Thank you to Wondrium for sponsoring today's video! Signup for your FREE trial to Wondrium here: ow.ly/XJPo50LnlYY

"I used Myers-Briggs instead of the big five because it's more value-neutral and more familiar to the public" is SUCH a high-agreeableness sentiment

In college I minored in Religious Studies. I’ve struggled in recent years with depression and anxiety, losing interest in many of the things that I once found very engaging. I’ve been following your videos for quite a while, but just in the last few weeks have been able to really get back into some of my more scholarly interests, and it is because of your videos. I trust your content and it has been wonderful to be able to get back to the topics that I hold so dear. Thank you for what you do.

I think the main problem with the Myers-Briggs combinations you didn’t bring up is that the scales aren’t treated as scales but rather binary values. I’d say most of us land somewhere in between.

Dear Matt, I appreciate how much effort you always put into your videos to make it understandable to everyone and to make it where no one’s opinions or beliefs are belittled. Thanks and keep up the great work.

Psychologist here appreciating your thoughtfulness and understanding of the psychological measures involved in your research!

I'm glad you went through the trouble explaining why you went with Myers-Briggs, because you definitely had me on pause for a moment, but I guess I'm more flexible than I give myself credit. I've always been called stubborn, so I guess I felt that was my label. You actually helped me to understand myself a little bit more, so thank you. I appreciate all the hard work you put into all your videos, and this was a great video! 💛

As a convert to Christianity, I would love to see a video on your findings on the personality of converts in comparison to those who grew up religious. Your videos are always so interesting. Keep up the great work!

I score very high in both agreeableness and conscientiousness, but I'm also an atheist and a vegan. It makes my life extremely difficult because of how averse I am to confrontation and how strongly people feel about both of these topics. I can definitely see how scoring low in these traits would make being an atheist easier.

That's actually incredibly interesting. Because when I took the MB test I came up solidly and consistently INFJ every time, however I quite rapidly fell into atheism and basically stayed there somewhat strictly ever since. Then again, I did grow up in a fairly religiously neutral household. Where I did have religious parents but mostly of the non-practicing variety. So I would love to see any future studies that try to correlate upbringing with personality types and how they relate. Because finding out that my personality type is very strongly predisposed towards religion is quite surprising to me. But fascinating.

I swear this man is literally the same person as me; I would usually say IN(F/T)P, I have a history degree, and I've taken a bunch of classes in religious studies and spent a lot of time reading books on the topic. Finding this channel has been amazing, it literally covers all my areas of interest. Keep up the great work!

I wonder how the personality distribution would look like for "people who grew up as atheists" (and then either decided to stay atheists or pick a (deistic) religion). And similar for people switching from one religion to another vs. staying at one. It might be that you just got the personality for "change the religion".

So I am INFP, and I paid for the full test (not cheap) and used it as a guide to choosing my second career. It recommended nurse or audiologist. Frankly, I think I’d have enjoyed a longer 2nd career as an audiologist, but I truly loved being an oncology nurse and would do it again tomorrow if neuropathy & osteoarthritis would let me. Such a privilege to work with cancer patients & their families in the most serious part of cancer, but, I have to say, darn hard work too to make sure that health is not compromised. But, I can totally see why using this system, as shaky as it’s origins and underpinnings may be, is quite useful.

Now I know why your channel is so comforting to me, and why the way you structure and present information is so easily understandable. It's because I'm an INFP too haha!

It took so long to release the second part almost forgot that the first part was so damn interesting! Thank you for the second part it was great as well! I would be greatful if you would make a video about the personality types of religious converts too.

