The ESTP is the soul of the party and loves to be center of attention. An ESTP will live life in the moment and revel in an action-packed life, full of adventure and obstacles. Their courage helps them sieze opportunities and push the boundaries of life. You will find many people gravitate towards ESTPs due to their charisma and social skills.
ESTP Principles
What are the core principles behind the ESTP personality type?
The ESTP, also called the Entrepreneur, is known for being one of the most outgoing personality types on the Myers Briggs scale. They are extremely enthusiastic, observant, easily adaptable, and they love to make work fun. ESTPs apply their own experiences to situations to help find solutions, and are known for being exceptionally resourceful. However, with their outgoing demeanor they can have difficulty managing their time, and tend to lose interest in long-term, complex projects. With their extraverted personality, ESTPs are action-oriented and love to use logical thinking in all things they do, even though they are also known for being quite dramatic at times.
Being very analytical, ESTPs love to utilize their resources and solve problems.
They are outgoing risk takers who are dedicated to what they are doing. They will always give one hundred percent on any task.
They love life, being around other people, and living in the moment.
ESTPs are extremely attentive, and are always paying attention to what is going on around them.
ESTPs do not enjoy being pinned down, they thrive on spontaneity.
Social Butterfly
ESTPs love to be around other people and having a great time. They are known for being fast-talkers, and generally a few steps ahead in their conversations. An ESTP illuminates their surroundings with their high-energy, motivating personality, naturally drawing people to them. They are very intentional with everything they do, and are constantly picking up on every detail no matter how small. Being able to notice such minute details has led ESTPs to be known for picking up on things the majority of other people do not.
An ESTP will draw people in with their charisma and energy. They have an energy that gets them noticed.
Logic
ESTPs are inventive, observant, and acutely resourceful. They will apply their own personal experiences to situations to help reach a solution in a timely manner. These ESTPs place a higher value on objectivity in situations rather than focusing on personal feelings. Being able to use their common sense at the forefront of everything they do, they are able to use their surroundings to consistently improvise solutions. They do not like having long, drawn out plans, rather, they prefer to keep their options open allowing for more possibilities to come to a conclusion faster.
An ESTP will come to decisions quickly using their logic, and be happy to carry them out with haste. An ESTP will not like to mull over feelings or abstract ideas.
Spontaneity
An ESTP is not a planner. In fact, they are the exact opposite. They are known for their impulsivity, and for being large risk takers. ESTPs are said to “leap before they look”, leading them to intermittently do or say something they regret. These thrill-seekers love to keep their options open at all times, generally avoiding plans or being tied down to a specific plan. Their lives thrive on improvising and the element of surprise.
An ESTP does not follow the rules. They are often led by their impulses and their own beliefs of what is right and wrong.
Directness
Even though ESTPs excel in an environment of improvising, they are extremely direct individuals. When they ask questions, they expect to receive clear answers and always do their best to uphold the same standard when roles are reversed. ESTPs can get distracted with long-term projects, and prefer to resolve problems as efficiently as possible. They will immediately go straight to the facts, paying attention to every last detail without being distracted by outlying factors. They will improvise to avoid any type of long-term planning, which can lead them to become easily stressed.
Data: ESTP World Heatmap
What is the global distribution of the ESTP personality type?
Which countries have the highest percentage of ESTPs? Is this type more common in certain countries? Use our research data to find out.
Figure 1: Percent of population with ESTP type
What this chart shows
This heatmap shows the percent of each country's population who are ESTP. This helps us to easily identify global distribution of this personality type. For example we see United Kingdom has a high proportion of ESTPs and Taiwan has a low proportion of ESTPs.
Notes:
1. Countries with less than 0.001% share of global population have not been included due to sample size.
2. n=27985
3. Population: all
4. Live dataset last updated:
Figure 2: Regions with highest and lowest percent of ESTP types
Top ten countries with highest and lowest percent of respondents with ESTP personality type
What this chart shows
This chart shows the top ten countries with the highest proportion of people with ESTP personality type and ten countries with the lowest proportion of people with ESTP personality type.
