MBTI Attention Span: Ranking All 16 Personality Types

A chart ranking the 16 MBTI personality types by attention span, featuring four types that find it difficult to concentrate: ESTP, INFP, ENFP, and ESFP.

Are you able to concentrate on every word of a book? Or are you thinking about what to have for dinner tonight?

Do you carefully consider every sentence or do you quickly skim through them?

How you answer these questions may be related to your personality type.

Based on survey data of **mbti attention span**, which **mbti personality types** are more likely to concentrate, and which are more easily distracted?

The Attention Ranking of the 16 Personalities

Laser-Focused and Personality Type

According to the official 16-personality website, when asked "Do you think your attention span is longer than most people's?", the types most likely to say "yes" are:

A bar chart titled "Longer attention span than most?" shows MBTI type percentages saying "yes." ISTJ, ESTJ, ESFJ have the highest; ENTP, ESFP, ISFP the lowest.
  • No. 1: 78.4% of ISTJs (The Logistician)
  • No. 2: 73.2% of ESTJs (The Executive)
  • No. 3: 69.3% of ESFJs (The Consul)
  • No. 4: 66.1% of INTJs (The Architect)
  • No. 5: 65.7% of ISFJs (The Defender)
  • No. 6: 60.1% of ENTJs (The Commander)
  • No. 7: 57.9% of ENFJs (The Protagonist)
  • No. 8: 57.8% of INFJs (The Advocate)

It can be seen that SJ personality types have a higher concentration of attention than other types.

The highly focused types all share the common **Judging (J)** trait, which is associated with order and decisiveness.

Even if the task at hand requires a high degree of concentration, J-types will wholeheartedly improve their work efficiency.

The Types That Find It Harder to Stay Focused

When asked "Do you find it difficult to stay focused on one thing for a long time?", the types most likely to say "yes" are:

An illustration titled "People who have difficulty maintaining attention" features five cartoon characters representing the ESTP, ENFP, ESFP, INFP, and ENTP personality types.
  • No. 1: 87.8% of ESTPs (The Entrepreneur)
  • No. 2: 84.2% of ENFPs (The Campaigner)
  • No. 3: 78.6% of ESFPs (The Entertainer)
  • No. 4: 76.8% of INFPs (The Mediator)
  • No. 5: 75.1% of ENTPs (The Debater)
  • No. 6: 73.5% of ISTPs (The Virtuoso)
  • No. 7: 70.5% of ISFPs (The Adventurer)
  • No. 8: 70.2% of INTPs (The Logician)

Perceiving (P) personality types find it more difficult to maintain attention, as this type values **multitasking** more than concentration.

However, not all P-types find it difficult to concentrate. When you are both an **Introverted (I)** and **Perceiving (P)** personality, you will work harder to improve your attention than **Extraverted (E)** types.

About 80% of **Intuitive (N) people** said that their **mbti attention span** is longer for **creative tasks**, while only more than half of **Sensing (S) people** agreed.

Concentrate or Be Creative?

P-types, who prefer to explore, may be restless, but they are also full of curiosity.

They don't focus on one thing for a long time, but rather tend to run around, letting their interests guide them to new ideas and tasks.

We can see this in their habit of preferring to **multitask**:

A bar chart comparing MBTI types' preference for multitasking versus focus ability.

From left to right are the **Purple Group** (INTJ, INTP, ENTJ, ENTP), the **Green Group** (INFJ, INFP, ENFJ, ENFP), the **Blue Group** (ISTJ, ISFJ, ESTJ, ESFJ), and the **Yellow Group** (ISTP, ISFP, ESTP, ESFP).

Among P-types—especially ENTPs (The Debater), ENFPs (The Campaigner), ESTPs (The Entrepreneur), and ESFPs (The Entertainer)—they value their **multitasking** abilities more than J-types.

P-types are also more likely to say that their **mbti attention span** is longer for creative activities than for consumer activities.

Therefore, they won't sit in front of the TV for hours (of course, it's okay to binge-watch a TV show occasionally), but will concentrate on creating new things.

A student sitting at a desk, surrounded by books and study materials, with a large "EXAM" paper in the background.

This makes these personalities very active, especially in the workplace, rather than just being passive bystanders.

Many P-types can concentrate, even highly so, but they just need the right trigger to pique their interest.

In fact, those who find it difficult to maintain a high level of attention just have different activities to focus on.

E-types + P-types prefer to **multitask**, quickly shifting their attention between several to-do list items until they are all completed.

When it comes to creativity, P-types can be surprisingly focused and productive.

Of course, sometimes staying focused is crucial, even on mundane things.

Assertive Architect: Artemis (INTJ-A)

An illustration of the INTJ personality type, a person with glasses holding a pen and looking thoughtful.

I find this very interesting because I can never focus on important things, but I am highly focused on random things.

Cautious Mediator: Kaori (INFP-T)

An illustration of the INFP personality type, a person with blonde hair and a green flower accessory.

We tend to find it difficult to invest our time in things we are not passionate about. It's hard to overcome. Most subjects at school don't interest me. Maybe try the Pomodoro Technique or something similar. You might need to find the best time of day for studying/being productive. For me, morning is best, or late at night.

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