By S. Kim
As a disclaimer, I would like to say that I'm not an expert with regards to Jennifer Lawrence. This blog is more akin to analyzing the quotes that IDRlabs presented for Lawrence in a different angle. So, unlike my previous posts arguing about someone's type, this will be much less exhaustive. However, I like to think that I am aware enough to form my own conclusion based on the evidence that I know, and that is what I seek to convey in this blog. I am well aware that IDRlabs has probably researched a decent amount on Jennifer Lawrence before arriving at their ENFJ conclusion but It's important to remember that, as IDRlabs themselves has stated, "just because all the data is available, it does not mean theories do not evolve as new arguments arise and hypotheses are battered and tested. This is largely how scholarship in the humanities works, for example. Or how Popper conceived of science." All I ask IDRlabs to do is to test the ESTP hypothesis out to determine if it's a better fit, which I believe is to be her most likely type based on what I know.
For starters, despite many people assuming that she is an Fi user, I'm in agreement with IDRlabs that she is not an Fi user. She doesn't showcase a preference for seeking a "sympathetic parallelism" and inner harmony, so to speak, with the characters she's playing, but rather saying that these modes of cognition are very foreign to her:
[on her acting method]
Lawrence: "To you it looks emotionally straining, but I don't get emotionally drained, because I don't invest any of my real emotions. I don't take any of my characters' pain home with me, I don't even take it to craft services. I've never been through anything that my characters have been through. And I can't go around looking for roles that are exactly like my life."
Lawrence: "[My character Tiffany in Silver Linings Playbook] was just a character I one-hundred per cent did not understand at all… She’s like, ‘I’m messed up, I’m not like everybody else, I’ve got issues. Take it or leave it because I like myself.'"
Now does this mean that the majority of Ti/Fe types will align with what Jennifer Lawrence has stated here? No. But based on this, we can at least safely assume that she lacks the "sympathetic parallelism" that types with conscious Fi often evince, stating that she doesn't "invest any of [her] real emotions" and that expressing oneself in a "take it or leave it" fashion is something that she "one-hundred per cent did not understand at all." To say that one doesn't really get it is one thing, to "one-hundred per cent ... not understand at all" is another ballpark. It doesn't rule out Fe but it decreases the likelihood of her having Fi high in her consciousness.
Now we got that out of the way, let's move on to the ENFJ vs ESTP debate. Both types have conscious and semi-conscious Fe and Se. The following quote (taken from IDRlabs) is a good example of this interplay:
Vogue Magazine: "The waitress [came to our table], saying, 'This is a gift from the kitchen. They are lamb meatballs.' After she was gone, Lawrence said, 'I can't stand it. I don't eat lamb. I think it tastes like feet.' I said I didn't like lamb, either. Surreptitiously, we hid the meatballs in napkins while discussing her upcoming job. ... [Later] the waitress [came] back: 'Did you like 'em?' She meant the meatballs. Lawrence turned on the acting: 'They were delicious. They were awesome.' The waitress left. For the first time Lawrence seemed unhappy. 'I'm feeling ill,' she said. 'Look at my leg. I'm shaking my leg because I knew she was going to ask. I get the weirdest anxiety [about lying].' ... As Lawrence made her way out of the restaurant, the woman behind the bar said, 'You were great in Winter's Bone.' Lawrence thanked her. Outside, on the sidewalk, she said, 'I don't hear that very much. That's going to put a kick in my step.' In her hand was a napkin loaded with lamb meatballs."
So Jennifer Lawrence’s Feeling seems to be oriented toward the objective situation, the person she is speaking to, or the appropriate ways to address them. This suggests that she has Extroverted Feeling, a function that often manifests as an appreciation of unifying under the same sentiments. However, Lawrence's Feeling doesn't appear to be very mature. She tends to switch between being overly obsequiousness and enjoying conflicts that arise. She seems to be fond of such situations and stated that “I just generally, once I enter a public place, I become incredibly rude. I turn into a huge asshole" (Source). This alternating behavior mostly fits with tertiary extroverted feeling (in this context). On one hand, she is drawn to courteous behavior, but on the other hand, she gets excited by a sense of combativeness. Her clever and waggish use of Fe in the Vogue Magazine quote seem to be more akin to that of ETP than EFJ.
Now while this quote is not a direct constituent of her type, I would like to note that STPs are typically good BS detectors (or at least It's something many of them seek to sniff out, whether warranted or unwarranted). Ti and Se engage with the logical self-symmetry of whatever is currently being engaged within the immediate environment. This tendency enables them to challenge individuals or situations that don't align with their logic, even if it means sacrificing harmony with others. As wisely stated by ESTP George Patton, "If everybody is thinking the same thing, then somebody isn't thinking." Similarly, ESTP Lyndon B. Johnson remarked, "If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking." All else being equal, if we were to compare an ENFJ and an ESTP, the latter is more inclined to immediately confront and expose (what they perceive to be) nonsensical or deceitful individuals and circumstances.
Another point I would like to address is the fact that IDRlabs uses quotes from her colleagues and herself that illustrate her astuteness:
Lawrence: "I always know when I'm being lied to. ... It's okay to lie sometimes and to exaggerate, but I always know when people are doing it."
Francis Lawrence: "Jen is the most in-tune person I've ever met. It's uncanny, but her gift is that she can read people so quickly and use that on-screen. I would hate to date her because you would never be able to get away with anything."
Emma Stone: "She has unbelievable clarity. She can witness a situation or meet a person and see through the entire thing almost instantly. It's stunning."
While I don't disagree with the idea that ENFJs can certainly be astute, I don't see why the quotes couldn't also apply to ESTPs as well. ESTPs are also generally quite alert, observant, and attentive to what is being presented (perhaps even moreso than all of the other types). And with their repressed Ni being relegated to the inferior position (along with higher Thinking than Feeling), they typically are not beset by between-the-lines illusions unless they are unhealthy or their "infantile" Ni makes them go into conspiracy theory mode.
As an aside, from most of what I've seen of her, I don't see many signs of conscious Ni in Jennifer Lawrence. She seems to be mostly oriented towards concrete observation and doesn't seek to subject these observations to an insight into the "undercurrents of humanity" but rather sees them as an end in itself.
With these points, I hope to at least raise some awareness of the possibility of Jennifer Lawrence being an ESTP.
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