While most of us can agree that there are many aspects of life that we don’t understand, we are bound to come up with differing ideas when trying to explain the unexplainable. If you have ever seen the TV show The X-Files (and if you haven’t, seriously, watch it!) you will recognize the characters Dana Scully and Fox Mulder, the two FBI agents who are the protagonists of the show. As partners in the FBI, Scully and Mulder could not be more different in how they attempt to explain unnatural or “paranormal” events.
Scully could be best described as an Assertive Logistician (ISTJ-A), while Mulder would be a Turbulent Mediator (INFP-T). They are not complete opposites personality-wise, but they’re pretty dang close. As a medical doctor and scientist, Scully prides herself on her skeptical nature. Objectivity and facts are of the utmost importance to her. Anything that cannot be described using the scientific method is not “quantifiable” in nature and is, therefore, invalid.
Mulder, on the other hand, is far more open to obscure, abstract, and downright “spooky” interpretations of the events that they investigate. He always “wants to believe” in potential paranormal explanations, due to his childhood experiences in which his sister was (supposedly) abducted by aliens. For Mulder, the crazier and more unlikely the theory, the better.
Not all Logisticians are as skeptical as Scully, and not every Mediator wants to believe in the paranormal as much as Mulder. To determine which personality types are most likely to believe in paranormal phenomena, we asked our readers to agree or disagree with the following statements: (1) “You believe that people can communicate telepathically under certain circumstances”; (2) “You think that there are life-forms on Earth that evade detection”; and (3) “You believe that some people can change the course of events through magic or spells.”
Clearly, these statements touch on very different topics, but they all address paranormal events. Each one represents some ability (telepathy, magic, spells) or concept (unidentified life-forms) that goes beyond what has been scientifically proven.
The data revealed several personality traits that are clearly related to an openness to paranormal situations. Most notably, Intuitive types were always more likely (and usually significantly more likely) than Observant types to agree with these three research statements. The same was also true of Prospecting and Turbulent types.
So grab a bag of Mulder’s favorite sunflower seeds and settle in while we discuss these results, and their potential implications, in greater detail below (pencil-throwing optional).
Roles