Cristiano Ronaldo (SEE): Personality Type Analysis

 Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is a Portuguese football player who currently plays for Juventus and the Portugal national team. Born on the Portuguese island of Madeira in 1985, he has since won over 26 collective trophies and 5 Ballon D’ Or awards, playing at Sporting CP, Manchester United, and most recently, Real Madrid. His immense success has garnered the respect of the footballing world, with many pundits considering him among the best of all time.

One of the most defining characteristics of Ronaldo is his strong willpower. Being an athlete, it is convenient to say that he is competitive – as this is a shared trait among a plethora of sports players. However, what one must highlight about Ronaldo is that his determination and strong desire to win enables him to score whenever and wherever he wants to – this being the skill that makes him not only a great football player but a key figure in the world of sports.

It is also interesting to point out that while Ronaldo does seem to have an almost relentless energy to him, he still recognizes the importance of getting sufficient rest and eating properly in order to achieve his goals, attempting to sleep for at least eight hours and eating balanced meals. However, when not resting, Ronaldo is in a mode of constantly “doing” things – trying to fit in some kind of physical activity whenever he can. Moreover, while Ronaldo believes rest is important, this does not prevent him from wishing to play all the matches (whether it be a friendly or a significant tournament i.e. World Cup), even if playing while injured! For these reasons, it is fair to say Ronaldo has a very strong and valued use of F ( most likely F1), while at the same time a somewhat strong, but unvalued S ( probably S7).

Briefly mentioned in the last paragraph, Ronaldo has had a tendency to push his body in order to play in numerous matches, ignoring any pain or injury. Not only does this demonstrate an unvalued S, it also emphasizes very weak T, as these injuries prevent him from attaining long-term goals. For example, in 2016, his decision to play the Champions League Final (in which he scored the winning penalty) and the majority of Euro 2016 came to haunt him, as the injury he had been ignoring erupted, leaving him unable to play against France in the final, and consequently missing pre-season with Real Madrid. In 2017, his rash, impulsive decision to push a referee in a Super cup game versus Barcelona not only got him sent off for the return leg but also made him miss the first four league matches with Real Madrid – a fundamental absence that left Real out of the title race very quickly. From these events, it is very clear that Ronaldo does not clearly enough reflect on the consequences of his actions, and seems to keep making the same type of mistakes due to his impatient nature. For these reasons, it is blatant that Ronaldo struggles very heavily with T (most likely has T5).

It is noteworthy to recognize that not only is Ronaldo popular in the world of sports, but outside of sports as well, having the most followers on Instagram and being considered one of the most charitable athletes. Therefore, it is fair to say that Ronaldo is a quite popular guy, being very charismatic in nature and easily being able to win over a group of people – indicating quite a strong use of E. However, the evidence seems to suggest that while he uses E strongly, it is not something he values all that much.

In a 2016 pre-match press conference, when asked if it was important for teammates to also be great friends as well, Ronaldo responded:

“I don’t need to have dinner with Benzema or have Bale come to my house (to have dinner), that to me is not the most important thing. The most important thing happens on the pitch, being good teammates, knowing what we want and how we’re going to play. All that about having meals with one another, hugs and kisses – that to me doesn’t matter at all, the important thing is on the pitch, making sure the team wins.”

In essence, Ronaldo does not seem to care about maintaining an emotional mood or atmosphere. In fact, he seems to have more of a professional and pragmatic attitude, caring more about the improvement of the team and working diligently with his teammates in order to win games and trophies. Again, Ronaldo feels as if there is always room for improvement, wanting to set new records and goals for himself (whether that be goals scored, trophies won, individual awards) and not using his increasing age as an excuse. Hence, it is reasonable to conclude that while Ronaldo isn’t bad at E, his priorities and values deal much more with P, possibly indicating a functional ordering of E8 and P6 and a preference of Gamma over Beta values.

In 2018, Ronaldo’s post-match comments after the Champions League final also highly reflect both his low focus on maintaining a common or unified emotional atmosphere. While the team had won their third consecutive Champions League in Kiev, the Portuguese goalscorer hinted at possibly leaving the club. Ronaldo would then face criticism by team captain Sergio Ramos and manager Zidane (most likely both Beta types), as the focus shifted from the positive emotional atmosphere of winning the trophy to a pessimistic one, as the club would possibly lose its most valuable asset. While Ronaldo did indeed apologize afterward, the comments are indicative of strong R (most likely R2), as he is not afraid to express his emotions sincerely, even if it might be controversial or harmful to the common emotional mood.

