Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, physicist, futurist, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer who is known for his incredible breakthroughs in electrical power. What personality type is Nikola Tesla and how did that help him?
Though it’s impossible to know for sure, as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator was only created in 1943 and he didn’t have the opportunity to test, Nikola Tesla likely had either an INTJ or ENTP personality type. The famous inventor shares many traits found in each personality type.
Let’s take a closer look at who Nikola Tesla was, what personality type he likely had, and which other celebrities are like him in terms of the Myers-Briggs personality typing system.
Who Was Nikola Tesla?
Nikola was born on 10 July 1856 in Smiljan, a town that was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now Croatia. His father Milutin was a Serbian Orthodox priest and his mother Đuka ran the family farm.
As a youngster, Nikola loved poetry, had an incredible imagination and an eidetic memory, and was often sick. Sadly, when he was between five and seven years old, his brother Dane died in a horse-riding accident.
After the death of his brother, Nikola began seeing visions of things other people couldn’t see. Now, it is believed that he developed synaesthesia as these visions were brought about by certain words.
In addition to synaesthesia, it’s also thought that Nikola had obsessive-compulsive disorder, mysophobia, and hypersensitivity of perception that became known later in his life.
Nikola attended the Higher Real Gymnasium for high school and then, after graduating a year early, spent two years avoiding conscription to the Austro-Hungarian army by fleeing to the mountains of Tomingaj.
When he returned from the mountains in 1877 he went to the Imperial-Royal Technical College in Graz and was awarded a Military Frontier scholarship. Nikola would work from 3:00 AM to 11:00 PM every day, and he was unable to graduate as he became addicted to gambling and lost his scholarship.
After years of working for other people, Nikola began his solo career as an inventor. He died in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker, at the age of 86, on 7 January 1943.
Some of Nikola’s most impressive inventions are the Tesla Coil, the magnifying transmitter, the Tesla Turbine, the shadowgraph, the Tesla oscillator, and the neon lamp.
What Does it Mean to be an INTJ Personality Type?
Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging, or INTJ, is the personality type that Nikola most likely had. It’s the third rarest personality type in existence and is also known as “The Mastermind”.
INTJs are “highly analytical, creative, and logical” and those who have this personality type are introverted, prefer their own company over the company of others, focus on the bigger picture, have no time for subjective emotions, and thrive when in control.
Other INTJ traits include the enjoyment of theoretical and abstract concepts, a tendency to be overly judgmental or critical, difficulty connecting to others, an inability to discuss their emotions, and perfectionism to a fault.
Most people believe that Nikola was an INTJ personality type because he visualized every aspect or every invention he was working on, required very little sleep to function, and he had difficulty connecting to humans.
Because his personality type made it difficult for him to forge relationships with human beings, he preferred the company of pigeons.
What Does it Mean to be an ENTP Personality Type?
Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving, or ENTP, is another one of the 16 personality types outlined by the Myers-Briggs personality typing system. It’s also called ‘The Visionary’.
ENTPs value knowledge, are focused on the bigger picture, get wrapped up in new ideas, are receptive to new information, can process new information quickly, and are very creative. They’re also typically argumentative, insensitive, and resent routine and schedules.
Because of the above, it’s easy to see why people believe that Nikola may have been an ENTP. But on the other hand, ENTPs are typically quick to draw conclusions, are extroverts, and are great conversationalists, which Nikola was not.
What Other Celebrities are INTJ or ENTP?
If, as the majority believes, Nikola was an INTJ personality type he would be in the same bracket as John F. Kennedy, Friedrich Nietzsche, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Jefferson.
As it’s the third rarest personality type, the group of modern-day celebrities with INTJ personality types is small. It includes the likes of Jay-Z, Russel Crowe, James Cameron, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk.
Should Nikola have been an ENTP personality type, he would have been in good company with Theodore Roosevelt, James Garfield, Catherine the Great, Edmund Burke, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Edison.
Modern-day celebrities with ENTP personality types include Steve Wozniak, Neil Patrick Harris, Amy Poehler, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hanks, Chris Rock, Martin Scorsese, and Mark Cuban.