Fantastic video. Thanks. But I do have one peeve. As an introvert I assure you, not all introverts are shy. I'm perfectly ready to make a stand in front of people if I have good reason to, such as in meetings. I've also held lectures in front of hundreds of people, many of them my peers. What I have problems with is standing out among a crowd just for the sake of it. I'll tell a joke among two or three friends, but I'm hopeless in front of an audience. I'm great at parties if they are small affairs with people I already know. But anything involving a crowd of strangers will make me quietly back up into a corner and wait for the best time to leave without it looking impolite. Strangers at my door are a pain for me, but I'm completely alright if it's one of my neighbours. The same goes for my telephone. I hate it when it rings and doesn't show the name of someone I know. Some perceive that as being shy. It's not shyness, it's just the bother of having to engage with people I know nothing about and don't want to know anything about.

I'm a INTP and I'm a believer, although I've changed my beliefs from regular evangelicalism to calvinism (reformed theology)

INTP Exactly what I got when I took the test. I was not raised religious, but my parents didn't tell me what to think in either way, so I did believe briefly since I went to a school that was openly religious. But I quickly left that by the wayside. And now I'm atheist. It's really interesting how personality type can affect these types of things.

I read your PhD thesis (a couple months ago). Great work! Thanks for this video!

I have to admit that this was very interesting and informative. I really can't wait for the last part. Thank you for sharing the knoledge.

Thanks for posting another good video. 🤗 I enjoy the pace of your presentation and your usage of graphics (I do have to pause occasionally on data rich slides). In this case, its also a topic I already had an interest in prior to knowing your video would exist. I have made the claim "If people quit using their feelings to determine what to believe, maybe they would quit jumping to conclusions" But I also expect most people to want a conclusion so much if they cant rely on logic and evidence they will resort to feelings. These directly tie into my thoughts on religiosity and match the results you have shared from your thesis. The Briggs Myers personality test results for me have been consistently INT(J/P). It has bothered me since becoming aware of agreeableness being associated with the (T/F) measure, and I think this is because of the thinking vs feeling label. I have an extreme logic and evidence based mindset (100%). But I also at times will suppress on-purpose this part of my worldview in order to experience others views, and participate with a group from within though internally I know something is not supported by evidence, or is completely wrong. Until I decide to no longer do so. 🤓 This behavior of mine has led my closest friends to know they should directly ask me what I think instead of assuming, since I am going along with the group. I always tell them the truth when asked, and why I am not pursuing it.

I've always found the MBTI to be quite descriptive of my own personality, even as my personality has shifted through time. When I was a young teenager, around the time I took my first Myers-Briggs test, I characterized myself as religious and got INTJ scores. However, as an older teen, 18-19 my faith had completely disolved and coincidently I had also begun scoring INTP. That's intriguing that the TP is the correlating factor to atheism, and it really describes my own situation pretty well.

I'm looking forward to part 3! This was very well presented. Now to go back and watch part 1.

I am an INFJ and am an atheists! Very interesting. When I was younger though I consistently scored as INTJ, but as I’ve grown older I now consistently score as an INFJ

I did that test and I guess I'm one of the exception as as INFJ atheist. I've been binging your videos - great stuff man!

This is very interesting. I never really thought of this. I am INFP. I grew up in church, but I’ve always loved mystical stuff. Like movies about magic or ghosts. When I left Christianity it all started with my brother asking what I thought of the religious experiences other religions have? Well I started reading everything. I read, how even with my own denominations ( southern penecostal), they don’t even agree what’s proper. So then I read more and more and I stopped believing in everything. I saw all stories as man made. However, for me, that was too sad. I wanted to believe in something. So now I pretty much consider myself agnostic, I truly love the Norse and Celtic gods. I love their stories and they bring me happiness to hear about them etc. Still at the same time I always end everything with well it’s possible that Gods created everything but it’s possible we just go back to dirt , as well. For me I honestly think if I HAD to choose I’d say it’s just too much to believe that Gods are real. However, I would truly miss the hope and wonderful feelings I get from believing in stuff like magic and unknown things….. 😂😂😂 This probably confuses y’all as much as it does me. It’s a constant battle trying to accept all or nothing. 😅

This is FASCINATING. I'm ESFJ, raised in church, and atheist from a very early age, maybe 10 or 11. I'm looking forward to the next vid.

