Jane Rizzoli’s MBTI and Enneagram typing is a popular point of discussion among Rizzoli & Isles fans. Portrayed by Angie Harmon, Detective Jane Rizzoli shows strong traits of an ISTP and aligns closely with Enneagram 6w7. As a street-smart homicide detective, Jane exemplifies the ISTP’s cool-headed problem-solving, physical adaptability, and instinctive decision-making under pressure, while her 6w7 Enneagram adds loyalty, suspicion, humor, and a tough-talking bravado that masks deep anxiety. This combination makes Jane a classic ISTP 6w7 character—reactive, protective, fiercely loyal, and always ready to run toward danger rather than away from it.
ISTP 6w7 Characters
Why is Jane Rizzoli from Rizzoli & Isles an ISTP? Continue reading for my argument using cognitive functions! The headers for each section are clickable, so you can easily access more information about the dominant function and the Enneagram type, or discover more characters who share the type.
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Introverted Thinking
Jane prefers to logically reason her way through the why and circumstances of a case, rather than become too emotionally involved. She sometimes teases her coworkers about their sensitive stomachs or not being able to handle details in the morgue, and doesn’t mind Maura being incredibly blunt and clinical, so much as she likes to tease her about never theorizing on a case.
When a serial killer demands to know personal details (does she dream about him?) in order to fulfill his sick fantasies about hurting her, in exchange for valuable information she could use to solve the case, Jane gives him what he wants. She keeps a clear head when she is kidnapped, and manages to save her own life by laying on a flare, using it to burn a rapist-murder’s face, tazoring him, and shooting his accomplice.
She tells Maura to ‘get to the point’ when she’s going on about extraneous details, since Jane just wants to get to the heart of the matter and not waste time on what she sees as useless information. She is more upset when people she knows dies because now she has to tell her family about it, than she allows it to influence her clear-headed reasoning (she can still work on a case, even when it’s emotionally upsetting to her). Even though she got into a prestigious college and had the smarts to pass all of her tests, Jane decided not to attend, since it was too expensive for what she really wanted to do (be a cop). She doesn’t mind her male coworkers teasing her and just jibes at them back, rather than get her feelings hurt.
Extroverted Sensing
Jane figures out things by doing them, and isn’t ‘squicked out’ by crime scenes, but immediately gets in there and digs around. She was a tough-talking, street-wise kid who played hockey (after trying out ballet), who likes to get rough with her brother on the basketball court, and who dreamed of getting married on a baseball diamond. She is very into sports—football, soccer, baseball, field hockey, and was a perfect sports student in high school.
Jane observes the environment and uses it, whenever she is in a pinch; she improvises with whatever is at hand, often saving her life and that of her friend in the process (example—when a corrupt cop holds her best friend hostage in the morgue, Jane snatches up a baseball bat laying in the corner and beats the crap out of him; she shoots a rapist in the hand rather than in the head; she uses her cop shield to keep men away from hitting on her, etc. Jane thinks fast and on her feet, using a busted cell phone to send text messages in morse code to her partner so he can find and save their lives. The first time she met Maura, she was working undercover as a hooker.
Introverted Intuition
Jane often has a sense of what is going on, or that some guy isn’t trustworthy, or that there is more to this than first appears, but she calls it ‘trusting my gut’ and ‘it’s just a hunch’ and looks for evidence to support it. She isn’t always sure of what her hunches mean, just that she doesn’t like someone and figures if her body is telling her to be cautious of them, there’s a good reason for it.
Extroverted Feeling
Jane forms a lot of low Fe impressions about people, assuming men are all the same-either intimidated by her status as a cop, or turned on by it. She doesn’t want a normal life, and can be quarrelsome and argumentative with her mother… yet she also goes out of her way to please and appease her, within reason, just to keep the peace at home (agreeing to buy and wear a dress if her mother insists on it; but she draws the line at her mother’s attempts to marry her off to her boss). She can be whiny and reactive under stress, lashing out at people and accusing them of not treating her right (why is it her fault that her brother wants to be a cop?). She’s also a bit cranky and easily lashes out at people.
The Enneagram 6
Jane puts on a tough-talking, street-wise persona, but deep down she admits at times that she is “more terrified than I’ve ever been in my life.” She can be aggressive and combative toward other people, but actually is something of a pushover in her personal life. She doesn’t like her mother to be upset with her, and goes out of her way to appease her, insisting that she is going to “kill her,” while being loyal to her and angry when others upset the family dynamics. Jane is very loyal to the people she cares about, and irritated when they let her down. She has enough principles that she doesn’t commit murder, even though it would be safer, but instead, shoots a serial rapist/killer in the hand.
She is focused on her family (her brother and her parents) and feels insulted to be left out of things (she wonders why her dad never wanted him to inherit the family business, even though she had no interest in plumbing). Jane can be combative, loud, and argumentative, but ultimately has a soft spot for kids, and enjoys being an aunt (she admits that she may not want kids of her own, but she looks forward to helping raise her nephew).
If Jane feels scared of something, she runs right toward it, putting on a lot of bravado when talking to perps and hiding behind her shield. It helps her avoid becoming romantically involved with people, by keeping them away from her. A lot of her reasons for not getting into a romantic relationship is because of her habitual distrust of people, her disgust when encountering crime scenes, and wanting to avoid the angst of being a parent and needing to watch out 24/7 for your kids.
The 7 Wing
She has a good sense of humor and loves to verbally spar with her family and friends. Jane is always teasing them and pushing their buttons for kicks. She can also be assertive and intimidating when she decides to act on someone else’s behalf; she insists the man who sold her mother a lemon of a car takes it back, and installs a new carburetor inside her mother’s original car, plus a few other perks. She doesn’t like to face her problems, admit to her negative feelings, or linger too long with her guilt, in favor of physical activities or humor instead.
