Oh, Thanksgiving, you marvelous holiday full of gratitude and food and love, you’ve come a long way from your origins in 1621. You used to be based on the idea of celebrating a bountiful harvest with a feast among friends and neighbors. In Christian tradition, this included praising God for His countless blessings and goodness, as well as serving those in need.
Now you’re mostly about carb-loading so we can stand in line at Best-Buy for 12 hours.
Wait, wait. I told myself this would not be a post full of my pessimistic whining about American society. This is supposed to be a fun, happy Thanksgiving post!
So, in the spirit of fun and love and community, let’s ditch the curmudgeon, and explore what your Thanksgiving style looks like based on your Myers-Briggs personality type. Enjoy!
- INFP aka The Original Thanks-Hipster: The INFP will coolly and nonjudgmental-ly watch people talk at dinner, maybe put in an original opinion or two, but will otherwise keep quiet around the relatives they don’t know well. Later, still looking cool, they will passionately recite a gratitude poem for their favorite aunt or sister. And then go right back to being cool and quiet.
- INFJ aka The Unintentional Family Therapist: The INFJ will be the only one listening intently to Aunt Suzy’s latest dating saga with compassion, while also intuiting all the feels in the room. Then they will find themselves spending most of their post-dinner time listening to everyone’s complaints, and silently plotting how everyone should improve themselves.
- ENFJ aka The Happy Educator: The ENFJ will spend the day motivating everyone and once the pie is eaten, will try to organize a game of charades, Cranium, or something else requiring learning and cooperation. Later, you will hear them clap happily after they teach the 4 year-old to tie her own shoes, while also convincing grandma it’s never too late to go back to school.
- ENFP aka The Chris Traeger of Family: The ENFP will regale everyone with loud, colorful and energetic tales of their latest hobby or interest (probably triathlons or saving whales, or running triathlons while saving whales). Their charismatic optimism will have people smiling despite feeling stuffed and sleepy.
- INTJ aka The Blunt Genius of the Family: The INTJ may spend time in the kitchen analyzing your turkey-basting method, and will offer a much better approach to cooking a turkey, whether you asked for it or not. Later, in between thoughtful swallows of eggnog, the INTJ will interrupt a discussion on politics/engineering/computers/games/religion and correct everyone’s illogical thinking.
- ENTJ aka The Thanksgiving Organizer: The ENTJ will have emailed you a month ago with their Thanksgiving meal plans and the dish you need to bring. And what time to show up. And the theme. And dress code. The ENTJ will then graciously accept your pecan pie while also pointing out that you could have used more foil to keep the crust from burning.
- ENTP aka The Inventive Jokester: The ENTP will bring their latest take on green bean casserole, made with ingredients and techniques never-before-seen. They will also be the one making you choke on your champagne from laughing so hard, and then tease you about it the rest of the day.
- INTP aka The Sheldon Cooper of Thanksgiving: The INTP will show up in shorts despite the cold weather, and will forget to eat because they noticed your computer needed fixing. Then when they wander over to listen to Uncle George’s spirited reasons for being a vegan, the INTP will unintentionally offend him with intelligent and logical reasons why being vegan is unnecessary.
- ESFJ aka The Perfect Host: The only reason the ESFJ didn’t host Thanksgiving this year was because they were too busy organizing the church canned food drive, and the 5k run benefiting the homeless, and the school’s fundraiser for new soccer equipment. But as soon as they arrive, the ESFJ will waste no time helping the host/hostess with any and everything, and making sure everyone’s plates are full before daring to feed themselves.
- ESFP aka The Life of the Party: The ESFP will bring a karaoke machine to dinner and won’t mind if they’re the only one singing. While everyone else gets stuffed, the ESFP’s food will get cold because they’re so excited about the story they’re telling to anyone who will listen. Finally, they’ll hook up their iPod and even get grouchy Aunt Liz to dance.
- ISFJ aka The Humble Hero: The ISFJ will be the one quietly cooking and cleaning the kitchen. When your empty plate mysteriously disappears, you can rest assured that the ISFJ picked up after you when you weren’t looking. And when little Ricky trips and almost whacks his head on the fireplace, the ISFJ will suddenly appear and save him.
- ISFP aka The Mindful Artist: The ISFP will quietly and happily enjoy their Thanksgiving meal, and perhaps be responsible for the gorgeous centerpiece that was assembled at the last minute with things they found around the house. And then you’ll find them slowly sipping cider with their eyes closed, while listening to Michael Buble’s Christmas album on the stereo.
- ESTJ aka The Holiday Manager: When the turkey comes out of the oven overcooked, and the rest of the food is cold, the ESTJ will step in and reorganize the entire dinner – Thanksgiving tradition will NOT be lost on their watch. They will assign a perfect task to each person, and then supervise as the new plan of action is executed and Thanksgiving is saved.
- ESTP aka The Adrenaline Junkie: The ESTP can’t bring any food because they’re coming straight from a rugby game on their new motorcycle. But they will eat just about any concoction you dare them to, as long as everyone is watching and is entertained by it.
- ISTJ aka The Practical Traditionalist: The ISTJ will be arranging the food on the buffet, like they do every year. Then they will help cut and serve the pies, like they do every year. And while it may not be fashionable, they will be the only ones comfortable after the meal because they wore pants with an elastic waistband.
- ISTP aka The Quiet, Fix-it-all Hobbyist: You wouldn’t know it, but this year’s turkey was shot with a bow and arrow by the ISTP. In addition to tinkering with antique cars, the ISTP has a fondness for archery, and can fix just about anything. So, when your grandpa breaks the Keurig, because it’s a Keurig, make sure the ISTP is on the job.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! Be safe and God bless.
Resources:
Truity: http://www.truity.com
Myers & Briggs Foundation: http://www.myersbriggs.org
