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In this episode, Joel and Antonia discuss one of the most commonly asked questions, “Is personality type related to ADHD?” by highlighting research, statistics, and numbers showing correlations between psychological types and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
| Study Breakdown |
Study Breakdown |
| ADHD | ADD |
| ENFP (17.44 %) | ENFP (23.53 %) |
| ESFP (13.95 %) | ESFJ (17.65 %) |
| ESFJ (12.79 %) | ESFP (14.71 %) |
| ISFP (9.30 %) | INFP (11.76 %) |
| INFP (6.98 %) | ISFP (11.76 %) |
| ENFJ (6.98 %) | ENFJ (8.82 %) |
| ISTP (5.81 %) | INFJ (5.88 %) |
| ISFJ (4.65 %) | ISFJ (2.94 %) |
| ESTJ (4.65 %) | INTP (2.94 %) |
| ESTP (4.65 %) | ENTJ (0.0 %) |
| INFJ (3.49 %) | INTJ (0.0 %) |
| ISTJ (3.49 %) | ESTJ (0.0 %) |
| INTP (2.33 %) | ISTJ (0.0 %) |
| ENTJ (1.16 %) | ISTP (0.0 %) |
| INTJ (1.16 %) | ESTP (0.0 %) |
| ENTP (1.16 %) | ENTP (0.0 %) |
Studies referred to in comments (added to over time):
The Relationship of Personality Style and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children
In this podcast you’ll find:
- Is there a correlation between ADHD or ADD and personality types?
- Are there enough studies for this topic?
- What the MILO database system has to offer.
- The study on the relationship between ADHD, ADD and personality type.
- What does the DSM-5 say about ADHD and ADD?
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Which types are most likely to have ADHD?
- Why are Joel and Antonia surprised by which type is highest on the list?
- The big spread Joel and Antonia’s types have from each other.
- Why did all the Introverted Feeling (xxFP) types and 2 Extroverted Feeling (xxFEJ) types land high on the list?
- Why are the NT (xNTx) types grouped together?
- What cognitive functions and David Kiersey’s type temperaments have to do with the results.
-
Which types are most likely to have ADD?
- The drastic split between Feelers and Thinkers.
- Is there a divide with Sensors and Intuitives?
- Why a large group of types report 0% ADD.
- Which types correlate with the ADHD list?
- Does Extraverted Exploration (Ne – Exploration) have a role in ADHD or ADD?
- The surprise cognitive function that is most correlated with both ADHD and ADD.
- What is the other cognitive function landing high on the list?
- How the cognitive function positions in the car model matter here.
- Why IxTPs are outliers in the study.
-
The effects of learning environments:
- Do some people have ADHD or ADD or just a different learning style?
- Real struggles people experience with their learning environments.
- Article by Daniel Foster on educational environments and type needs.
- What are the challenges in discovering type preferences in children?
- How can we tell if behavior is from type needs not being met vs ADHD and ADD?
- Why we need to use these findings to support children better.
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The imperative changes we need to make for types high on the list:
- Giving FPs (xxFPs) what they absolutely need.
- Allowing SPs (xSxPs) to be as they are.
- Letting Extraverted Feeling (Fe – Harmony) Dominants thrive in their way.
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36 comments
Andi Anderson, I was very touched by what you wrote. I have a close family member who struggles with (self-diagnosed) ADD and so I’m aware of the huge amount of struggle and effort to deal with day to day life that might not be apparent to the outside world. Meanwhile I’m an INFP who has often zoned out, simply because I don’t have much patience with giving my attention to external information that I haven’t chosen. Studying MBTI is definitely helping with that, as when someone’s talking about something that doesn’t intrinsically interest me, I can keep focused because I’m working out what function is being described. I wish you all the best. I’m learning, through my family member, about lots of strategies for managing ADD, that are really useful to me too.
Remember, there was still a percentage of those diagnosed as ADHD who also had ENTP preferences so it is not out of the realm of possibility. That said, ENFPs and ENTPs often mistype as each other so having another look at the difference between Fi/Ti auxiliary and Fe/Te tertiary never hurts.
A
I’m an ENTP who was diagnosed at 40 with ADHD. In college my professors would make me run around the block if I got too excited during class. My first boss called me “a muppet on fire.” It’s been obvious but I was “a good girl” who got good grades. After your episode I’m wondering if I’m an ENFP.
As an INFP who was diagnosed with ADHD in college and has a masters in school counseling, I’m totally into this. Traditional style schooling was difficult for me in high school, but luckily my mom homeschooled me before that. I think I would have been a very unhappy kid otherwise. Now that I work with kids it seems so sad to me that they spend so much time at a desk. I’m definitely for alternative methods of learning and teaching (although I do love a good history lecture, haha). Math was especially difficult for me, which makes sense since Effectiveness is in my three year old position. However, it is interesting to me that I feel math is not as difficult now that I’m older (not that I do much advanced math), but I assume my three year old function must have grown quite a lot, plus my working memory seems to function better. Anyway, it’s all fascinating to me. I wish schools would pay better attention to this kind of research and implement more creative solutions in the education system (and that these solutions would become part of the collective unconscious so they aren’t viewed as “lesser” or unreliable).
Hello, I am an INFP and I was just diagnosed with ADHD (combined) in November there. For me, I disagree with the premise that personality traits are misinterpreted by society as ADHD, or that society is structured in a way that means certain personality traits get labelled as such.
ADHD is something you can literally see in a brain scan. It involves having an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex (where the executive functions are carried out) and a higher level of dopamine reuptake than a neurotypical. It is not something you develop in response to society, it is something you are born with.
I would actually argue that it is the ADHD that impacts on personality and not the other way around. Obviously, there will be exceptions to every rule, but for me anyway, as an INFP I find that my ADHD ‘traits’ are most often in contradiction to my INFP ones! Though that is completely personal.
I also don’t mean any of these comments in an argumentative way, I just got absolutely hyper fixated on understanding how ADHD works in a biological sense right after my diagnosis, and for me understanding it in terms of neurotransmitters and neurobiology helped me to understand, accept and most importantly FORGIVE myself for years and years of “not living up to my potential”.
I found these symptom categories more helpful than thinking of it as like I can’t pay attention or sit still, I can do both those things, sometimes. It is my mind that can’t stay still, and that is why I can’t (control when I) pay attention! – https://ihaveadhd.com/adult-adhd-symptoms/