There are several personality types, one of which is the Mediator Personality. A person with a Mediator Personality possesses the Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perception personality traits (INFP); individuals with these personality types are usually reserved, empathic, and creative with bursts of spontaneity.
People are typically curious about their fundamental human natures and their qualities, which make them who they are when woven into one piece. They’re interested in the little bits and pieces of physical, mental/emotional, and even the spiritual information that makes them tick, that governs their thought processes, their actions, the results they get, and in essence, their life.
Mediator Personality Type
Personality is defined as a network of qualities that separate one individual from another individual. It is the measure of any individual’s behavioral and emotional characteristics.
Every individual has their uniqueness, and no matter how many similarities exist between themselves and another individual, they can never quite be the same. These differences extend beyond physical qualities and exist majorly as psychological characteristics. As you’d find, even identical twins possess physical features quite exactly or almost the same but exhibit different character and personality traits.
You would also find that even individuals brought up by the same people and under the same circumstances grow up to be their unique individuals with different ideas and concepts about life in general. In other words, no two individuals existing here on earth are the same; there’s only one you.
As much as all individuals possess their uniqueness and personality traits, it cannot be denied that several external factors contribute to these traits. Two of these major factors are:
- Heredity: This is responsible for the basic biological and physiological similarities among family members. It involves the genetic information, passed from parent to child, responsible for similarities in basic attributes like height, complexion, mannerisms, and more. It also answers the question that comes up on the similarity between a child and parent about certain likes and dislikes; for example, the distaste a child has for a particular fruit could be as a result of shared genetic information with the father who also harbors a dislike for said fruit or the love for art a child develops at a tender age just like their mother.
- Environment: several conducted studies point out that a child’s environment, a child’s environment is physical or social, inherently affects that child’s personality. Family, schools, culture, language, and religion all play a part in molding a child’s personality to a certain degree. The models and experiences all these provide inevitably contribute to personality traits. Both of these factors, among others, affect the way an individual is perceived both by themselves and by society as a whole, and all of these manifest in the social identity of the individual.
Personality Types
The Myer-Briggs Test Indicator (MBTI) is the most popular and accepted self-assessment test that seeks to identify under which personality type an individual falls and the individual’s personality strengths and weaknesses. The daughter-mother duo carefully put the assessment questions based on their earlier study with Carl Jung’s work on personality types.
The MBTI personality type categorization is affected by a combination derived from four pairs of characters, and one letter from each word is used in identification. There are 16 personality types according to MBTI, and the characters they’re derived from are:
- Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): this relates to where and how individuals get their mental stimulation and energy. Extroverts tend to get stimulation and energy from external factors and active involvement with people and different activities. They are usually described as fun, out-going, lively, and high on energy. Introverts, on the other hand, get their stimulation more from internal factors. They’re usually reserved, quiet, and introspective and tend to enjoy their own company more than anything.
- Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): this relates to how individuals gather and process information. Individuals who prefer usually sensing only gather, process, and use information based on tangible facts, while intuitive people prefer to look beyond facts and search for deeper meaning.
- Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): this relates to how individuals decide based on logic or emotions. Thinkers decide based on logic, and Feelers based on emotions and feelings. Thinkers are usually impersonal in making decisions, while feelers are usually considerate of theirs and others’ feelings before making decisions.
- Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): this relates to how an individual approaches life and its tactics. Judgers tend to be structured and organized and usually always have a plan in motion. On the other hand, perceivers tend to adopt a ‘fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of tactic; they make decisions and do things spontaneously and not in any particular thought out manner.
It is important to note that not one person is of only one extreme character but rather a blend and a preference. This means that even an extrovert can be introspection, and a perceiver can be organized when the need arises.
The MBTI Personality Types:
There are 16 personality types and each is listed by its four-letter code:
- ISTJ – The Inspector
- ISTP – The Crafter
- ISFJ – The Protector
- ISFP – The Artist
- INFJ – The Advocate
- INFP – The Mediator
- INTJ – The Architect
- INTP – The Thinker
- ESTP – The Persuader
- ESTJ – The Director
- ESFP – The Performer
- ESFJ – The Caregiver
- ENFP – The Champion
- ENFJ – The Giver
- ENTP – The Debater
- ENTJ – The Commander
Mediator Personality Type
The Mediator personality is one of the unique personality types from the Myers-Briggs Indicator Test. A Mediator is someone that possesses Introversion, Intuition, Feelings, and Perception personality traits.
- Introversion
Mediators are quite comfortable with being alone. They are truly comfortable in their own company and successfully embody the ‘alone but not lonely’ saying. They generally keep to themselves, are reserved, gentle, and are least likely to volunteer information or opinions unprovoked/unrequested.
Mediators have vivid imaginations and will often be found wrapped up in a world no one else can be part of. It would be a mistake to see their introversion as shyness or weakness because they only choose not to share/volunteer information but have quite a lot of brilliant opinions and thoughts.
