Which are the most prevalent Personality Types in the world? by Rafael Hernandez

In this post, I'll lay out personality tendencies all around the globe, trying to perceive patterns in traits and, if possible, defining parallels between culture and the mind of individuals.

Various Personality Types with description and celebrities exemplifying those character traits

Theory

Personality types were first developed in the early 20th century, by the “father” of analytical psychology, Carl Jung. The book that first conceptualized this idea – Psychological Types – categorized people into four functions (sensation, intuition, feeling and thinking) which are dependent on the adopted attitudes by the individual conscious (introversion and extroversion). 

With this categorization, it is simple to analyze behaviors worldwide. Thanks to the information supplied by the online organization 16Personalities, I can provide you with an accurate analysis of the data for the beginning of a discussion. For this post, I've used the categories/roles of Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels and Explorers for the purpose of grouping a large sample of people (approx. 40 mil respondents).

The Personalities of the Five Continents

Map of Analysts in the World

Map of Diplomats in the World

Map of Explorers in the World

Map of Sentinels in the World

Let’s start with Europe. The continent has answered to approximately 6 300 thousand questionnaires, and the main personality types/roles are, in descending order, the Diplomat (42,83%), the Analyst (24.11%), the Sentinel (19.69%) and the Explorer (13.37%). We can say that Europe is more caring, and felling driven, which, in a broad sense, make Europeans better altruists and counselors. 

In Asia, where there almost 5 300 thousand respondents, the most common roles are the Diplomat (38,31%), the Sentinel (24,44%), the Analyst (20,11%) and the Explorers (17,14%). In Africa, the same deal. The similar happens in the Americas and Oceania. The trend is evident: Diplomats are dominant, always showing a percentage above 35%, followed by Sentinels, Analysts and finally, Explorers. 

From what I can gather from this data, I believe that humans share a lot more in common then I previously thought. Another conclusion is that mankind has a tendency to cherish feelings and emotions more than rationality and critical thinking, an intrinsic characteristic of Diplomats. That isn't to say that problem solving skills and logic is completely discarded, the information just shows that humans “feel more than think”. In summary, the world population is mostly intuitive driven and care a lot about emotions. The pragmatic (Sentinels), rational (Analysts) and artistic (Explorers) kind are, of course, a constant presence in the 5 continents, but Diplomats really dominate the globe. 

With what concerns Portugal, it is the 3rd most “diplomatic” country worldwide and the 1st in Europe, with over 50% of the population having the common traits of intuition and feeling. On the other hand, the least common Role in the Iberian nation is exploration, which emphasis's on observation and prospecting instead of intuition and judging.

Conclusion

To conclude, the world is full of very diverse people and mindsets, and maybe funneling complex personalities into 16 categories might be a short-sighted idea, but, through scientific accuracy, it is able to demonstrate a simple and brief view into the social environment we live in.

Webgraphy

Maps from: Country Personality Profiles, 16Personalities (acessed at 30/10/2018) https://www.16personalities.com/country-profiles

Image from: Zara (2014), MBTI in a nutshell - Curiosophy; Retrieved from http://curiosophy.org/2014/01/27/mbti-in-a-nutshell/

Carl Jung (2001), Psychological Types

Annexes

Data from the rest of the continents:

In Africa, Diplomats 36,99% Sentinels 26,81% Analysts 20,76% Explorers 15,44%. 

In North America, Diplomats 41,86% Sentinels 24,15% Analysts 19,27% Explorers 14,72% 

In South America, Diplomat 44,52% Analysts 23,86% Sentinels 18,44% Explorers 13,19% 

In Oceania, Diplomat 45,32% Sentinels 24% Explorers 17,49% Analysts 13,19%

Made by Rafael Hernandez, student at IPAM in Marketing | Student Number: 7983