Wynter: Personality Type

As part of my deep-dive into my characters’ personality types, today I’m looking at Wynter.

Read about:

• Jesse
• Caleb
• Indio
• Xay

A reminder that there may be minor spoilers for books 1-8.

Wynter: the “artist”

Wynter’s MBTI personality type is ISFP – the “artist”, the “free spirit”, or the “adventurer” according to 16Personalities. I prefer the first term, but thinking of Wynter as “creatively adventurous” works. Let’s break it down:

• I = Introversion (she is drained by the outside world, and gets energized by alone-time)
• S = Sensing (she perceives the world mostly through the five senses and prefers dealing with real experiences than abstract possibilities)
• F = Feeling (she prefers to make decisions based on her own and others’ feelings)
• P = Perceiving (she prefers a flexible rather than structured lifestyle)

Wynter has Introversion in common with Indio and Caleb.

She shares Sensing with Caleb and Xay – these three are realistic, aware of their surroundings, and speak in a literal way. Caleb and Wynter’s last two traits are opposite, so Wynter is values-oriented and prefers an open-ended schedule, while Caleb is logic-oriented and concerned with making plans.

She shares the Feeling trait with Indio and Xay. They consider others’ feelings, and matters of taste, in making decisions and drawing conclusions, instead of impersonal, logic-based criteria.

She shares the Perceiving trait with Jesse and Xay, as described in the previous post. Because Wynter’s personality as a whole is underdeveloped (or somewhat repressed), she compensates by trying to learn the rules of the world, making lists, organizing her life. However, her natural state is to be more spontaneous and open-ended. When she seeks stability in the world, it’s to compensate for her shifting inner world. (Overall, I decided the creative and private ISFP type fits her better than the more people-centric, practical ISFJ.)

Wynter’s introverted feeling means she experiences emotions deeply, and emotional situations deplete her energy. She’s caring and protective toward loved ones, seeing them almost as extensions of herself, and is empathetic to their needs. And she can be insightful about others’ motivations, leading to distrust if she’s been betrayed before.

ISFPs usually understand themselves well, a skill Wynter is still learning. What she is good at is developing her own values and being true to herself, rather than conforming to societal expectations. She’s drawn to the mysterious aspects of life, and looks for meaning in her experiences – which along with her appreciation for beauty inspires her to write poetic lyrics.

Her moral code is very personal, largely a gut instinct about right and wrong rather than what society dictates. Jesse would like to change this approach to something more rational, but as her confidence develops she fights back. In dealing with others, she values authenticity over shallowness, and fortunately finds this in her brothers.

If conflict arises, she’s likely to stubbornly walk away rather than scream about it. The kind of people who bug her the most are arrogant, nosy, nagging, inauthentic, and passive-aggressive.

Wynter lives in the moment, preferring solid reality to hypotheticals – unlike Jesse. She latches on to him as her guide in the world, but only because he puts himself forward and there’s no one else. They frequently frustrate each other with their different outlooks. Similarly, she latches on to Caleb’s rules and stability in order to make sense of the outside world, but she would prefer more freedom and flexibility rather than goals and targets.

Wynter’s reclusiveness is a sign of an unhealthy ISFP – while she does need plenty of alone-time, she needs to learn to unwrap herself from her own feelings and get out an explore. She’ll discover she enjoys having new experiences.

She is attuned to others’ emotions, and as she grows into her natural personality and overcomes her confusion, she will find it easier to establish close friendships. She’ll do best spending time with non-judgmental friends doing fun and casual activities.

Romantically, she’s difficult to get to know because she’s emotionally guarded. When (if?) she falls in love, her priority will be making sure her partner knows he’s cared for, rather than worrying about her own emotional needs. She needs someone who accepts her without criticism and conflict so she feels loved and valued. All the things the Light didn’t provide.

Her ideal partner would probably be an extrovert (to bring her out of her shell), with a matching Sensing trait (Sensing goes best with Sensing, and iNtuitive with iNtuitive) and at least one of the remaining traits in opposition (so, Thinking to balance her Feeling, and/or Judging to add some structure to her Perceiving).

Here are her memes from themyersbriggs.com – she won’t be pleased to see swimming as her sport! Her ideal vacation is volunteering for wildlife, and her ideal shoe is… barefoot.