When one looks to the reasons as to why Ronaldo made those comments, it becomes even clearer that he values personal loyalty over loyalty to a system or institution. One of the primary reasons that Ronaldo threatened to leave the club (and eventually did) was because he no longer trusted the club’s president, Florentino Perez. In the face of a tax evasion scandal he claimed not to be responsible for, the Portuguese hoped for a new contract with an increased wage to more easily pay off the authorities. Contrarily, Perez believed that it was irrational to increase the salary of a player who would almost be forty years old at the end of the supposed new contract, as the massive payments would put the club in jeopardy of signing the new generation of superstar players. This focus on personal loyalty again hints at Gamma values, as Ronaldo saw the president’s refusal as a betrayal, meaning he could no longer trust in him.

In addition, Ronaldo’s belief that he should not be subject to a hierarchy or system and should be able to get whatever he demands can even be indicative of a very weak and unvalued L, most likely L4. Additionally, after the victory in Kiev, Ronaldo stated the tournament should be called the “CR7 Champions League”, even though the team with the most titles (his own team, Real Madrid) had won 13 (yet he had only won 5). Lastly, his desire to want to take all of the free kicks (while there were much better kickers than him) or play all of the matches (even if he was getting older and needed more rest, or was injured) emphasize not only the weak rationale and capriciousness behind his decisions, but also his reluctance of any rules or hierarchies that could possibly get in his way.

F1, S7, T5, E8, P6, R2, and L4 all seem to correspond to the functional stack of the SEE, making it Cristiano Ronaldo’s most likely type.

To learn more about SEE, click here.

If you are confused by our use of Socionics shorthand, click here.

Marie Kondo (ESE): Personality Type Analysis

"Life truly begins only after you have put your house in order."

Marie Kondo is a Japanese organising consultant and author, known primarily for the KonMari method of tidying and has become a viral sensation with her 2019 Netflix show, "Tidying Up With Marie Kondo."

Marie Kondo has a long-standing obsessive interest in the organisation of her environment. From childhood she would leaf through home magazines and experiment with different organisational methods in her own home, and even preferred tidying and organising at school to playing with other children. As a result, she has broad knowledge of organisational systems and techniques and confidently recommends practical solutions for a wide range of situations. However, she considers emotional engagement (E) and aesthetic sensibilities (S+E) to be more relevant than practical considerations (P), as I will explain below:

"It is my hope that the magic
of tidying will help you create
a bright and joyful future."

Kondo is a friendly, cheerful woman who frequently demonstrates her emotions with expressive vocalisations and animated movements. On "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo", she is seen to greet clients enthusiastically, mirror clients' excitement, and empathise and cheer them during frustrating moments. She is excited to be able to help clients improve their homes and lead more joyful lives.

The hallmark of the KonMari method is the concept of tokimeku. Tokimeku is frequently translated into English as "spark joy", but the more literal translation is "[heart] throbbing/fluttering". In Japan, the word is usually used in the context of falling in love, and Kondo's use of it in regards to tidying and home organisation is a comprehensible but idiosyncratic decision that reflects the paramount importance she places on emotional experiences.

"I chose this standard for a reason. After all, what is the point in tidying? If it's not so that our space and the things in it can bring us happiness, then I think there is no point at all. Therefore, the best criterion for choosing what to keep and what to discard is whether keeping it will make you happy, whether it will bring you joy." -- "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"

Tokimeku is a concept that falls within the realm of E, and its association with a personal, physiological experience, rather than a "meaningful" one, suggests a concurrent emphasis on S. This makes Alpha Socialite (ESE or SEI) a likely type for her.

The visceral nature of tokimeku is important to Kondo; it's not enough that you simply like the way something looks, it's necessary to physically interact with the item and keep or discard it based on your physical sensations. Kondo demonstrates the process:

She also emphasises the importance of physically interacting with objects in order to develop a positive relationship with them in the first place, whether it's learning to like essential items that don't 'spark joy' or learning to appreciate personally-unappealing possessions of family members.