Loving this series so far !

0:22 I appreciate that you kept “postitive” in there. Continuity is important

Besides the interesting content, thank you for giving us an insight into the methodology and structure of your work. This will probably be very helpful for my own future dissertation. :)

Oh hey I just started reading your thesis today! It's really good!

Fascinating! Thanks for the amazing educational videos. The results actually align with my own experience, being both a religious adult and an INFJ.

Thanks for substantiating why the Myers Briggs is not to be taken too seriously. I heard about it from a source I don't remember, but remember that I found it reliable. It's also very useful to know when the Myers Briggs is reliable and when it isn't. And thanks for translating it to the big five model, for I'm very familiar with it, but not really with the Myers Briggs. So, that's already quite the take away from that video for me.

I find it interesting that INTJ isn’t included in the “most likely to be atheist” section, since they’re generally stereotyped as the “edgy, cynical atheist” in online media.

Excellent Investigations and Findings! Thanks for sharing them!

Super interesting. I appreciate how you work to remind about correlation/causation and the reduction of value judgements in the words.

It’s interesting to see this as an INFJ atheist because when I think about the reasons I lost my faith, it really does line up more with values than logic. My moment of deconversion was basically “I don’t know whether or not a god exists, but if he does then he sucks and doesn’t deserve my worship anyway.”

It took me three times to test correctly, actually. First time was who I thought I was, second time was who I wanted to be, and the third time I finally got out of myself who I really was. Interestingly, I remember the journey, but not the final result. There is probably a lesson in that.

It also seems introversion and extroversion are a part of the picture, especially for ladies. Maybe introverts didn't see church as a fun activity, whereas extroverts enjoyed seeing familiar people on a weekly basis. Nothing can be so simple, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's more too that and how it relates to the other aspects of personalities.

I've been waiting on the edge of my seat for this drop!

Checks out for me -- I'm an INTP and atheist who grew up catholic. I remember that every time the nuns and priests would give me things I had to believe, I'd turn them over in my mind and examine them closely to see how much sense they made and how well they gelled with whatever else they had tossed into my "faith bag." If some morsel didn't fit, out it went. I was about 15 when I looked down and saw that the bag was completely empty. I now lean toward a mild sort of atheist neopaganism from time to time because I figure that we all need holidays as the year goes around, so best to synchronize them with events in the real world. I also laughed when you said we had "low agreeableness" because ... well, we do. I have sat through countless conversations with my tongue bitten hard enough to bleed because I could not work out a socially acceptable way to say, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." 🤣

I didn't know the MBTI mapped so well to 4 of the big 5. Ironically, I've always used how obsessed someone was with Myers-Briggs scores to tell me how neurotic they were likely to be.

I remember how I lost faith as a young child; I must have been around 8 or 9 years old. It was an epiphany! It felt like losing shackels and a heavy yoke. Suddenly I felt free and I was able to see the natural world as it is, without the mumbo jumbo. Although, from then on I had a hard time being in a catholic school, which obviously was not my personal choice. Sometimes I could barely stand being there, which is not a joke at that age. I was forced to go to church against my belief and I hated it from the bottom of my heart. It felt like an insult to my intelligenge and I despised the clergy and the rituals.

Unbelievably good video. So easy to understand, and the results ring true with my experiences too!

At the end you stated that you also looked at why people "become" atheist. I've always been an atheist there was a never a time in my life, even as a child, that I believed in god. I hope you cover this in the next video. Edit I'm ISTP

INTJ (I did the formal MBTI test), female, and atheist. A further breakdown that could be interesting is which personality types are likely to be agnostic atheists vs gnostic atheist because I'm in the latter camp. Anyway I love all of your religion content and am looking forward tout the final chapter on this topic

This new finding is fascinating. Thank you for the clarification.

