If we all could see through Adventurers’ eyes, we’d see everyday things from an angle that’s probably enjoyably different for most people. People with this personality type continuously scour their surroundings in search of the new and beautiful. When we take it a bit further and explore their Identities, we see two expressions of what it means to be an Adventurer. Once divided, the two types become two different shades of the same color on the Adventurer palette.
Let’s look at what our research says about the differences between Assertive Adventurers (ISFP-A) and Turbulent Adventurers (ISFP-T).
A Lion or a House Cat?
59% of Assertive Adventurers say they would rather be a lion in the wild than a house cat, compared to 23% of Turbulent Adventurers.
The lion or the house cat? It’s a close metaphor for the differences between Assertive and Turbulent Adventurer personalities. Assertive Adventurers look nearly like Extraverts in their robust expression of spontaneity and curiosity. They tend to roar when compared to their Turbulent counterparts.
But house cats are not the opposite of lions. They are their more cautious cousins. In their quieter way, Turbulent Adventurers are just as attracted to the new, interesting, and beautiful as their Assertive counterparts.
As Introverted personalities, both types of Adventurers need time to recharge after contact with the outside world. Symbolically, Assertive Adventurers likely wander farther away from their home bases when exploring the world and likely engage it more. Turbulent Adventurers are just as likely to explore, just a little closer to the familiar and deeper within their comfort zones.
72% of Assertive Adventurers consider themselves unique and/or special, compared to 39% of Turbulent Adventurers.
Assertive Adventurers usually feel sure about what they offer the world. These personalities embrace that their contribution is something distinct and maybe even sometimes worthy of notice. This notion likely extends to how they think about themselves.
Turbulent Adventurers may be less sure about their contributions. They may question the worthiness of their ideas and results. Where the undoubting Assertive Adventurers feel unique and special, these same “virtues” may translate in Turbulent Adventurers as something to feel uncertain about. Their doubts may make any breakthrough successes hard to accept.
Living in the Moment Can Be Stressful Too
64% of Assertive Adventurers feel like they effectively manage stress, compared to 24% of Turbulent Adventurers.
Nearly two-thirds of Assertive Adventurers believe they handle stress well. In all their self-assurance, they may see such pressure as something that doesn’t impact their lives much because they feel that they can handle it. They may even shrug such challenges off. This disregard for stressful things allows these personalities to move forward worry-free and probably more boldly. But they may also overly minimize the significance of their stressors. Assertive Adventurers may not always attend to the problems they should.
Turbulent Adventurers are less likely to feel competent in the face of stress. At first glance, this might appear negative. But whenever these personalities encounter something that feels stressful, their lack of confidence is likely to cause them to be more concerned about it – perhaps even to feel dread because of it. These feelings may bring about a heightened awareness of actual or potential problems. If they aren’t overwhelmed by these difficulties, they may find solutions sooner than their Assertive counterparts.
67% of Turbulent Adventurers say their responsibilities often overwhelm them, compared to 45% of Assertive Adventurers.
Similarly, Assertive Adventurers feel more in control of their responsibilities. When people are confident, they are likely to believe they can easily handle the tasks in their lives. As with stress, uncertain Turbulent Adventurers may feel uneasiness about their responsibilities, but this uneasiness may motivate them to be more cautious and perhaps even to perform more meticulously.
Self-Regard, Emotions, and Other People
74% of Assertive Adventurers feel like they have control over their emotions, compared to 32% of Turbulent Adventurers.
Assertive and Turbulent Adventurers obviously share the Feeling personality trait. This trait plays a significant role in how Feeling types make decisions. If Adventurers have a sense that they control their emotions, they are more likely to feel as though they also control their resolve. Otherwise, with shifting emotions, their possible choices can become moving targets.
Assertive Adventurer personalities are likely to feel more like the masters of their ships because of the higher likelihood that they will feel in control of their emotions. Alternatively, Turbulent Adventurers are less likely to think that they are in charge of their feelings. If this is more than just the way they see themselves, they may be more indecisive as their emotions fluctuate.
83% of Assertive Adventurers say they feel comfortable with themselves, compared to 57% of Turbulent Adventurers.
Turbulent Adventurers are just as likely as not to have a positive sense of self. They tend to be more comfortable with themselves than average Turbulent individuals of other personality types. This almost fifty-fifty likelihood is perhaps because of their fierce independence. They are a little more likely to measure themselves mostly by themselves.
However, as we’ll see later, that doesn’t mean that Turbulent Adventurers feel no pressure from others. But their independence may give them the space they need to approach more closely the person they think they should be. For a Turbulent personality type, they are relatively less tethered to the judgments of others – although not completely.
Despite this, the difference between Assertiveness and Turbulence remains. Most Assertive Adventurers are significantly more comfortable with themselves than Turbulent Adventurers. Their Assertive confidence extends in all directions.
67% of Turbulent Adventurers say they feel pressured to live up to a certain standard (home, car, salary), compared to 42% of Assertive Adventurers.
However, societal pressures still seem to influence many Adventurer personalities. Standard scorecards that pinpoint who is doing well in a community carry more weight among Turbulent Adventurers than they do among Assertive Adventurers. This attention to outside standards might seem to rob them of the freedom that fuels some of their better qualities. But a moderate dose of keeping up social standards can also keep Turbulent Adventurers connected to the people in their lives. It may keep them in the mainstream just enough.
Confident people have less need for the approval of others, and Assertive Adventurers are no different. These personalities are less likely to wait around for permission for what to do and when to do it. This freedom naturally streamlines the goals they wish to pursue.
But the less back-and-forth with others that Assertive Adventurers need, the less likely they are to create strong ties with those who might otherwise matter to them. Assertive Adventurers may miss out on valuable feedback and ideas.
73% of Assertive Adventurers say they would offer their honest opinion if a friend asked them, “How do I look?” compared to 50% of Turbulent Adventurers.
Turbulent Adventurers are likely a little less independent, but more likely to be open to working on a team or collaborating. They need to know that others approve of them and that the people who matter to them are all right with what they do. Not that either personality variant is likely to be careless with the feelings of others, but Turbulent Adventurers usually play it safer than Assertive Adventurers with the people in their lives.
Summary
- Because of their greater confidence, Assertive Adventurers are likely to feel more adventurous than Turbulent Adventurers.
- Turbulent Adventurers are more sensitive to stress and can feel overwhelmed easier than Assertive Adventurers. This characteristic can allow them to see little problems before they become big problems.
- Though Turbulent Adventurers are likely to feel more comfortable with themselves than the average Turbulent personality type, they are still less at ease in their own lives than Assertive Adventurers.
- Assertive Adventurers are less dependent on the opinions of others than Turbulent Adventurers, but Turbulent Adventurers’ sensitivity may allow them to work better with others and to collaborate.
Either Way, It’s Still an Adventure
While two shades of the same color are different, they are likely recognizable as the same color. While Assertive and Turbulent Adventurers’ approaches may differ, the type of life and kind of things they value are solidly the same. However, when it comes to personality types, no trait is wasted, and so these nuanced yet contrasting approaches offer something uniquely special to the world.
