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In this episode Joel and Antonia talk about personality types and religion and unpack which personalities are more likely to leave or stay with religion.
In this podcast you’ll find:
- What’s the relationship between personality types and joining religious movements? Are there some that aren’t compatible with religion? Do certain types leave their religion?
- What personality types have the tendency to gravitate to certain religions?
- Externally structured– are surrounded with organization and various methodologies (for example: actual buildings that you worship and certain sacraments that you follow).
- Internally experienced – some people have much more comfort in expressing their religion internally. These people are not interested in external markers and have that sense of private worshipping processes of expressing their faith.
- Baptists
- Have the tendency to be individual expression-oriented in the religious faith. Personal salvation is big. If they don’t like what the pastor or minister is saying, they’ll simply just move to the next church and they’ll look for someone who’s more in alignment with how they feel.
- Attract a lot of feeler-perceivers because it’s about your personal faith expression and personal salvation.
- Presbyterians
- A lot more organized as a collective and structure-oriented. The congregation’s a lot systematized.
- Attract a lot of feeler-judgers and thinker-judgers.
- Accuracy people (TPs) have the highest likelihood of leaving religion in general. Oftentimes they leave early (teen years). If there is something they can convert/move on with, it usually is Buddhism. Why Buddhism? Because it does not require them much faith or submission to established systems. Buddhism is more inclined on practices, meditations and exercises.
- Intuitives V Sensors
- Intuitives do speculative thinking – things that can’t be proven by reality.
- Sensors – more interested on what can be verified
- Intuitives tend to be the one’s leaving religion at some point.
- Intuitives are the ones who are comfortable with redefining.
- Understand that no group is entirely representative of those who do or don’t describe themselves as religious.
- Whatever is your dominant cognitive function (driver process), if you are in a religion that doesn’t honor it or allow full expression, eventually you will leave that religion.
- If your driver process has full expression of your religious belief, you’re probably stay in the religion for a long time.
- Ask yourself:
- Is this truly serving me or just leading me to unhappiness?
- How can we make sure that we haven’t outsourced our belief system?
- What tools and models can we gather in order to take a deeper look at the structure of what we think and believe?
- Let’s celebrate each other’s differences and cultural backgrounds.
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28 comments
I think you’re right on with that one! My ENTP friend was looking for a church to call his own, but didn’t find it at the one we went to. I had actually already formed an impression of this community by the 2nd visit. Sometimes our own opinions can be very unpopular, but welcomed among others.
Since I was with my friend, I thought I might check out what was going on in his Perspective. It also helped a lot that he was a little detached. So when we were discussing our experience, I was actively looking for the little “tells,” the small clue that hinted what he thought and felt about the congregation/church. When I found what I was looking for, I told him what I saw and he let out some relief because he got something similar. He was a little hesitant, guessing that since he does have Harmony it may not always be spot on (in the same way with our Accuracy process, hehe), though he did feel something odd.
My friend keeps in touch with all our friends and he told me that one of my old roommates, from a few years back, used to go here but stopped because of how harshly he was judged. So we aren’t the only ones who feels like this. Even though we both have a lot of friends at that church, we decided to keep looking for another church.
Thank you for your thoughts!
Thanks for your personal story, Marissa! I’m glad you have found a way to express your faith that feels right to you.
I hadn’t made time to listen to this podcast for several weeks, but this title brought me back. I’m an INFJ, and since I started blogging about MBTI types and Christianity (usually in separate posts), I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see several of my readers commenting about how they think their personality type and faith are intertwined. It’s a fascinating topic.
I grew up in a Christian church that defined themselves by how they were different from “mainstream Christianity.” We keep the 7th Day Sabbath and Biblical holy days, we don’t believe in the Trinity, we don’t keep Christmas — those were the big things. It was still a very traditional sort of structure, though. In the midst of that, my ISFJ Father always encouraged me toward developing a personal relationship with God that didn’t necessarily have anything to do with structured religion. I think that’s one of the major reasons I never left.
Though I’ve stayed with most of the core doctrinal beliefs of my childhood, I do, however, find myself engaged in that sort of redefinition that Joel and Antonia talked about Intuitives doing. I’ve started attending with a Messianic congregation on Shabbat mornings, which is where I find that “flow”, then I spend the afternoon with my family and the congregation I’ve attended with since a child. My personal beliefs are somewhere between the two groups right now.
Thanks for your perspective Joseph! I’m glad you have found something that feeds your soul. Congratulations on your new vocation!
Thanks for the feedback, Brittani! I’m glad you have found a place where you can grow and embrace your own distinctly authentic spirituality. :)