Good job! Your charts (and commentaries) have always been useful, and I hope that milking your PHD thesis nets you more support. My early exposure to spatial analysis (in service of land use planning), and my following adventures in statistics, convinced me that graphics could be honestly informative. You have been brave, moving into controversial topics, but I trust your exposition and clarity. You probably are, of course, preaching to the choir. Keep it up!

i never liked the MB test because it just feels quite vague to me. like i'm pretty sure i'm an introvert, but the second letter just puzzles me. from the descriptions in the video, i'm very theoretical, but very focused on the small picture, and very observant (which kinda overlaps with the I - you simply get used to soaking information in and analyzing it instead of acting on it). then comes the T/F dilemma. i'm literally a sciency mathematical person: i use logic A LOT. however, a lot of things move me as well. empathy is super important to me, and i feel strongly about my values and principles, especially political ones. so it's another toss up for me. J/P is easier cause being "adaptable" is what i have been my whole life. but i am stubborn in many cases? again, when it comes to beliefs or human's irrationality, it just drives me crazy and i won't be the one to agree, even if behave as if i did. so i always get different results for this test, because the answers to those questions really depend on the circumstances.

I remember being given the myers briggs in highschool like a decade ago when I was still christian. At the time I was ISTP, and am still ISTP. Though now I'm an Atheist and have been for about 8 years now. Very fun video and interesting to see a general correlation between these subjects

This was really interesting. Thank you. Keep up the great work.

Psychologist here. Fascinating topic! I did some research several years back about the psychology of politics. Some of the social psych literature I was reading did strayed into the area of the psychology of religion, and I found its very interesting. Your video has got me wanting to down my occupational psych tools and jump back into research again!

Hi. Thank you for sharing your research here on KZfaq. This is the first time, in years, that I've read a rather appreciative description and use of MBTI from a non-MBTI enthusiast/practitioner (assuming you aren't a typologist or a solid fan of MBTI). Sorry, this is a long response but allow me to explain how I am a possibly ISFP/INFP type while being agnostic atheist and occasionally anti-theist. I've been looking into the MBTI system for almost a decade now (since 2013, though I am not a full student of MBTI, simply reading stuff to understand myself). So far, what I can conclude for now is I am most probably an IxxP type (Introverted-Perceiving). I once tested INTP but I became skeptical in the long run because I don't find the so many descriptors of INTP fitting. For instance, FE (extraverted feeling) of INTP means tribal ethics, allowing INTP to at least be accommodating of tribal values. INTPs are nicknamed the feeling robots because deep down inside these thinkers still want the tribe to find value in their logic (TI/Introverted Thinking). I don't think I am a TI-dominant. I don't wake up creating logic out of a novel idea (NE-auxillary-extraverted iNtuition) and I am not good with physical/mechanical tools. Also, I am skeptical and often disdainful of tribal values. So I crossed out both ISTP and INTP. I tend to see myself as empiricist and sensual in the sense that I enioy what feels good with the physical. I can entertain abstract like philosophy but if one is explaining to me a certain phenomenon, I become suspicious of it if the "proof" or evidence is something undemonstrable and only in the realm of the abstract for which I voluntarily and politely show myself the exit since I lost interest in dealing with such abstraction. But the thing is I am fond of philosophy and I enjoy when academics interpret Lacan and/or Zizek! I am also fond of listening to a more secular interpretation of sacred texts. I also like Luciferian stuff and I read some about witchcraft. I am currently trying to study on my own Stoicism and Taoism. It's like I am collecting these ideas and adding them to my mental library. But I think that being some sort of empiricist is what help me disbelieve in my former religion and ultimately becoming an atheist. Thing is, I've been told that I am stubborn yet kind and that I am agreeable for the most part; that I am not friends with authority though I don't actually challenge it and when I did, it's often times like a nuke fall out (I've been reprimanded by higher ups for not wearing uniform, I was deemed disrespectful when I spoke my mind in written form about something political and moral). So maybe, it's how I am also an occasional anti-theist: I see religion as poison but even the poison can sometimes have cure and it's up to people how they develop it to a more humane belief. And this whole thing still confuses me a lot because people see me as very laid back and easy-going and it takes a lot for me to just unload my anger So I think I am more of an FI-dominant (Introverted Feeling/Authenticity/Subjective morals), just not sure whether I have extraverted Sensing (SE) or extraverted iNtuition (NE) as my auxillary. Maybe you could have part 3 and let us see where SF types and NF types fall between most likely and least likely to be atheists? TYSM.

