Theory

Personality type groups lie at the very core of our 16 personalities test framework.

By showing the connection between different personality types, they outline their shared personality traits, primary motivations, and goals. This also makes it easier to understand the similarities and differences between the 16 personality types.

So, let’s explore the four personality type groups—Analysts, Diplomats, Sentinels, and Explorers—and learn how identity strategies tie into our framework.

Analysts

Analysts are intuitive and thinking (NT) personality types: INTJ, INTP, ENTJ, and ENTP.

These personality types are characterized by logic, rationality, and inventiveness. As such, Analysts appreciate anything that stimulates their minds, be it a deep, intellectual conversation or a complex problem that calls for an unorthodox solution. Inquisitive and individualistic, they welcome any opportunity to improve themselves and expand their knowledge.

Since Analysts value rationality and are rather strategic, they usually make decisions based on reason and hard data, such as facts and statistics. Although they rarely take people’s feelings into consideration, which might cause tension in their relationships, their ability to detach from emotions allows them to remain impartial at all times.

Diplomats

Diplomats encompass intuitive and feeling (NF) personality types— INFJ, INFP, ENFJ, and ENFP.

Idealistic and compassionate, Diplomats dream of making the world a better place. They genuinely care about other people and are thus very sensitive to injustice. Since they’re also concerned with finding deeper meaning in their existence and living in harmony with their higher purpose, they are often drawn to activism, volunteering, and the like.

Compared to other personality type groups, Diplomats are less focused on professional success and monetary gain. Instead, they crave to connect with others on a deeper level—to them, success means positively influencing another person’s life. Because of this, and their innate creativity, many Diplomats dabble in writing, art, and other types of artistic expression.

Sentinels

Sentinels refer to sensing and judging (SJ) personality types, which include ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, and ESFJ.

Above all else, Sentinels value stability, predictability, and order. They embrace rules, believing that these are key to organizing society and ensuring everyone’s well-being. Industrious and responsible, Sentinels work hard to meet their goals and standards. Needless to say, their consistency and dependability are certainly something to be admired!

When it comes to the practical implementation of ideas, no other personality type group compares to Sentinels—after all, they rarely, if ever, see value in things that don’t have any practical purpose. That said, since they are rather cautious and like planning, Sentinels can be inflexible and avoid change. Unless it is necessary, they’d rather stick to what they know.

Explorers

The Explorer personality type group includes sensing and perceiving (SP) personality types: ISTP, ISFP, ESFP, and ESTP.

Explorers are spontaneous personalities that want to make the most of their lives—and you can bet they’re more than willing to take advantage of any opportunity they come across! Bold and adventurous, they’d rather make mistakes than have regrets. Unsurprisingly, their craving for new experiences often leads them to take risks and venture outside their comfort zones.

Explorers are also highly attuned to their physical senses and environment. While this can make them rather impulsive and overly focused on fun and pleasure, it also means that they easily pick up hands-on skills. Not only that—they also quickly react to changes and don’t hesitate to take action, which makes them irreplaceable in emergency situations.

Identity Strategies

Now that we’ve discussed the four personality type groups, let’s address another key component of our personality test framework: identity strategies.

The two identity strategies—assertive and turbulent—extend our 16 personality type framework by categorizing each personality type into two subtypes primarily based on how confident you are.

As a result, we have assertive Commanders (ENTJ-A) and turbulent Commanders (ENTJ-T), assertive Consuls (ESFJ-A) and turbulent Consuls (ESFJ-T), and so on.

While these personality subtypes share key personality traits, the identity strategy affects their general demeanor, stress resistance, and other qualities. Here’s a brief overview of how they compare:

• Assertive personalities (-A) are more confident, positive, and relaxed. Thanks to their self-assurance, they are less susceptible to stress but may not take problems seriously enough, which can lead to bigger issues in the long run.
• Turbulent individuals (-T) are less confident in their abilities and often have higher expectations for themselves. Since they experience negative emotions more deeply, they often go the extra mile to prevent stressful situations from taking place.