This time of year, ghosts, zombies, and vampires are everywhere – you might even spot distinctive Día de los Muertos skulls, dancing skeletons, and the elegantly iconic Calavera Catrina. Once again, it’s time to celebrate our collective fascination with the (un)dead. When it comes to Halloween, we set our taboos aside more freely, and we can revel in the mysterious world of superstitions, magic, and everything supernatural.
For some people, this connection with the world beyond isn’t limited to a certain time of year. For these people, their very existence is a bridge between the concrete realm of the here and now and the ethereal and otherworldly unknown. The powers that these people have can be described by many names: a sixth sense, clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, or deep intuition, to name a few. Whatever you want to call it, some people seem to have it and some people don’t.
Our relationship with the paranormal is at least partly influenced by culture. Data from our “Supernatural” survey, for example, indicates that people in South America and Africa are more likely to do things to ward off supernatural forces. Meanwhile, in North America, people are more open to seeking out a connection with otherworldly entities. Ouija boards can be found in the game aisles of most department stores in the United States, after all.
Beyond culture, personality is a major player when it comes to our connection with the supernatural. Personality type is a fairly reliable indicator of our willingness to believe in ghosts, hauntings, magical objects, supernatural abilities, or sacred dates on an ancient calendar.
Let’s look at a few of the personality traits that influence people’s openness to – or skepticism toward – the paranormal.
The Role of Intuition
The sixth sense, or someone’s innate connection to the supernatural, is often attributed to deep intuition (with a small “i”). This kind of intuition is typically understood as the ability to “know” something without having any physical evidence to prove it. When someone is deeply connected to their intuition, so the common theory goes, they are more open to receiving messages from other realms or connecting with spirits or ghosts. The belief is that highly intuitive people are more likely to experience the inexplicable.
It’s fascinating, then, that both the most skeptical of all personality types – Analysts, which include Architects (INTJs), Logicians (INTPs), Commanders (ENTJs), and Debaters (ENTPs) – and the most open to the supernatural – Diplomats, which include Advocates (INFJs), Mediators (INFPs), Protagonists (ENFJs), and Campaigners (ENFPs) – share the Intuitive personality trait. Yes, that’s Intuitive with a capital “I.”
When it comes to personality theory, there is a difference between intuition with a small “i” and Intuition as a personality trait. 16Personalities writer Darrell describes small “i” intuition best in his article “What Intuitive Personality Types Aren’t.” He says, “It’s simply when one draws reasonable conclusions or makes reasonable decisions without trying. Some people describe it as the brain being on ‘autopilot’ as it automatically pulls the pieces together and arranges them for use.”
In the context of personality theory, Intuition with a capital “I” refers to a person’s tendency to focus both inwardly yet simultaneously toward the horizon of possibility, beyond what’s immediately observable. People with Intuitive personalities tend to be highly imaginative and have an uncanny ability to “connect the dots.”
An interesting example of how intuition can show up as a sixth sense is in the seemingly mystical ability to predict the future. Nearly 85% of Diplomat personality types feel like they sometimes know what’s going to happen before it actually does. About 78% of typically skeptical Analysts are also likely to admit that they have this uncanny ability to intuit future events. Personalities of both Roles take in big-picture information and process it in ways that let them anticipate what’s going to happen.
The difference is that Analysts are likely anticipating the future through a logical cause-and-effect understanding of possible sequences of events. Diplomats, on the other hand, are probably focusing more on psychological or emotional factors that influence how and why circumstances play out. This fundamental difference is thanks to the Thinking and Feeling traits that differentiate the personalities of these two Roles.
And, as it turns out, the Feeling trait has the strongest influence on a person’s sixth sense and connection to the supernatural.
Not sure if you have an Intuitive personality or whether you have a stronger Thinking or Feeling trait? Take our free personality test, and then use our Trait Scholar tool to dig deep into every aspect of your personality.
Thinking and Feeling Types: Skeptics and Believers
Analyst personality types all share both the Intuitive and Thinking traits. And while they are just as likely to enjoy a good ghost story as anyone else, they are the least likely types to actually believe it, thanks to their logical and rational nature. Even if they experience the supernatural firsthand, they might not say anything – their innate skepticism might prevent them from fully trusting their senses, causing them to disbelieve their perception of what actually happened.
Other Thinking personalities – Logisticians (ISTJs), Executives (ESTJs), Virtuosos (ISTPs) and Entrepreneurs (ESTPs) – all tend to be equally (if not more) dubious of anything supernatural. They are all less likely than their Feeling counterparts of the same Roles to believe in ghosts or hauntings, and they rarely believe that certain people can have supernatural powers. There is a reasonable chance that they don’t believe in miracles, and they are unlikely to believe that “evil” and the supernatural are somehow connected.
Feeling types, though… They are more likely to be believers. This is especially true for Diplomat personalities but also includes, to a lesser extent, Defenders (ISFJs), Consuls (ESFJs), Adventurers (ISFPs) and Entertainers (ESFPs).
A solid majority of Diplomats are likely to believe in ghosts, and they’re not exactly opposed to reaching out and making contact with them. According to that same “Supernatural” survey that we mentioned earlier, 42% of people with a Diplomat personality type have attempted to communicate with the supernatural entities of the spirit realm. People in this Role also tend to be more perceptive of what they might describe as a thin barrier between this world and the spiritual plane, interpreting subtle breaches as paranormal experiences.
Tapping Into Your Sixth Sense
If you want to tap into the supernatural potential of your personality type or just connect with those perceptive parts of yourself, here are a few easy tips to awaken or strengthen your sixth sense:
- Keep a dream journal. This will help you understand the subtler interpretations of your reality that the rational mind often filters out of your conscious perceptions.
- Pay attention to your gut feelings. You don’t always have to take its advice, but just learning how to tune into what your gut is saying is a great first step to connecting with your intuition.
- Find time for silence. In our busy world and with our busy lives, it’s easy to lose track of our own thoughts and feelings. Find a way to tune out all the noise and tune into your inner voice.
These tips might not exactly get you access to the spirit of John Lennon, but they may help you become more open and perceptive to the subtleties of the world around you. And who knows – they might even allow you an authentic paranormal experience.
So, Really… How Strong Is Your Sixth Sense?
This time of year, it’s easy (and who are we kidding, fun!) to get caught up in the costumes, rituals, seasonal decor, and candy that define the Halloween season. For most people, this celebration of the otherworldly is strictly superficial and fun. But we know that for some of you, this dabbling in the spirit realm is something to be taken a bit more seriously.
To wrap up this article, we’d like to ask in all seriousness: How strong is your sixth sense? What kind of paranormal experiences have you had? We’d love to read your best true otherworldly stories in the comments.