I'm an INFP too. I fall somewhere in between. I'm not to religious but very spiritual. I like to be flexible about my beliefs and sensitive to others but I'm also open to hearing others ideas and I'm open to changing my opinions.

Your research makes a lot of sense to me. Good job!

INTP 5w4 church-leaving agnostic here. Your study absolutely fascinates me. I have watched this series multiple times now. Thank you for sharing this on your channel.

Matt, Excellent Video and research methodology. I've been involved in many scientific methods of studying many things but never ventured a look at how personality factors can effect results. Fascinating to say the least. This series so far has helped me understand a bit more about myself and my tendencies over the years as well. I look forward to part three.

Thanks for posting your paper! I am currently in my counseling masters, and one of the things I'm interested in is working with queer individuals who come from fundamental backgrounds and are trying to connect with their spirituality or lack there of to create holistic healing. I was also raised in a christian cult, and my friend recommended your videos. I have been interested in reading your paper and using it as a reference in a paper I am working on. Thanks again for sharing!

Hi Matt, thank you very much for this very interesting series - I am looking forward to the third part. Also, I am glad that you didn't re-use the background image from the first episode. You probably didn't see my comment there but if feel heard nevertheless. Thank you.

I am so *so* glad that you explained the similarities between the OCEAN and the MBTI.

As an INTP churchgoer, I'm just constantly challenging the teaching lol

Since you compared theists from birth with atheist converts, and found the latter were more willing to rebel and question what they've been taught, how do you know this is related to atheism vs. theism rather than conversion in general? In other words, what would be the result of the experiment if you had instead compare atheists from birth to theists who were raised as atheist and then converted?

Thank you for another amazing video

awesome, Matt, and congratulations on your doctorate! i work as an admin for a private university for both the religious studies and philosophy depts. thank you for the link to your paper - i'll have to check it out! i already sent your first video to one of the profs whose focus is religion and psychology, and survey methodology.

I got ISTP and are not surprised in the slightest. I get bored easily, love getting my hands dirty - collect coins and stamps and are very shy until I meet people and then I became overly socialble. Those tests are good - oh and I am atheist as they come - seeing religion as a constriction of human expression and thought. Yet I am willing to study it from an anthropological point of view. I love exploring new places and always inqusitive.

The most telling thing to me is how the second letter is the only difference between #1 and #2 most common on the A side. I could flip between those letters three times in a given week, and I guess I'm not alone in that.

I think your findings were very interesting and they seemed to match my own personal experience pretty well.

Thanks for the link to your paper!

Good stuff. I am an ENFJ and an atheist, but I was raised in a very religious home. It was, in fact, my belief that we should love our neighbors and not judge others that led me to question the logic of an all-knowing, all-loving god who sends its own creations to suffer for eternity. It bothered me for as long as I can remember. My wife-also a science-loving atheist-is an INFJ whose father was a Baptist preacher. We may be FJs, generally, but we are firmly TPs when it comes to all things supernatural and metaphysical. Great research idea and i appreciate your making it available to the general public.

I find the issue with Myers-Briggs is that people think it's dictatorial. But your personality is kind of like handedness. You can use one hand for some things and the other for others. The key is that if you go by reflex the test will say which is your "dominant hand"

Nice work!

