Dobby the House-Elf Has an ESPF Personality
We’ve sorted Pickett the Bowtruckle and Dougal the Demiguise into their Myers-Briggs personality types, but now it’s time to sort Dobby the house-elf. The easiest part of the process was identifying Dobby as an extrovert. Dobby is a people pleaser and a social creature. He feels comfortable when he has friends to guide him, friends such as Harry. Whenever Dobby is alone, he seems sad, so it’s only natural to sort him into the extrovert category. Out of all the personality types, Dobby is the ESPF personality, also known as the entertainer.
At first, Dobby seems like the exact opposite of an entertainer. When people think of entertainers, they think of people who thrive in front of a crowd. Lots of praise makes Dobby uncomfortable, so crowds wouldn’t be a good fit for him. However, Dobby likes to praise people, a main trait of entertainers. The strengths of this personality type are originality, eagerness, optimism, and enthusiasm. Entertainers also have excellent observation skills. All these traits remind me of Dobby. Dobby is always eager to please, especially when he works for the Malfoy family. Above all else, he’s a character. Dobby is one of a kind, an original. No other house-elf is like him.
Dobby does get upset sometimes, but he tends to think the best of people. He refuses to insult the Malfoy family even though they are awful people. Even before Dobby meets Harry, he believes him to be a kind and brave person. Dobby’s optimistic attitude makes him hard to resist as a friend. Even if Harry didn’t think they’d ever be friends, Dobby convinced him over time. Another important trait of Dobby’s is his enthusiasm for everything under the sun. He’s always eager to aid his friends. No matter the situation, Dobby is excited to be a part of the event. In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Harry asks Dobby to follow Draco around, Dobby leaps at the opportunity. To anyone else, this may seem like a boring task, but Dobby is happy to help his friend Harry. In this case, Dobby’s observation skills were put to good use.
One weakness of the ESPF personality that reminds me of Dobby is sensitivity. This personality type gets very emotional when someone holds a grudge against them or treats them unfairly. Unlike most house-elves, Dobby senses when he is being mistreated. He takes it personally whenever anyone is mean to him. His reaction is always volatile, which I find upsetting. I wish Dobby could learn to deal with negative people instead of hurting himself as a consequence. Anytime something bad happens in the Harry Potter series, Dobby believes that it is his fault. He physically punishes himself, but luckily, this behavior lessens once he’s free from the Malfoy family.
Another ESPF weakness is their inability to deal with conflict. This is a consistent problem for Dobby. At the beginning of the Harry Potter books, Dobby shuts down whenever a conflict occurs. Whenever someone argues with him or people start yelling at each other, Dobby reacts negatively. Entertainers feel uncomfortable dealing with conflict because they only thrive in positive atmospheres. This makes sense for Dobby because we only see him happy when he’s being praised or encouraged.
What defines entertainers isn’t their ability to connect with people but their ability to be generous and warm. While most extroverts are confident and popular, this extrovert personality type doesn’t guarantee popularity so much as dedication. This is essentially Dobby. While he’s extroverted, he struggles to make friends. He doesn’t have strong social skills, but he’s eager to please. His loyalty and energetic nature do eventually gain him friends. However, at the start of the series, Dobby’s personality comes off as intense and overeager. He’s one of the many characters in the Potter series whom readers don’t immediately like but grow to love over time. For me, I didn’t like Hermione, Ginny, Mad-Eye Moody, or Arthur Weasley immediately, but these characters with intense personalities became favorites of mine over time.
Dobby has an ESPF personality due to his honest and humble nature. He is eager to help his friends, but he doesn’t brag about his powerful magical skills. He is dedicated to the right causes and doesn’t possess an evil bone in his body. There’s a reason why many Potterheads call Dobby an innocent character: It’s because Dobby wants nothing except to do the right thing. This personality may come off as naive or even unreal, but entertainers just want to help out. They don’t possess ulterior motives; they are just naturally people pleasers.
