Jersey Shore: Mike Sorrentino (ESTJ)

(Photo: MTV)

As an ESTJ, Mike's cognitive functions are extroverted thinking (Te), introverted sensing (Si), extroverted intuition (Ne), and introverted feeling (Fi). An evaluation of those functions in action follows. To learn more about all the cognitive functions, reference Personality Types by Daryl Sharp. To watch clips and learn more about Jersey Shore, visit the series website.


Dominant Te

Mike has to be in the middle of a situation. And if there's not a situation, he’ll create one. He has a history of conflict with nearly every other house member. Throughout the show, he instigates multiple fights between Ronnie and Sammi—one that even sends him to the hospital in Italy—because he insists on “fixing” their relationship and the order of the house. He measures success by the size of his muscles, since no one could possibly disrespect him if he looks “like Rambo with his shirt off.” He's also very uncomfortable losing arguments, and often inadvertently hurts others just to make his point. He implies that Snooki is overweight (“Don’t worry, you got a couple [rolls].”), despite their otherwise good relationship in Season One and even brief moment of romance in a hot tub.


Auxiliary Si

To Mike, the Jersey Shore is a tradition. He touts his knowledge of its customs by coining both “G.T.L.” and “t-shirt time.” He declares himself house leader because of his experience at the Shore and his (Te) need for dominance. When Angelina shows up in Miami, he’s extra critical of her behavior to avoid another disruption of the group dynamic. (Note: Ni would’ve analyzed her motivation for returning to the house and how she could’ve possibly changed, but Si assumes she's the same and instead attempts to change her.) He demands that she clean the common areas, and shames her the instant he finds her used sanitary napkin on the bathroom floor.


Tertiary Ne

Mike enjoys speculating about the lives of various house members. He feels a (Si) need to know how every situation will play out, oftentimes becoming “The Situation” and just playing it out himself. This need fuels his infatuation with meddling in Ronnie and Sammi’s relationship. But his underdeveloped Ne also gets him into trouble. Notice how he’s never not involved in an argument, despite having any connection to it.


Inferior Fi

Mike knows who he is, but expresses himself through his actions rather than his words. He puts a lot of effort into making the house efficient and cooking traditional Italian dinners, all with the expectation that his housemates will appreciate him. And since he'd made dinner for everyone, he felt qualified to point out that Sammi wasn’t contributing to the house. He tells Jionni about his and Snooki's relations in a later season, which demonstrates that he values honesty above friendship.

I can’t look you in the face every day, and have [drinks], and you not know. I would want to know if something like that happened to me.