Why are Tarot readers not Extravert Sensing types?

Teheuti

Out of more than 500 respondents to the MBPI at http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=12143 not a single person is an ESTP - Extravert Sensing Thinking Perceiving type. Plus only 6 people have listed themselves as Extravert Sensing types (1/4 of all types and approximately 32% of the general population). Why do you think this is?

From the Myers-Briggs Foundation:
Extravert Sensing: "Acts on concrete data from here and now. Trusts the present, then lets it go."

You'll find an interesting discussion of the ESTP type here: http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/estp
It includes some reasons about why the Introvert Intuitive type (most of us) is it's "inferior" function.
 

JackofWands

To begin with, I think that on the S/N scale, intuitive types take much more easily to Tarot. Reading Tarot requires a level of abstraction and the ability to make connections and find patterns on a larger scale, as opposed to focusing on the concrete details of a situation. In other words, Tarot requires a reader to see the forest, rather than the trees. While sensing types are certainly capable of this type of thinking (just as intuitive types can be detail-oriented when need be), it's not the easiest way for their brains to process information. And for that reason, I think, sensing types are less likely to be drawn to Tarot, although they would be just as capable with Tarot as anyone else.

As to the specific combination of extroversion and sensing, I think the crux of it is in the latter sentence of the quote you provided: an ES "trusts the present, then lets it go". In my experience, ES types tend to be much more fulfilled by material life than intuitives. This is not to say that they're materialistic, but merely that, from what I've seen of the people I've interacted with, they don't feel compelled to look for greater meaning in their lives beyond the here-and-now. The ES types that I've known have generally found much more fulfillment in their quotidian lives than in more abstract concerns like politics or spirituality. As is noted on the HumanMetrics page you linked, "Haziness of inner, symbolic vision is the psychic price of the clarity of sensory awareness".

Because of this, I think that something like Tarot--which, depending on how one uses it, can be a spiritual guide, a tool for intense introspection, a means of seeing beyond the present, or something similarly abstract--is probably much less interesting to an ES than it would be to intuitives (and most notably INFJs). Allow me to be clear here: I am not in any way saying that ESs (eugh, that looks atrocious, but we'll leave it there because pluralization rules with acronyms are always messy) are less able to read Tarot. What I'm suggesting is merely that something like the Tarot, which can only really be used for abstract, non-material purposes, is probably not very good at capturing an ES's interest.

But all of this is the opinion of an EN (an ENTP, to be more precise), and obviously I can't speak on behalf of people with other personality types. This is just my analysis based on personal experience and what I know of the MBTI typing system. I would be very interested to see what the ES members of the forum have to say on the matter.
 

Teheuti

JackofWands - how wonderful and insightful! Thank you for your thoughtful, extrovert-intuitive :) response.
 

Sar

Tarot is too boring for extroverts, it does not give them the extern validation they are so dependent on.
 

TinySpark

It's odd I used to get a different MBTI every time I took the test, until one of my old professors made us all take the MBTI from the below website. What he told us was that he used to score a different MBTI but learned he was "projecting" what he wanted to be like in the workplace, not what personality he really was. So I was brutally honest and I finally have a consistent answer to the MBTI: INTP, and it actually makes a great deal of sense for me.

http://www.16personalities.com/

That said, he had us all note down are personality results (it was a 101 intro class) on our name tags, until he could remember names to faces. Later on after almost half the class had already dropped, it was a weeder class, he told us that certain personalities were more likely to be in our field, usually Analysts from the 16personalities web site and conversely very few Explorers.

Looking at the top four results from the MBTI are solidly Introverted Analysts or Introverted Diplomats. With the bottom four results solidly in the Extroverted Explorer and Extroverted Sentinel camp.

I've always found the MBTI fascinating, but it seems to me that people who tend to leap first, stride right into the situation, look later type are less likely to be attracted to Tarot (at least according to the poll), while those who have a more wait and see and perceive for a moment people are more drawn towards Tarot.
 

HallowedNight

I can only speak from a personal perspective, but I think that introverts are more attracted to tarot because it's almost like having a friend without having to deal with people. I'm an INTJ (emphasis on the 'introvert'), and being with people for extended periods makes me really uncomfortable and tired. I was originally attracted to tarot because (among other things) it felt like, in a rather abstract way, I had a friend that didn't wear me out after a day of doing friend stuff. :^P

I think extroverts tend to me more social and maybe a little impatient, so tarot probably doesn't appeal to them like it does to introverts. Of course, I'm just speculating. I don't really know for sure!
 

cmarie

I can only speak from a personal perspective, but I think that introverts are more attracted to tarot because it's almost like having a friend without having to deal with people. I'm an INTJ (emphasis on the 'introvert'), and being with people for extended periods makes me really uncomfortable and tired. I was originally attracted to tarot because (among other things) it felt like, in a rather abstract way, I had a friend that didn't wear me out after a day of doing friend stuff. :^P

I think extroverts tend to me more social and maybe a little impatient, so tarot probably doesn't appeal to them like it does to introverts. Of course, I'm just speculating. I don't really know for sure!

That Makes sense to me! : )
I also get worn out when I spend too much time with friends, or out and about.
 

LadyV

As an ENFP, I'm certainly extroverted. However my high levels of intuitiveness and curiosity draw me to the cards. True, there are times I get impatient. Not so much with the cards but with my lack of understanding them, but they're still fascinating and enlightening.