Wow!! INTP athiest who grew up going to methodist and baptist churches here, I love your videos and this one is so interesting!! ❤

I would love to see research into how being raised in church effects one’s personality type

Female INFP who is Christian and grew up in the church : First off, I wanna say great video! Learning a lot from this series so far. After seeing the correlation of TPs leaning towards atheism and FJs leaning towards theism, I got to wondering where an FP or a TJ personality is likely to land. Are they more likely to stay a theist, but convert between religions or sects? This happens to be the case with me, growing up in much more literalist, right-wing churches. I’m now in a church that views certain passages as allegories and is more left-wing (from PCA Presbyterian to Episcopalian for context). I’m curious if this is the case for anyone else :) Anyway, keep up the good work!

Thanks for sharing this, Matt :)

Excellent explanation, thanks!!

Thanks for the info. Quick question: In your research, did you ever come across people who had been "raised atheist" and in adulthood "converted" to a religion? Especially in circumstances where their conversion had nothing to do with marriage? Not sure this was something you'd ever have come across with your specific focus, but given the arena you're working in, I was wondering if it may have come up.

Interesting research. In my mind, you didn't fully address an important factor: the impact of the society (culture) from which the research was taken. While being a non-conformist may correlate with being n Atheist, that could be only because in this society (broadly speaking, the Western World), conforming means being religious. It's more likely that "belief" in Atheist would benefit from a certain predilection to non-conformity. I would like to see your poll taken from a population where Atheism was the norm, the conforming path... say in parts of China or North Korea. Would the results be reversed?

It was super interesting. Hope you publish and we get to read it soon

Thanks, that was extremely interesting!

Great stuff as always Matt. Question: Did the people get scored before they became atheist? For instance I used to be an FJ but now score as a TP because my value for evidence and open mindedness have significantly increase after leaving religion.

I am a female INFJ. I consider myself a "cheerful agnostic" which puts me in your atheist category, as described in your first part. Yes, I have conscientiously thought about it, and believe that the supernatural - including any creating force - is beyond our ability to perceive, so the question is moot. The reason that I still go to church is that I sing in the choir, and singing is my favorite activity in all life. I am also autistic.

Great work! Thanks!

Very interesting. I fell right in with your research conclusions.

interesting. However, it there's a lot that still needs to be done on related questions such as: What is the MBTI of people who were raised Atheist and converted to theism. Does the type of Theism matter? Does the MBTI correlate more or less strongly depending on wider culture (e.g. group-oriented vs. individualistic)?

I was one who complained about using the Myers-Briggs paradigm in your last video. I appreciate that you address this, and I don't think using the Big Five would have helped, but I don't think you've addressed the core concerns with MB. This is a self-reported test, it uses language to guide people to what they want to be true about themselves, it uses labels that people would not consistently apply to any given behavior, and a person can score drastically different results given a repeat of the test, especially if different verbiage is used. It is especially difficult to be useful for people who don't see themselves as firmly on either side of one of the spectrum because even if they can consistently choose one end of it over the other because "you have to choose one" as even you mentioned, the result doesn't actually describe the person anymore. I'm not offended by the "typical" categories you found for atheists versus theists, but I don't find the result to be particularly useful. The real difference between atheists and theists is how do they determine what is true; is it by authority, or by demonstration? If something could be true but has not been demonstrated to be true, should you believe it because it could be true, or do you reject it because you can't prove it? Also, I recommend reading some neuroscience, because EVERYBODY makes decisions based on their emotions. We have people who have no emotions due to brain conditions, and they are incapable of making decisions. Even in evaluating the truth of a proposition, it is one's desire to arrive at a true conclusion that drives the decision. We can cast an illusion of logic over it, but we can determine from brain scans a decision someone makes as much as 8 seconds before they even realize they've made the decision. So there's direct evidence on your T-F scale that what one selects is purely a matter of how that person wants to perceive themselves, and nothing at all empirical. As that's one of your top-two scales to differentiate theists and atheists, that says a LOT more about how they want to think than about how they actually think.

