The ENFJ also known as the Protagonist Personality Type are some of the most prominent personalities in today’s world. They lead by example and are altruistic in their behavior. These personality types thrive in being extroverted and live for the people.
These idealistic and thoughtful personalities believe they serve a greater purpose and work towards it with all they have got. Let us understand this particular personality type, its origin, strengths, weaknesses, and everything else you should know.
What Is The ENFJ Personality Type? Everything You Need To Know
The ENFJ personality type comes from the Myer Briggs Personality Test Indicator which identifies a person’s personalities out of a total of 16 different ones. One of those personalities is the Protagonist personality type.
The Protagonist is a leader who gets energy by interacting with others. Think of them as “people persons.” They prefer feeling and judgement rather than over-analyzing behaviors.
The ENFJ acronym itself comes from four different factors.
- E: Extraversion
- N: Intuition
- F: Feeling
- J: Judgement
The people with this personality are outgoing, loyal, and social. They have attractive personalities which is part of the reason why they are always out and about. That is also part of the reason why most of them are coaches, politicians, and teachers.
These empathetic individuals live their life with a sense of greater purpose and help others do the same. The best part about these personalities is they can forge friendships with anyone, even someone who is shy and reserved. That being said, let us analyze what their characteristics are.
Characteristics of the ENFJ/Protagonist Personality Type
The Protagonist personality type has extraverted characteristics. They are interested in talking to people and are recharged by the same. For a field of reference, Introverts are energized by staying isolated and watching their favorite TV shows.
These people are vocal, tend to lead from the front and speak out if they want. Their personality is what magnetizes them to people and the other way around as well. Listed below are some of their characteristics.
- Empathy and Understanding: They have an innate ability to empathize with the feelings and experience towards their peers and other individuals. This helps them form strong bonds with anyone and understand them on a deeper level.
- Charm and Charisma: Their natural charm and lively personality helps them captivate audiences and get what they want. They are really effective communicators.
- Altruism: These personalities have genuine care towards the well being of others and they go to great heights to ensure they feel well. They hope for the success of others.
- They are Visionaries: These personality types are always finding ways to bring change in their lives and the world around them. This helps in inspiring others and bringing out enthusiasm in their peers.
- Peacemaking Abilities: The Protagonists always desire harmony in all situations. That is why, they feel the need to create harmony in friendships and environments. They also promote co-operation and resolve conflicts.
ENFJ Strengths And Weaknesses
All personalities have their given strengths and weaknesses, there is no ultimate personality archetype. There is a balance of power in each personality, some have higher resonance towards human relationships while others do well in isolation.
Here are the strengths and weaknesses of the ENFJ personality type:
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
| Strong Leadership | Overextension |
| Interpersonal Skills | Sensitivity to Criticism |
| Intuition | Difficulty Saying No |
| Empathy and Understanding | Struggle with Personal Boundaries |
| Charisma and Charm | Tendency to Neglect Own Needs |
| Altruism | Fear of Rejection |
| Visionary Mindset | Self-Doubt |
| Harmony-Seeking | Avoidance of Conflict |
| Motivational Communication | Perfectionism |
| Ability to Inspire | Emotional Exhaustion |
Remember, these are common traits associated with these kinds of personality types. Actual ones may vary according to the person, the environment they grew up in and more.
ENFJ In Romantic Relationships, Parenthood and Friendships
Now, let us take a look at the social aspect of this personality archetype. Most relationships in the human spectrum is divided into three main ones. Let us look at how being with an ENFJ looks in all three of these.
Romantical Relationships
These personality archetypes take time and effort to commit to their partners, bring warmth and compassion. In addition, they always want to bring out the best in their partners as we saw earlier. They do not like confrontation which may prove a problem going down the line. They are peacemakers, but it can conflict with their strong ideals.
But when they find the right partner, they will be hopeful, caring, loving and encouraging. They will actively take efforts in relationships, empathize with their partner and be hopeful for their future.
Parenthood
The ENFJ personality invests heavily into raising a child. They want to ensure that they care and nurture their children well. This personality type creates a stable and hopeful environment for their children which is ideal to grow and thrive on. In addition, they care excel at positive value-giving and inspire their children to pursue what they like.
Although, sometimes, they can find it difficult to juggle their own self-care since they are always busy overextending themselves so their children are happy.
Friendships
Protagonists provide unwavering support to their friends. They invest a lot of time and resources on the friendships they have. In addition, their charisma helps them excel in keeping deeper connections and value their friendships. They are a safe space for their friends and listen well.
Careers For ENFJ Personality Type
The ENFJ personality type thrives in the careers which have a lot of social interaction. They will do well in fields in which most of the time is spent helping people. Since Protagonists have a better ability to communicate their thoughts and organize better, they thrive in managing roles. Although, there are other options as well.
- Therapist or Counselor
- HR Manager
- Teacher or Professor
- Event Planner
- PR Specialist
- Creative Director
- Philanthropist
- Wellness Coach
- Leadership Coach
Cognitive Functions
Myer Briggs Personalities are easily identifiable by recognizing key personality traits. Every personality has a hierarchal cognitive function stack. This recognizes how each person takes in and processes information in addition to interacting with others.
Dominant: Extraverted Feeling
They express their feelings and thoughts through social interaction, where they thrive. They recognize the feelings of others upto the point where they ignore their own needs. Protagonists are not objective and consider personal criteria to be their guide when making decisions.
Auxiliary: Introverted Intuition
They are focused on their future goals rather than spending the present the best way they can. Their auxiliary sense of introverted intuition helps them process abstract patterns and data to form thoughts and opinions about things.
Tertiary: Extraverted Sensing
They are always on the lookout for newer experiences and thrills. Due to their awareness, they feel a constant need to create a pleasant environment.
Inferior: Introverted Thinking
These personality types like control and they stick to a plan rather than acting out randomly. They feel out of order if everything does not go according to the way they want.
ENFJ Protagonist Personality Type Celebrities You Must Know
There are some pretty popular ENFJ personalities roaming around the world who are people of vigor and renown. The list consists of people who have shown ENFJ traits in public and throughout their career.
- Ben Affleck
- Barack Obama
- Sean Connery
- Oprah Winfrey
- Jennifer Lawrence
- Peyton Manning
The Verdict
The ENFJ Personality types can be the life of the party who strike the perfect balance between introversion and extroversion. They have their own strengths and weaknesses but are rarely weighed down by any one of them.
These personalities are loyal, warm and caring towards others and strive to make the world a better place to live in which can sometimes hinder their own self-care. To know more about the other personalities in the MBTI spectrum, check out the Encyclopedia of Personalities page.