Saw your ‘What are they looking at?” guide. Are you trolling us?

Not even a little bit.

Okay, some clarification. All I am doing here is looking through my type tags, and if someone has at least one eye that is definitely looking at the camera, trying to figure out what the other eye is looking at to determine where the person’s focus point is. i.e. What are they looking at?

And with the introverts, I have come to the conclusion that if you put a camera in front of them, and tell them to look at the camera, both eyes will focus directly on the camera.
(This is true of most cases, but there are still probably some outliers and/or people I’ve typed wrong.)

If you look at one of their eyes and then the other, they will appear to be looking at your right or your left eye. Do they do this while talking to people, also? Or is it only when you give them a specific point to look at? I can tell you that in my case, this holds up when I’m listening to people, but is harder when I’m talking to people. I’ve noticed INTJs will sometimes do the ENTJ thing where they’re staring through you at the horizon line, though, so.

And then the extraverts…

They are all over the map, and while sometimes they do focus both eyes on the camera, they often are focused just about everywhere else, but in ways that clearly adhere to type (sometimes). I have no idea why. I just know that it happens.

ESTPs and ENFPs are the most dramatic. ESTPs appear to be focused more on the room than the camera, and often do not have a focal point. Maybe this is their Se giving them increased spatial awareness??? (Seeing as how ESFPs also do this sometimes??? Doesn’t explain the occasional ESTJs, though.)

ENFPs have the closest focal point to their face, and there are a lot of them doing it in the ENFP tag.

From above:

Close your left eye. Look at the camera with your right. Hold up a finger between your right eye and the camera (where the arrow is pointing). Open your left eye and join the right in looking at the finger.

If you’ve taught yourself how to look at magic eye photos, this will be a lot like that.

I think what’s happening is instead of getting lost in your head, ENFPs get lost half a foot and to the side of the front of your face. I have noticed you guys looking here when you’re trying to explain something (usually facing down to your laps).

Here’s approximately where all the extraverts are looking, at least in the guide post I made (not true of every extravert, or in every photo).

ENTPs: I can’t tell most of the time whether you’re doing the introvert both eyes on the camera thing, or if you’re looking just to the side.

ENFJs: I have noticed you guys doing this to me as in person, not just with a camera, particularly if you don’t know me. I think if you have problems with people thinking you’re not paying attention, this is probably why.

ETJs and ESFs: I have also noticed you guys looking at me this way.

I think focal point is definitely not fixed for any type – this is just trends for how people tend to look at cameras (and probably also people, but I can’t necessarily confirm this) by type.It’s kind of funny that the most intense eye contact is ETJs and ESTPs (who are possibly looking through you more than at you), while introverts, who are probably looking very closely at you, have the least intense eye contact.

What are they looking at? Introvert edition.

ISTP: looking at the camera.

ISTJ: looking at the camera.

ISFJ: camera.

ISFP: okay, there’s a pattern here. Maybe the Ns are differ–

INTP: never mind.

INTJ: yep.

INFP: okay.

INFJ: I get it.

I’ve been looking at Jerry Seinfeld and David Letterman more closely since there are billions of videos of them but still don’t get the difference in their body language, like P vs J. Maybe I have a general extrovert problem as pretty much all ET types look similar. How do you see the body language difference in say, Seinfeld and Letterman?

Posture-wise, ENTPs tend to stand slightly contrapposto.

That dude’s milking it. ENTPs are way more subtle.

Here’s Seinfeld with his weight on one leg:

Here’s Letterman with his weight on one leg:

Seinfeld leaning on some walls:

Letterman leaning on a post:

Seinfeld:

Letterman:

Seinfeld:

Letterman:

Seinfeld:

Capiche?

What are they looking at? Extravert edition.

ESTPs: Mad peripheral skills. They’re taking in the entire room.

ESTJs: Staring through you and around you at the same time.

ESFJs: One eyeball on each of your eyeballs. Prime eye contact.

