MBTI Type: ESFJ

Rachel is very attuned to other people and their emotional needs, and feels compelled to answer them—one example is despite not liking Louis on a personal level, after he has to put his cat to sleep and is upset about it in his office, she immediately asks Mike for a signed baseball on his desk, and gives it to Louis, knowing how much he cares about baseball and how that will cheer him up. She winds up helping people often, because they have a need that she can fill, but also is straightforward in sharing her true feelings when and if things happen. She tells Mike off to his face many times, needing no down time to process anything that has happened (she won’t be his “rebound” date). Rachel sometimes uses emotional information to hit below the belt, but then feels bad about it later and apologizes. She also gets angry at him for keeping secrets from her, because she wants total honesty in their relationship. When her father asks her to sit out a case, she takes that as a challenge and wants to “take him down” and hurt him, because he hurt her feelings. She easily confides in Donna and asks for her advice. She finds it hard to be detached about her own motivations. Because she feels it, I must act it upon. She has to take time away to come to realize that her motivations aren’t always rational, but driven by a need to prove herself or get revenge. Rachel has a spectacular ability to do detailed research. She is the best person in the entire office to dig up information, find case law to support their claims, and spend hours looking through boring reports in search of a gold nugget. She knows an exceptional amount about the law, but has never passed the test because she’s afraid to fail. It’s only when Mike encourages her (Fe) that she can learn the material and feel confident about her chances. Much like Mike, Rachel uses Ne to think creatively about her cases and come up with unique solutions. She is disappointed in his choice to have an affair with a married woman, because she has seen and experienced the collateral damage. She sometimes accurately senses what people’s intentions are, and helps head off problems.

Enneagram: 3w2

Rachel is a curious blend of pure ambition and self-confidence (she knows she’s smart and good at her job and is proud of it) and insecurity (because she can’t pass tests, she’s afraid to take them and fail, which is a dig at her intelligence and competency). Her fierce competitive need to prove herself comes out when her father, a famous lawyer, asks her to sit out a case, and then implies that since she’s failing at her job, maybe she should consider another career; Rachel is so offended, she insists she be put up against him, and offers Mike any useful information she knows about her dad, in order to “beat him.” When she finds out her friend cheated to get into Harvard, she considers paying that same person to cheat for her, to get in. When Harvard declines her admissions essay, Rachel takes it as a serious blow against her self-worth and almost gives up; she rebounds into thinking it’s Louis’ fault and intending to “out” his relationship with the admissions officer to the Harvard review board. (It can’t be her fault for not being smart enough, they cheated me!) She decides things from her heart and her desire to win, but also shows a lot of 2 behaviors—she’s generous, kind, helps others dig up information, winds up doing charity cases, and can be heavy on the rejection when people upset her, by cutting them out of her life.

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