Great stuff! I love it!

Hello! ENTP atheist here! This whole serious is just fascinating and I can't wait to read your whole dissertation. Thanks for doing this. Despite being an atheist, I am fascinated by religion and its origins. I'm looking forward to watching your other videos.

MBTI makes so much more sense than Big Five, it's unbelievable to me that people are more skeptical about MBTI. If you dive deeper in the matter, you'll see that this way of thinking is perfectly working as a language and a tool for self-improvement and understanding of others. I recommend looking into some of these channels: Type Cast Heroes, Love Who, LiJo, Frank James, AsuraPsych, Objective Personality.

At 5:09, I wanted to say that some thirty-five years ago I took a fairly comprehensive Myers- Briggs test or inventory as part of a course. I found it very hard because I felt that I was being contradictory in some ways. I was stunned by the results. My type was INFP but in every case but 1, all of my scores were on the 120-point scale were almost dead center. I was within only a few points of being classified as INTJ. Only my introversion was pronounced. When I read the composite descriptions of these types, I was stunned at how well they described me in so many particulars. So, I think there is a lot of validity to the Inventory.

Fascinating study. Thank you.

I am an ISTP and what you have described in your last 2 atheism videos describes me very well. I grew up in the church and through questioning and experiences have become an explicit negative atheist. Upon further reading of ISTP's it's eerily accurate of other strengths/weaknesses of mine.

I was INFP up until I deconverted. Last time I took the test the F flipped to T. Tbf it was always close to the middle but I just find it interesting that's what it took to push it the other direction.

I'm glad you stressed the generality of the Myers-Briggs because I feel like that gets lost in the discussion of it. When people receive their type they think "that's it that's who I am, problem solved." but that is just you dominent type. Which means that your not-dominent type is the opposite letters, which are the ones you need to know about so you can better see the wholeness of yourself. The book Gifts Differing: Understaning Personality Type really goes into this as the important factor of the Myers-Brigg and really what it is all about. Once you know what your dominant personality type is you'll know the other side of you that you probably did not know. Their is a great passage in the book about seeing the duality of personality (especially Extroversion and Introversion) as a General and his assistant. Introverts have their General inside a tent doing all the work (aka the mind) while the assistant is outside the tent dealing with the outside world. Extroverts are the opposite. The book explains that neither is good or bad, but sometimes the General needs to go out of the tent to meet with people or back into the tent for recovery and self-reflection. The statistics that accompany the Myers-Briggs was more interesting findings that came out of the studies of the system. Over time, it got blown up and used as the defacto method of catagorizing people. Gifts Differing stresses that it should not be this way. Even though people are more likely to congigate to a certain profession or like mindedness, this should not be the norm. It is nearly showing the similarities people have with one another instead of saying, "you are this and therefore you must be that."

Great video! You are an excellent communicator and your visuals are fluid and delightful to look at! For my anecdotal two cents, I grew up in the church and left the faith when I was 14, becoming a staunch atheist and physicalist and pursuing STEM to the PhD level. I took a MB test during this time and got ENFJ which felt right, I was very extroverted and "woo girl" about science. At 29, after severe mental health issues, I was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where I accessed much needed medication and had a profound religious experience that converted me back to Christianity. Three years later, I am still very religious (still very woo about science too) but my personality type did not change - as of a couple months ago, I am still ENFP. If anything I just got less extroverted. I guess if I had a question, it would be: in the field of religious studies, what work has been done to understand these profound conversion experiences that are very personal and difficult to explain? Thank you for the great content!

Thanks for sharing the thesis... I already look and read some part of your thesis... Its give me new insight with your result (in percentage) and your instrumen for test... And with your thesis, I got another insight to use MBTI or Jung Theory (combining with other MBTI method that use percentage for each component) to assess my students for how differrentiate my teaching method for each student...