ESFP: pretty good! ESFPs are changeable though, and do a bit of the ESTP-checking-out-the-room thing, too.

ENFPs: What is happening.

ENTP: Not too shabby. (Is that right eye actually looking towards the left side of your face, though, instead of your right eye? Hard to tell.)

ENTJs: Laser beams through your face straight through to the horizon line.

ENFJ: Looking through your skull to that spot on the back of your head. Think good thoughts.

Do you think there’s any correlation between MBTI type and the way a person’s eyes look?

I think there is correlation between MBTI type and muscle tension, which is one factor in the appearance of your eyes.

Could it be possible that your MBTI typing looks right because you go off how people look?

I’m going to break down “how people look,” because I think that depending on what you mean by that, my answer is very different.

1. Genetics. I think being immediate family is actually a good indicator that you are not the same MBTI type. Every person on this site is in a different type tag from their parents, children and siblings, including all the twins. I’d be interested to know the MBTIs of twins raised apart, or the MBTIs of families of 16+ people, but generally speaking, familial resemblance does not equal an MBTI match.

2. Clothing/hair/makeup. While reflective of culture, etc., your personal style is in part due to the choices you make. That two people of the same MBTI type might have similar ideas and priorities regarding their appearance is not an unreasonable assumption.

3. Muscle tension. I do think that the way you move and hold your body is indicative of type. This is always easier to tell when you can see a person actually moving, instead of frozen pictures of people smiling, although that can be useful as well.

So yes, I think appearance is useful for typing, and I often check people out because they look like other people I’ve typed in a picture. I also often post pictures (when available) that look like other pictures I’ve already posted as a reminder of why I thought a person belonged in the tag. It can be nice to find similar pictures of people in the same type since the photographers are clearly thinking about them the same way as well. If someone doesn’t look right in the tag, I usually end up feeling uncomfortable when I scroll past them in the tag until I recheck them.

The thing I don’t do is type only by appearance, mostly because I’ve tried it and it didn’t work.

So I guess to answer your question: no, or not entirely, but I’m pleased that you think so.

hey there. i tried to find simmilarities between people who have the same type, what i’ve noticed: many INTPs seem to have one eye a little bit more squinted than another – just like me, also an INTP. may this be a thing or is it just a coincidence?

I am coming at this from the POV of looking at photos, not of watching
video, because I do not have the energy to watch a bunch of footage over
to look for this, but with that in mind, here’s a couple of things to think about:

1. Sometimes when head-tilting, one of your eyes will narrow a little, which is not a muscle tension thing, but maybe like a human steady cam thing.

2. Photos are really deceptive. People are asymmetrical. Lighting is weird.

3. Muscle tension does seem to be type specific – not that everyone of a type uses the exact same muscles in the exact same way as a reaction to the exact same things, but there are a lot of trends, so a one-eye-squint is not a super unreasonable thing to type someone by.

4. Find a picture of an INTP squinting from one eye and try to copy them – do you have a feeling you associate with that gesture? I do. It’s what I look like when I disagree with you and I’m arguing with you internally. I can replicate it pretty easily by telling myself “Someone’s wrong on the internet…” (Note that it’s really hard to smile while doing this, especially with teeth.)

If this is the way INTPs often look when having their photo taken, I would mostly take from that that INTPs don’t enjoy promo photos, or don’t enjoy being studied by photographers. It isn’t a thing that is limited to INTPs (so I wouldn’t use it as a tool to separate INTP from not INTP on its own), but it is a common response for INTPs having their picture taken (healthy skepticism is a pretty common response for INTPs, generally) and it could be a point in favour of an INTP-typing in conjunction with a bunch of other things.

In an earlier post you referred to clothing choice as being somewhat significant to type; in what way is this? What clothing trends to you see in the different types?

Yikes, okay this has the potential to be a very complicated question, so I will give you a quick summary instead. Generally speaking:

E types want to draw more attention to themselves than their I counterparts, which is reflected in their choices.

S types care more about presentation than Ns (unless the N’s job or primary interest is aesthetic-related or otherwise expects them to be considerate of their presentation).