"I decided to give her a homework assignment. 'If you don't like something that belongs to someone else, the rule is not to look at or pay attention to it. But if you just can't help seeing your husband's things and they really bother you, then I want you to reach out and actually touch them. For example, you could pick up a figurine or run your finger lightly over the cover of a book. It doesn't matter how, but touch it and look at it carefully for at least a whole minute.'

[...]  If you cannot avoid seeing certain things, then try facing them head-on. Start by touching them. If Y had only looked at her husband's things without touching them, she would never have been able to see them as anything other than toys. Once she held it in hand, however, the object became real. A figurine, for example, was no longer an anonymous samurai but the great leader Takeda Shingen. This alone can reduce aversion to such objects by half." -- "Spark Joy"

Her emphasis on physical interaction suggests strong, likely valued S with concurrent emphasis on E.

Due to her focus on tokimeku, her tidying and organisation recommendations can be out of sync with conventional wisdom. The actual tidying process is inefficient in terms of movement and energy. Every item in the house is handled multiple times, and some of the routines she recommends for maintaining a tidy house involve double-handling (for example, filling and emptying your purse on a daily basis). These are purposeful decisions that have their own advantages but nonetheless indicate valued E and weak, subdued P.

Another out-of-sync aspect of the KonMari method is the choice to tidy by category, and in a specific order, rather than by location. By all accounts, this is very effective, but although Kondo arrived at the order through her own experimentation, she says she doesn't know how all of it works. Despite the idiosyncrasy, she created a method she was able to communicate and apply in a wide range of situations for a wide range of people, and this suggests normative (i.e. 2D rather than 1D) P. At the same time, the lack of clear understanding suggests weak P. Overall, this fits P3 best.

“Now imagine yourself living in a
space that contains only things that
spark joy. Isn’t this the lifestyle
you dream of?” 

Her attitude towards discarding based on whether or not an item "sparks joy" has at times led to decisions that ultimately made life harder, for example by discarding essential items:

"Take, for example, my vacuum cleaner. I got rid of it because it was an outdated model, and instead diligently wiped the floor with paper towels and rags. But in the end it simply took too much time, and I had to buy a new vacuum.

And then there was my screwdriver. After throwing it away, I tried using a ruler to tighten a loose screw, but it snapped down the middle. This almost reduced me to tears as it was one I really liked." -- "Spark Joy" 

Kondo's solution to avoiding discarding useful items is once again an emotional one. Her first suggestion is simply to hone your ability to sense joy:

"All these incidents stemmed from youthful inexperience and thoughtlessness. They demonstrated that I had not yet honed my ability to discern what brings me joy. Deceived by their plainness, I failed to realize that I actually like them. I had assumed that if something brought me joy, I would feel a thrill of excitement that made my heart beat faster. Now I see things differently.

Feelings of fascination, excitement, or attraction are not the only indications of joy. A simple design that puts you at ease, a high degree of functionality that makes life simpler, a sense of rightness, or the recognition that a possession is useful in our daily lives - these, too, indicate joy." -- "Spark Joy" 

Another suggestion she makes is about actually forcing yourself to feel joyful about items:

"I have a secret for raising our joy level for things we know we need but that fail to excite us: shower them with praise. [...] One theme of my regular lessons is appreciating every item we use. This is a highly effective way to hone our judgement. By the time my clients begin tackling such items as kitchen implements, they can declare quite confidently that an unremarkable frying pan or a plain old egg beater brings them joy." -- "Spark Joy 

This is another example of weak, subdued P and strong, valued E.

"The real tragedy is to live your entire life without anything that brings you
joy and never even realise it." 

As she is focused on the very much in-the-moment experience of tokimeku, her attitude towards discarding items is very dismissive of reasons for keeping items that are based on something having been important in the past, nostalgia, relationships with other people, concern about needing something in the future, or otherwise any attachment that is not rooted in your immediate experience or lifestyle. Adding to this a personal tendency to take action and assume it will work out, we have a picture of weak, subdued, likely vulnerable T, subdued R, as well as strong, likely 4D F.


The KonMari Method itself is designed to guide and motivate the tidier through a series of emotionally impactful exercises. This is not limited to simply physically interacting with each object in search of tokimeki. Before tidying begins, tidiers are asked to think about their "ideal lifestyle" that they hope tidying will facilitate.