Notes:
1. Countries with less than 0.001% share of global population have not been included due to sample size.
2. n=27985
3. Population: all
4. Live dataset last updated:
ESTP: The Four Letters Explained
What does ESTP stand for?
The four letters of the ESTP personality stand for: (E)xtraverted, (S)ensing, (T)hinking, and (P)erceiving. Let's consider each of these four traits.
Extraverted
(I)ntroverted vs (E)xtraverted
An extravert is a social, assertive, and energetic individual, who is comfortable interacting with the external world. They prefer exploring the wider environment than their own internal thought processes, and find alone time to be demotivating.
Prefer spending time with people
Full of energy and enthusiasm
Large social networks
Prefer talking to writing
Enjoys meeting new people
Introverts and extraverts can be separated based on how they regain energy. Introverts prefer minimally stimulating environments, and they need time alone to recharge. Extraverts refuel by being with others.
Sensing
I(N)tuitive vs (S)ensing
Sensing types are focused on the real-world, valuing concrete evidence, logic, and facts. They rely on their senses to navigate the world, rarely believing things they have not themselves personally experienced.
Pragmatic and realistic
Employs absolute thinking
Values lived experience
Prefers plain language
Less interested in abstractions
Sensing types pay attention to details, rather than the bigger picture. They prefer to work with raw and unadulterated information, refusing to make assumptions or draw conclusions until they have understood the crux of the issue.
Thinking
(T)hinking vs (F)eeling
Thinking types are objective. They make decisions based on facts. They are ruled by their head instead of their heart. Thinking people judge situations and others based on logic. They value truth over tact and can easily identify flaws.
Use logic and objectivity
Seek the truth
Value reason and rationality
Direct with people
Prefer facts to opinions
Thinking types are critical thinkers and oriented toward problem-solving. Thinking does not mean a person is without emotion.
Perceiving
(J)udging vs (P)erceiving
Perceiving types are cognitively flexible and open to new possibilities. They prefer variety and unpredictability to routine, welcoming change and rejecting rigidity whenever possible.
Open to new possibilities
Acts spontaneously
Adapts to new information
Seeks new experiences
Lives in the moment
Perceiving types are comfortable making decisions spontaneously, or even postponing decisions until more information is available. They focus predominantly on the present moment, preferring tasks which are open-ended and flexible, rather than those with deadlines or timetables.
Data: What percentage of people are ESTP?
Which MBTI® type is the rarest and which is the most common?
Figure 3: Global distribution of ESTP types
How does the percent of ESTP type people compare with other types?
What this chart shows
We see that the ESTP personality type is fairly common at 6.7% of the population. This compares with the rarest type INTJ at 4.1% of the population.
Notes:
1. n=29746
2. Population: Global
3. Live dataset last updated:
Data: ESTP Age Statistics
Are ESTPs more or less likely to be in a particular age group?
Figure 4: percentage of ESTP types by age
How does the proportion of ESTP types vary by age?
What this chart shows
This chart shows what percent of each age group are ESTP.
Notes:
1. n=40574
2. Population: Global
3. Live dataset last updated:
Data: ESTP Genders
Survey data on ESTP types by genders
ESTPs are mostly male (60.3%) with 39.4% female and 0.3% other.
Figure 5: Type ESTP by gender
What this chart shows
The split between genders across the ESTP population is 39.4% female, 60.3% male, 0.3% other. Compared to the average population, ESTPs have a higher proportion of males.
Notes:
1. n=27985
2. Population: global
3. Dataset last updated:
4. Data is derived from users' self-report responses to the question "What is your gender?"
Ellie Simmonds, MSc
University of Bath, Psychology
Ellie Simmonds, MSc in Psychology from University of Bath. Ellie is an associate lecturer on psychometric assessments and has extensive knowledge of the 16-type model.
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