Although Mediators keep to themselves a lot, they always have a small circle of people closest to them with who they’re most comfortable sharing their thoughts and whom they draw energy from; they could even be mistaken for extroverts the company of their close circle.
- Intuition
Mediators exhibit intuitiveness over sense when trying to gather and process information that gets to them. Unlike their sensing counterparts, they tend to look beyond the facts presented to them; they search for the deeper, unspoken meaning behind the information presented to them. They delve beyond the surface level and tend to be more thoughtful people as a result and generally consider all the hidden angles that might exist behind information before them.
The intuitive nature of Mediators is arguably the reason behind their creative nature. Intuition allows Mediators to think outside the box such that they’re not forced into a corner or in one position but have free rein on ideas. They allow room for what could be rather than stick to just facts presented to them. However, it shouldn’t be unusual to see Mediators sticking to facts presented to them; certain situations may call for sense rather than intuition, for which they show a natural predisposition.
- Feeling
Mediators are emotional and feeling people. They decide based on how they feel about the situation or the people involved rather than logic. This doesn’t take away from their ability to be logical people; it only means they choose to follow their heart rather than their head in most situations.
Empathy is a much more pronounced and obvious quality in Mediators. They’re able to feel other people’s pains and sufferings as though they were theirs. This attribute makes them thoughtful and kind, and considerate of others even before themselves. They always avoid conflict and would do all within their power to keep the peace.
Mediators are very supportive, loyal, and devoted to all their relationships and show genuine interest in others’ feelings and emotions. They also find it easier than most other people to forgive wrongs against them; they’re non-judgmental and accepting of people’s faults.
Being empaths and people who generally place importance on other people’s feelings, however, doesn’t take away from their strengths as individuals, making them more vulnerable to being taken advantage of.
- Perception
In their approach to life, Mediators are mostly unconventional. They rarely go about their way like most people do. They’re not as organized or structured as their counterparts and are usually unable to follow a plan or schedule. This doesn’t mean they’re directionless or easily swayed; although they can be a bit distracted, they only prefer not to put in a corner seemingly.
Mediators tend to work with bursts of energy, meaning they’d rather be inspired and work for hours straight up than work according to a schedule for a couple of hours. They prefer to leave room for possibilities and other options rather than make decisions immediately.
Mediators don’t like being under pressure and could feel overwhelmed under pressure but they usually step up to the plate in the end.
Mediators usually put a lot of pressure on themselves as they could be very self-critical. They push decisions and actions forward until they think they’d do a perfect job or make a perfect decision or when they have to meet a deadline.
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Just like other personality types Mediators have their strengths and weaknesses.
- Strengths
Mediators are kind, thoughtful, creative, and passionate people. They are loyal to their values and the people they love. They’re not cynical but idealistic individuals. They’re optimistic and choose to see the positivity around them.
Mediators are reserved but have strength in their quiet. Some would describe them as naïve, but they’re simply trusting people who choose to give the benefit of the doubt. They go out of their way to make others comfortable; they’re supportive, generous, and open-minded.
They’re good at seeing the big picture and can look beyond the messy processes involved. They work very well alone but can also be team players when necessary.
- Weaknesses
However, Mediators tend to be overly idealistic, looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses and being completely unrealistic. They could also be completely disconnected from reality while letting their imaginations run wild.
Mediators are self-critical and expect a whole lot from their selves and, as a result, sometimes end up with feelings of inadequacy when they fall short of their standards, which could lead to low self-esteem and a lack of motivation to engage in activities they previously enjoyed.
They could be completely driven by their emotions such that they fail to apply logic where necessary and could end up botching important decisions. They’re essentially people-pleasers and, in their need to avoid conflict, sometimes end up hurting themselves.
They’re private people and essentially have people jumping through hoops in trying to get to know them. They sometimes feel guilt from their inability to give as much as they’d like to the people they love.
Also, Mediators, unfortunately, almost always have a constant dissatisfaction with where they are at different points in their lives. You’d find even the successful ones by any standards still feeling afloat and directionless.
Final thoughts
Mediators, like other people, can excel on different career paths. However, a Mediator will thrive the most in a space that allows them to be creative and empathetic and lets their strengths shine through. Therefore, you’d find a Mediator doing exceptionally well as a writer, artist, psychologist, or medical doctor.
Mediators will usually not be the most sociable ones wherever they are but usually value harmony. They would usually promote equality and fairness wherever they are and usually prefer to work where everyone is valued and appreciated; they don’t do well with discrimination towards anybody and typically avoid office politics.
Several examples of Mediators exist from centuries back to the modern century. Some popular Mediators you might know are:
- William Shakespeare- Author
- Vincent Van Goh- Artist
- Bob Marley- Singer
- Johnny Depp-Actor
- James Alfred Wright-Veterinary surgeon/ Author
In as much as personalities define individuals, individuals can work on making the best of their personality type weakness and focusing on making their strengths outshine their weaknesses. Neither is it unusual or impossible for individuals to have strong interests in careers or concepts that seemingly don’t fit their personalities.
Also READ Commander Personality (ENTJ)