"As you continue to explore the reasons behind your ideal lifestyle, you will come to a simple realisation. The whole point in both discarding and keeping things is to be happy. It may seem obvious, but it is important to experience this realisation for yourself and let it sink into your heart." -- "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"

“The question of what you want to
own is actually the question of how
you want to live your life.” 

 Her books are replete with emotionally-charged anecdotes from herself and her clients, and shares these anecdotes to help clients in person as well. The process of tidying is also riddled with moments to shock the tidier into rethinking the possessions that they own, for example placing all items from a single category into one large pile.

"Only when you are actually are confronted with how much exactly you have, you start to realize [...] what you need to do." -- "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo", S1E1

She also supports her clients to learn how to experience tokimeku, a demonstrates a nuanced understanding of how different people physically and mentally experience their emotions. Her superior understanding and ability to turn it into practical application suggests strong, likely valued, likely 4D E.

While personally placing a high value on tidiness, expresses strong opinions and enjoys giving advice, she is very clear that she opposes coercion in tidying. Tidiers are advised to ignore the mess of family members and focus only on their own space. Kondo relates that when she was younger she believed tidying would make everyone happy and tried to reform her family members, but found it resulted in negativity. When working with clients who have committed to the tidying process, however, she can be quite strict. In the first episode of "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo", one of the clients observes, "You look sweet, but on the inside you really mean business." A combination of proactive helpfulness (or "bossiness") with a wish to avoid negative emotions and an attitude of live-and-let-live in personal relationships suggests strong F and linear-assertive temperament within the Alpha Quadra.


Kondo fully expects that changing the emotional atmosphere of you environment by tidying will also lead to positive changes in other aspects of your life. Some of this is basic on somewhat mystical ideas rooted in Shintoism but much of it is the idea that your emotional state sets the tone for everything else in your life; both in the sense that happiness begets happiness and that orderliness that "sparks joy" is actually a necessary condition for moving on in your life.

"When I ask my Japanese client, 'What kind of room do you want?' for some reason many of them say, 'A room that will help me attract love and get married.' I am not an expert on how to increase your luck at love or marriage through tidying. However, I often hear from my client that their love lives went more smoothly once they had tidied up. The reasons for this are varied. For some, overcoming an inferiority complex about tidying instilled confidence, making the person more proactive about love. For others, tidying up has increased the spark in their relationship so that they pop the question. I also receive reports that as a result of tidying, my clients have decided to terminate a relationship. No matter the direction of the outcome, it is clear that tidying can also help us set out love life in order." -- "Spark Joy" (emphasis hers)

Kondo particularly focuses on the positive changes that tidying and the resulting environment that "sparks joy" can bring to family relationships. The consistent emphasis on your own emotional state being the driver suggests that E is valued and R is subdued.

“The true purpose of tidying is, I believe, to live in the most natural state possible.
Don’t you think it is unnatural for us to possess things that don’t bring us joy or
things that we don’t really need? I believe that owning only what we love and
what we need is the most natural condition.” 

In summary:

• Marie Kondo's pervasive and multi-faceted emphasis on emotional impact and emotional states indicates strong and valued E, and her readiness to communicate her own internal states (and the frequency with which she does so) indicates E1. Her emphasis on the physiological experience of emotions as well as their particular relationship with one's lifestyle also suggests strong, valued S2.

• Kondo's implicit assumption that positive emotions will lead to positive relationships indicates R in the Id block, especially R7.

• Her practicality indicates a tendency to stronger S and a tendency to use P, while her more vague understanding of her method and tendency to abandon practical measures for emotional ones suggests weak P3.

• Kondo's proactive and decisive nature, along with her assumption that things will work out fine after acting, indicates a linear-assertive temperament, 1D T and 4D F, making them good candidates for T4 and F8.

• Her strong preference for, and commitment to, experiencing positive emotions, along with her appreciation for structure and live-and-let-live attitude, indicates that she belongs to the Alpha Quadra.

Altogether, this suggests that the most likely type for Marie Kondo is ESE.

To find out more about ESE, click here.

If you are confused by our use of Socionics shorthand, click here.


Sources
"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"
"Spark Joy"
"Tidying Up with Marie Kondo"