F types dress emotionally.

T types dress… practically or ironically or experimentally.

Js dress more practically and generally look neat and professional.

Ps care less about social convention and wear whatever they like.

This works pretty well with some exceptions, including INFPs and ISFPs whose F and or S will often override the E/I thing and will dress to stand out (or it will happen as a side effect). Some ISFJs as well.

ENFJs will sometimes buck the J/P thing where they wear extremely unconventional things that often also manage to look neat and professional.

How do you “type from pictures”?

Not very accurately, let me tell you!

The byproduct of staring at piles of people in order to type them, is that type trends start popping up everywhere. I don’t know if anyone’s aware that I stuck up some tag links on the top of my tumblr like so:

Tada!

I find it useful to scroll through them and compare new typees to the old ones. They make a lot of the same faces, to be honest, and I usually have a pretty good idea when they don’t belong. It doesn’t work one photo to one photo, but if you have two people who sort of look alike and dress alike and are making the same faces and taking all the same kinds of photos, you probably have a match.

By no means a conclusive list of things that crop up often (actor-centric) by type:

ESTP: Very direct, piercing eye contact! Sharp, cutting eyebrows. Large presence (whether they are a small person or not). Non-standard clothing choices.

ESTJ: Smile by pulling the corners of their mouths directly towards their ears, forming a more or less straight line – top lip folds towards their teeth. They often make the exact same face in every picture; you could layer them over top of each other. Well put together (hair, makeup, clothing), good posture, sometimes bordering on stiffness.

ESFP: Very round – round faces, round eyebrows. Wide mouths, but not in an alarming way. Usually lots of facial symmetry. Fun clothing choices (colours, styles) and accessories. More likely to duck face than to blue steel.

ESFJ: With the exception of some ESTPs, ESFJs are the only type that will legitimately pull off “Blue Steel.” Either super serious (and staring you down) or super sweet. Often conventionally attractive, often participate in some mildly risqué photoshoots.

ENTP: In a word, gleeful. Wide range of photoshoots, hairstyles, clothing choices. Often long faces with wide foreheads and pointy chins. Also do the t-type smile with the corners of the mouth pulled back in a line, but top lip flattens instead of aiming towards the teeth. Sparkly eyes.

ENTJ: Squarer, or more rectangular faces than the ENTPs. T-type smile. Less noticeable facial features, especially eyes. Stiffer posture than ENTPs.

ENFP: Soft smile, also the smile where they’re laughing inside but trying not to smile (all cheeks and eyes over firmly closed lips), also the smile where they know your dirty thoughts and agree. ENFPs have range. Also rounder faces, with the occasional pointed chin. Often some embarrassing, mildly exploitative photo shoots.

ENFJ: Expressive facial features, especially eyes, ENFJ glow, peacoats, scarves and plaid. Either reserved or making faces.

Introverts in general are more checked-out as far as eye contact.

ISTP: A wide range – sometimes they’ll look challenging or angry. Sometimes a mix between disgustingly hot and kind of child-like.

ISTJ: Grumpy! Big heads. Very present. Squinty, sometimes.

ISFP: Lots of soft focus and artsy shots. Interesting features. Sort of an non-traditional, fluid, but cohesive personal style.

ISFJ: Mix of sharks and sweetness! (To do the ISFJ shark smile, open your mouth, pull both lips off your teeth in a smile and let your eyes relax and fall slightly shut. For bonus points, jerk your chin forward and hold it there for a second.) Sometimes a kind of flat expression (sometimes nearly sparkly), especially in the eyes.

INTP: Same head shape as ENTPs. Occasionally sporting the smallest possible smile. Hair is either neat, or casually approaching a messy fro.

INTJ: Amusing-secrets smile. Often a soft expression.

INFP: Don’t-care-hair. Also shot with a lot of soft focus.

INFJ: Very well put together but exact opposite of flashy. Likes soft colours. Has soft expressions. Smiling to put you at ease.