ESFJ, the Provider, the Harmonizer, the Caretaker
Just because you’re Extraverted Feeling dominant doesn’t mean you’re always cheerful. You can be cantankerous like Dr. McCoy, or mean like Regina George, or angry at your foolish children like Molly Weasley. The point is, you don’t hide how you feel, unlike an Fi-dom, who feels just as deeply but keeps it to themselves. An Fe-dom is also aware of and responsive to others’ moods and feelings and needs, whether in a healthy way like McCoy or Molly, or in a manipulative way like Regina.
On the other hand, you can also be pure sunshine, all the time, 24-7. And that sunshine can pour out and bring everyone around you up to your level. You could be Sister Mary Patrick.
Dominant Function: Extraverted Feeling (Fe), “Relate to the Experience”
Sister Mary Patrick is almost a caricature of dominant Fe. She wears her heart on her habit sleeve, and jumps into every experience with unabashed enthusiasm. Every sentence she speaks is punctuated by giggles. “I can’t help it!” she confesses. “I’ve always been upbeat!”
Mary Patrick excels at caring for others and brightening their day. She’s the first to welcome Sister Mary Clarence to the convent, promises to help her get the hang of stringing beads when she gets frustrated, and later treats her to ice cream, calling it “a great big cuddly bear hug of a thank you from us to you.” When Mary Robert sneaks out at night to follow Mary Clarence, Mary Patrick is close behind to make sure that they’re okay. She’s ready and eager to travel to Reno after Deloris is kidnapped, and to face off against gangsters for her friend, all with a brave smile on her face.
She connects with everyone she meets instantly. Out at the bar, she pulls others into her joyful dance without hesitation. She’s fascinated with Mary Clarence’s stories of all the sinners she ministered to in Reno, and overjoyed to get the chance to leave the convent walls and help her own community. She’s not bashful about blocking the door to the adult book store or getting carried away with the new dance moves the neighborhood girls teach her.
And of course, she has the biggest voice in the choir. Once Mary Clarence finds the right place for her, Mary Patrick becomes one of the choir’s lead singers. She and Mary Robert act like a parallel to Deloris’ back-up singers from the first act of the movie, her new sisters in her new life.
Auxiliary Function: Introverted Sensing (Si), “Relive the Experience”
Mary Patrick’s life trajectory seems to have been determined a long time ago: “My mother always said…she’ll either grow up to be a nun, or a stewardess. Coffee?”
Despite her constant bubbliness, Mary Patrick seems to be okay with the structure and discipline of her old-fashioned convent—she follows Mary Robert, after all, because of the lateness of the hour. At the bar, she selects a song from the jukebox that she remembers and loves from her past (Dee Dee Sharp’s “Gravy,” from 1962, in case you were wondering).
Tertiary Function: Extraverted Intuition (Ne), “Conceptualize from the Experience”
As dedicated to her calling as she is, Sister Mary Patrick isn’t afraid of change. She welcomes Mary Clarence’s direction at the choir, supports the new style and outreach, and doesn’t take long to adapt to Mary Clarence’s true identity when she learns of it. Her enthusiastic acceptance of new ideas in service of traditional goals makes her one of Mary Clarence’s strongest friends and allies.
Inferior Function: Introverted Thinking (Ti), “Analyze the Experience”
Mary Patrick isn’t one to hold back and think about things first. She’s at her best when she jumps in and follows her heart. She’s willing to acknowledge hard truths, though—like the fact that the choir is terrible. She has to take a few moments to process the information when she learns who Mary Clarence really is, but in the end it’s more important to her that Deloris is still her friend.
Heroes & Villains of MBTI 