Myers-Briggs Types in The Big Bang Theory: Raj Koothrappali (INFP)

Raj Koothrappali from The Big Bang Theory is a relatively obvious example of the INFP Myers-Briggs personality type (often referred to as MBTI). I don’t believe there’s any other prominent theory on this character. So, with that being said, I’m just going to launch right into the INFP cognitive function breakdown for Raj Koothrappali.

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Raj Koothrappali

Dominant Fi:

“I guess you could say, uh, Raj is my name and stars are my game. And rhyming is also my game. So, uh, two games.”

“I had such plans. I had dreams.”

“What? I’m giving myself dramatic entrance music. People will know I’m awesome and to be feared.”

“Don’t try to change me, dude. I am what I am.”

“I’m afraid if I take this, I might lose that special, unique something that makes me so successful in my field.”

“Raj, come on. You fall in love with any girl that smiles at you.”

Raj is identity-first. For the most part, Raj is unabashedly himself, which sometimes results in him getting mocked. When people point out his various quirks, Raj oftentimes doubles down on them, not allowing others to force him to change. For instance, when his friends mock him for using childish language like “potty”, Raj laughs off their comments, and tells them not to try and change him. Similarly, Raj expresses concerns over losing what makes him unique and special, when considering taking an anxiety medication. He doesn’t want to risk losing his individuality by changing himself.

Raj is emotionally self-indulgent, which on the negative, leads to bouts of melancholy and childish whining. However, on a more whimsical note, it can lead him to do silly things like give himself dramatic entrance music while walking into the comic book store. Overall, Raj is a very emotional individual, which he partially outlets through romance novels, TV shows, and movies. For instance, he gets very emotionally invested in Twilight, and occasionally admits to watching other shows that are romantic in nature.

Raj is idealistic and prone to daydreaming. He’ll imagine a relationship with someone before he’s even spoken to them, extending as far out into the future as marriage and kids. When Raj forms intimate relationships, he gets emotionally committed very quickly, sometimes far more quickly than the other person. This is the result of not only his loneliness, but the fantasies that he plays out in his imagination. Oftentimes, relationships progress far quicker in his head, than they actually do in real life.

Auxiliary Ne:

“If a zombie bites a vampire and the vampire bites a human, does the human become a vampire or a zombie? Or a zompire?”

“You know, if I made more money, I could take time off from work and give pretty girls submarine rides.”

“I’m sorry, but these are just ordinary foods with the names bent into tortured puns.” – Sheldon

“Well, he’s not doing 20-minute-abs, because if he were, he’d have way better abs.”

“Maybe he’s got Leonard Nimoy chained up in there. Or Bill Gates. Or Stephen Hawking.”

“What if it’s booby trapped?”

There is a level of Ne style language and behavior that all the characters share in this show, but Raj actually takes it farther than the rest in many instances. He’s shown speculating about things that have the others looking at him cross-eyed. For instance, Raj considers what would happen if a zombie bites a vampire and then the vampire bites a human. He also questions how and where Aquaman poops. Similarly, when Raj and Howard investigate Sheldon’s daily disappearances into a basement room, Raj does all of the speculating throughout the entire investigation. He suggests that maybe Sheldon has certain celebrities chained up in the room, he considers that maybe the door is booby-trapped, and even posits that Sheldon couldn’t be doing 20-minute abs. He also suggests multiple different possibilities as to what the number 43 might mean.

Raj’s Ne also outlets through his dreams. A good example can be seen when Raj and his friends discuss making an app. When they speculate about what they’d do with the extra money, most of the friends come up with fairly realistic things that they might do with it. Raj, however, talks about buying a submarine to give pretty girls rides on.

Lastly, Raj is prone to wordplay and what Sheldon refers to as “tortured puns”. For instance, in the vampire example above, Raj finishes the speculation off by creating a new word, “zompire”. Another prominent example can be seen when Raj plans a Halloween party for the comic book store. He turns every menu item into a pun, such as Draculoni and Cheese.

Tertiary Si:

“Did they smell good despite their goth-like nature? …Engaging my olfactory sense helps make it real for me…Oh, they did. Like jasmine and honeysuckle.”

“…and my wife could sing to my children the same lullabies my mother sang to me.”

“It amazes me how you constantly obsess over fictional details when there are more important things in the world to worry about.” – Sheldon

Raj has a rich internal world, due to a combination of his Fi-Si. His internal world is detailed and specific. He’s not content to keep things vague. For instance, when Howard comes up with a lie for them to share as to what happened between them and the goth women, Raj has to ask if they smelled good, and then comes up with a specific smell to associate with this fantasy. He claims that engaging his olfactory sense helps make it real for him.

Raj has specific expectations, some based on his past experiences. These are demonstrated when he starts dreaming about the future. As mentioned, he gets specific, such as imagining his wife singing the same lullabies to his children as his mother sang to him.

Raj tends to obsess over fictional details, which one of his friends call out. For instance, he starts pointing out the fact that a lot of Marvel character’s names have the same starting letters. At one point, he also fixates on certain Avatar details.

Inferior Te:

“Yes, but I’m finding that having a lackey suits me.”

“You know you want to say it! Say it!”

Raj expresses his low Te in a couple of different ways. In a negative sense, he has a secret controlling nature that only surfaces when he gets emotionally involved in something. For instance, he scares off Lucy because he continually oversteps his bounds. On multiple occasions, he decides to fix her, when she isn’t ready to be fixed. Essentially, he tries to push her out of her comfort zone before she’s ready because she expresses a general desire to do so. He takes control, when Lucy doesn’t want him to. Similarly, Raj oversteps his bounds when he demands that Penny tell Leonard that she loves him. He learns that she hadn’t yet, thinks it’s ridiculous, and demands that she say it now.

In a more positive sense, Raj outlets his Te through party planning. Overall, he’s not a very structured individual, doesn’t live a very structured life, and doesn’t have a lot of ambition beyond his “dreams”. However, when he gets the chance to plan a party, Raj takes it very seriously, and plans everything out in a very detailed fashion. The parties usually end up being very successful, and he struggles whenever he feels like someone else is taking the credit.