, often surprising people when their individuality comes through. EDIT: I mean, either read this brief description of INFP 9w1 - https://personalityhunt.com/INFP-9w1-heres-what-to-expect/ - or listen to some of the ways Matt Sherman describes INFP 9s here - https://youtu.be/004BifHe-30 - and then listen to Adam Scott’s description of Ed here - https://youtu.be/U7IIFzdwes8 - from 20:20 to 24:55. Ed’s the spitting image.
Biography
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