Photo: Look Studio / Shutterstock.Com
Every personality type has a dark side, including the most sociable of them all.
By Emily Van Devender — Last updated on May 12, 2023
The Myers-Briggs personality test is perhaps the most popular attempt at categorizing the many personalities of humans. The descriptions are eye-opening, and you’ll probably have several epiphanies about your own personality in the process.
But along with positive traits of each of the 16 personality types, there is the realization that each one has a dark side.
For the ESTP personality type (which stands for Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving), while they are social, charismatic quick-thinkers, and tend to make their own rules, they can simultaneously be impulsive, take big risks, and are workaholics. (Sound familiar? Donald Trump is a well-known ESTP.)
The ESTP Myers-Briggs type includes some captivating individuals, but all of this appeal is not without a pretty alarming dark side full of intense negative traits.
These are generalizations of all ESTPs and should be interpreted as such. ESTPs are all individuals and handle their predispositions in a wide variety of ways. If there’s an ESTP in your life, it’s helpful to understand the shortcomings of their personality type, alongside the ESTP strengths, in order to live in harmony.
4 Negative Personality Traits of the ESTP Dark Side
1. Loose-lipped
While ESTPs are cunning speakers, many of their words are spoken without consideration of consequences. Additionally, they don’t listen much and have trouble reading people.
If you have an ESTP in your life, you’ve likely noticed that they won’t hesitate to talk over you, even if you’re opening your heart to them. They’ll disregard the details of a conversation and may unintentionally hurt your feelings with their extreme lack of a filter.
If you slip up, ESTP will be the first to shamelessly call you out. They’re also horrible secret-keepers. If you want to confide something, consider the strong possibility that your ESTP friend will let it slip out in an inappropriate setting before baring it all to them.
You’ve likely witnessed them sharing their own details in contexts where it would have been best to keep quiet. If you are an ESTP, you should probably ask yourself if something is TMI before sharing it.
2. Defiant
Being defiant can be a good thing in the right setting, but ESTPs prefer to make their own rules, and those around them better accommodate.
ESTPs have reputations as trouble-makers, often leading those around them into the same behaviors because of their ability to be convincing. They might make rash decisions or larger risks that result in legal trouble.
Of course, with proper effort and self-control, ESTPs are smart enough to avoid the trouble that comes with breaking the rules; they just often choose not to. ESTPs feel confined within the structure of rules, which leads to their difficulty in success in mundane work positions (they have the second-lowest college GPAs of all Myers-Briggs types).
They’d much rather have total control and variety in their work, focusing mostly on hands-on activities. In short, they can't go for long periods of time feeling bored, and need constant stimulation.
3. Short-sighted
People with this personality type live in the here and now, and make their decisions based on their current situation without thinking long-term. Their inability to think into the future causes them to make impulsive decisions based on little evidence.
While they aren’t considered emotional thinkers, they are focused to the point that they don’t have foresight in decision-making, preferring to see immediate results rather than prolonging judgment in the interest of full understanding. They might make each “part” perfectly, but they don’t fit together to make a perfect “whole.”
This may be considered the biggest ESTP weakness, as their lack of seeing the big picture prevents them from forming lasting relationships, romantic or otherwise. They may believe they’ve put in enough effort, but have trouble seeing the relationship as a whole.
4. Demanding
In a wide variety of contexts, ESTPs are frustratingly demanding of others. They thrive in leadership roles due to their charisma and need for freedom but fail to see how their demands affect others. They assume that their perspective is the right one and that all others are fundamentally wrong.
Their inability to listen doesn't help. In the workplace, they set clear and short-term goals (which employees appreciate) but leave little room for expansion upon their ideas by others.
As parents, they expect their children to be tough cookies, which puts an extreme amount of pressure on timid or sensitive children. They’re great teachers for their children, but, like with others in their lives, they struggle to be good listeners.
More for You:
Emily Van Devender is a freelance writer based in Colorado, USA. She writes about psychology, politics, feminism, and trending topics.