I'm ENTJ, from a middle eastern country with a very closed Islamic system. (It would be interesting if you could enlarge your study to people with non-Christian religious backgrounds as well. I have a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a mester degree in vehicle engineering and have also studied the philosophy of science in master, and I consider myself as very rational and science oriented. Till here it would check the result of my MBTI! 😉 As long as I can remember, I couldn't come to terms with the concept of God(s) and somewhere around the last years of highschool I started to dig more into it and began to read more philosophy, especially the western analytic philosophy. By the first years of University, I came out as an atheist. (Which was extremely dangerous because there is death penalty for leaving Islam in my country) I grew intellectually as an empirical material reductionist atheist and now after many years I still consider myself as such, which not only refuses all the gods and divinities but also anything physically not measurable. Yet I'm not TP though.

Very interesting. I certainly fit as someone raised in the Christian faith and became atheist as an adult and I would best fit as ISTP (Though almost ESTP, still slightly leaning I though I have become more extroverted over time). That circles back to another challenge of correlation is not causation. My issue with this theory is it's sort of expressed as X personality trait is more likely to leave religion and become atheist. Implying the personality trait is both a static thing and that it caused the change in religious belief. Just based on my own anecdotal experience (which obviously just one person's perspective) I challenge both points potentially. First I don't think personality is static. I don't think someone is say ISTP and always will be that. For example I almost would choose E, though growing up when I was my most devout as a Christian I was extremely introverted. Now I'm actually quite outspoken and quick to speak. A lot of people who know me now wouldn't even recognize my personality back then purely due to how extroverted I am now. With that said I still am quite introverted in a lot of ways too. I would argue that the most important TP vs FJ can be both applied to me at difference points in my life. I wasn't necessarily super strong TP, when I was more religious I was probably much more FJ. In fact I would argue in my own experience I shifted from FJ to TP and then my shift in religious belief happened, at least that's one hypothesis of my own shift. so again I don't think personalities are static. I think life experiences possibly combined with time/aging can greatly shift one's personality and subsequently that might shift one's beliefs due to that personality shift. The other assumption is that personality causes a shift in belief, which above I even make that potential assumption as well. Though I think it might be just as likely that beliefs could shift personality. For example maybe people's personality is the same but they are faced with new information or experiences that cause them to shift their beliefs. Then the shift in beliefs causes a shift in personality. So instead of TP people commonly eventually merging into Atheism, maybe it's the other way around. That people who become Atheist shift their personality to fit their belief. Where I might make my strongest argument is thinking back when I was an extremely devout evangelical Southern Baptist Christian. I constantly tried to shape my personality to be Christ like and to fit the tenants of my faith. It's not like say changing my favorite food shifted my personality, but my religion WAS the core of my being and my life. I was 100% bought in that it was thee essential thing that comes before all and to let God and his word shape my life. So if I start to drop those beliefs, or even shift those beliefs I genuinely think that alone could shift my personality to match my new beliefs. I would argue this might stand true in the reverse and in fact assumed. Someone who isn't religious has some sort of "religious experience" that makes them a believer. They then shift their life and beliefs which shifts their personality dramatically to fit these beliefs. If such a narrative is true then the reverse would likely be true as well. That by losing ones religious beliefs they might shift their personality. In the end I think it's probably a combination of these things. I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't one size fits all but all of the following. 1: TP people eventually becoming atheist 2: FJ people being religious and their personality shifts more towards TP for non-religious reasons and then their religious beliefs follow suit 3. Religious people that are becoming atheists might then cause their personality to shift more towards TP

INTP here. Been tested over 30 years and never seems to change. Been atheist all my life

I am very fascinated by these findings, and am really looking forward to Part 3. As I am unfamiliar with your Sample Group (Theists/Atheists raised by Theists).