Before it comes back for a second season, let’s take a look at the Myers-Briggs® Personality Types of the characters in the episodes that have aired so far. They’re all unique and make us think hard about what finding love really means. Here are the MBTIs of 10 characters on Modern Love.
Maddy: INTJ
Julia Garner’s Modern Love character, Maddy, appears in the sixth episode called “So He Looked Like Dad. It Was Just Dinner, Right?” As the title suggests, Maddy starts becoming drawn to an older man at her office who she would really love to be her father. Since she grew up without one, that’s a big gap in her life that she has always been trying to fix.
Maddy is sweet, innocent, and definitely very naive. She doesn’t realize that Peter (Shea Whigham) wants to date her and it’s an inappropriate relationship. Her MBTI would be INTJ or “Conceptual Planner.” INTJs “devise innovative solutions to complex problems” and Maddy is very “calm” and “logical” about wanting Peter to be her dad.
Yasmine: ESFP
Yasmine (Sofia Boutella) and Rob (John Gallagher Jr.) go on a date in the fifth episode, “At the Hospital, an Interlude of Clarity” that ends up much differently than they would expect. When they go back to his new apartment, Rob hurts himself on a martini glass and they go to the hospital.
Yasmine is a great character and her MBTI would be ESFP or “Enthusiastic Improviser.” ESFPs like being social and they’re “friendly” and “playful” and “vivacious.” Yasmine has a big personality but her true nature starts to reveal itself as she starts sharing the hospital experience on social media. After her talks with Rob, it becomes clear that she’s just as insecure as everyone else, and she’s trying too hard to be loved.
Rob: INFP
Rob is an INFP or “Thoughtful Idealist.” He’s sweet, worried about pretty much everything that he says or does, and very nervous to be out with Yasmine, who he considers to be out of his league. INFPs are “introspective” and “gentle” which describes Rob, who is a truly awesome person who needs to give himself more credit.
Rob is “caring” and “sensitive” and he really appreciates that Yasmine stays with him at the hospital. They don’t know each other very well, but they really seem to connect.
Tobin: ISTP
Andrew Scott’s Modern Love episode is beautiful and heartwarming (which, honestly, describes all of them). Tobin and his partner, Andy (Brandon Kyle Goodman), decide to embark on the adoption process. The episode is called “Hers Was a World of One” and is based on the essay “D.J.’s Homeless Mommy” by Dan Savage.
Tobin’s MBTI would be ISTP or “Logical Pragmatist.” When he and Andy agree to enter into an open adoption with Karla (Olivia Cooke), the fact that she’s homeless (and that she wants to be) is tough and confusing for him. Things get messy (literally and figuratively) when she lives in their home for a period of time before having the baby. Tobin is “factual” and “realistic.” His kind nature is the most obvious at the end of the episode when he says that he would understand if Karla didn’t want to actually give them her baby after all.
Karla: INFP
Karla is quite the free spirit. The fact that she wants to be homeless is maybe surprising for some people, but she’s got strong beliefs and she’s living according to her truth. She fits into the framework of an INFP or “Thoughtful Idealist.”
She’s “virtuous” and “original” and often makes comments about how the world doesn’t live up to her opinions or expectations. She’s “empathetic,” like when she invites another homeless man (played by Ed Sheeran) to have dinner and enjoy the shelter of Tobin and Andy’s home.
Sarah: INTJ
Tina Fey’s character Sarah and John Slattery’s character Dennis are a married couple going through a difficult period in the episode “Rallying to Keep the Game Alive.” Although they’re in couples therapy, it’s not making a difference.
Sarah is an INTJ or “Conceptual Planner” as she has many of the personality traits, like being “private” and “demanding.” Couples counseling seems like it was her idea, but beyond that, she’s not willing to try very hard to save her marriage. She’s angry at her husband for not making her part of his life, as he’s a famous actor who she believes is too self-involved. It’s only near the episode’s end when they go to a restaurant and she finally shares her feelings that they start to understand one another.
Dennis: ESFJ
Dennis loves his family, but he also loves acting and he really loves when a fan spots him out in NYC. That’s a sore spot for his marriage and something that they have to work on.
Dennis is definitely an ESFJ or “Supportive Contributor.” He’s “loyal” and “energetic” and also “outgoing.” This personality type will “value family” which he does, but for his wife, it’s not quite enough as he often leaves to go to events and parties that he doesn’t invite her to.
Julie: ENFP
Julie (Catherine Keener) plays a writer interviewing Joshua (Dev Patel), who has started a dating app, in the second episode “When Cupid Is a Prying Journalist.” The New York Times essay was written by Deborah Copaken about Justin McLeod, who started Hinge.
People say “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” and that seems to be the theme here. As Julie shares her story of falling in love when she was younger and then never seeing the man again, it becomes clear that she likes to get to the bottom of things and solve issues. She seems like an ENFP or “Imaginative Motivator.” She convinces Joshua to get back together with the soulmate that he fell out with, and she’s “creative” and “curious” with a “zest for life.”
Joshua: ENTJ
Joshua is an ENTJ or “Decisive Strategist.” These personality types are leaders who “organize people and resources” and focus on the future. That’s what he does when he takes his heartbreak and starts a dating app.
ENTJs are said to be “natural critics” which is how Joshua approaches his romantic past. He’s not convinced that Emma (Caitlin McGee) would take him back, but once Julie makes him realize that you have to tell people how you feel, they reconnect and find each other again (awww).
Maggie: ISTJ
It’s fair to say that the best episode of Modern Love’s first season is the first one, “When the Doorman Is Your Main Man.” Cristin Milioti’s character, Maggie, becomes close with her doorman, Guzim (Laurentius Possa), after she becomes pregnant and decides to have the baby on her own. It’s impossible not to cry while watching Maggie get through those nine months, deliver her baby girl, and raise her little girl. He never approves of the people that she dates and he supports her choice to be a single mom.
Maggie would be an ISTJ or “Responsible Realist.” She loves to read, she’s “dependable” and “thorough” and will “respect facts.” She even tells Guzim different facts that she’s learned in the books that she reads each day. Maggie wants the best for herself and her daughter, and while it’s super sad to watch the move away to LA when she gets an amazing job opportunity, they return to NYC to visit Guzim. And this time, she’s found real love, and he approves. Lots of tears.
