Believe It Or Not This Popular K-Pop Idol Hates MBTI Tests

Over the past few years, the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) phenomenon has undoubtedly taken over the K-Pop industry. Idols have jumped on board, taking the personality test to identify one of the 16 types they resonate with most. Since then, it’s been near impossible to find a K-Pop interview, live broadcast, or vlog that doesn’t reference these personality indicators.

| Globago/YouTube

The trend has even inspired artistic creations; SM Entertainment‘s group NCT Dream notably dedicated their entire comeback to MBTI with their album aptly named ISTJ.

NCT Dream’s Album Cover | SM Entertainment

Thus amidst this frenzy, it may surprise you to learn that there’s one prominent K-Pop idol who has decidedly chosen to step away from the MBTI buzz. She’s none other than the beautiful leader of Red Velvet: Irene.

| @renebaebae/Instagram

Contrary to the majority, Irene appears to be more than just disinterested in personality types. In fact, she seems to actively (and hilariously) dislike the pervasive chatter surrounding MBTI. Over time, several instances have made Irene’s stance on the topic more than clear.

| DearU Bubble

First and foremost, when asked about her personality type, it’s always the other Red Velvet members who fill in the blanks. For example, Yeri once took the liberty to assign Irene the INFJ type.

Yeri talking about Irene’s MBTI

“Joohyun-unnie is an INFJ. You can tell just by looking that unnie is a J. She’s clearly the planner type. I match really well with Js” #IRENE #아이린 #RedVelvet @RVsmtown pic.twitter.com/rf4UEtFcyM

— Irene 아이린 Global (@irene_global) September 23, 2022

It’s not just Yeri, though. During the filming of their music video for Red Velvet’s hit summer song “Queendom,” Wendy also speculated that Irene “feels like an INFJ.”

Wendy the MBTI expert guessed it right! Irene is really an INFJ haha awesome! pic.twitter.com/p2rnaD9NsG

— todayis_wendy (@eternalsummer9) April 8, 2022

But what does Irene herself say? Well, she seems fairly clueless about the MBTI tests. Fans are pretty convinced she’s never even taken one! Case in point: during a fun Q&A form posted by Red Velvet’s official Twitter for her birthday, Irene’s response to a question about her MBTI type was a tentative “ISFJ?”

| @RVsmtown/Twitter

Perhaps most telling of all was during a live broadcast with all the Red Velvet members, where Irene seemed almost desperate to put a stop to the ongoing MBTI conversation. When Yeri urged her to reveal her MBTI type, Irene tried to dismiss the topic, but the others simply couldn’t resist the urge to guess. This time Yeri, Wendy, and Seulgi speculated that Irene was an “ISFJ.”

| SM Entertainment

Seemingly tired of all the MBTI chatter, Irene asked the members to stop talking about the test continuously. In the end, she just went along with what they said her type was — defeatedly saying, “Okay, let’s just go with that [ISFJ]. Let’s stop now.”

yeri: someone asked about irene unnie's mbti
irene: stop talking about mbti
rv: i think she is ISFJ
irene: yeah, let's just go with that~ let's stop~ hahahahahahah pic.twitter.com/TAuC7hWrjg

— 슬린 (@seurrene_) March 23, 2023

But that’s not all! While hosting an episode of SBS’s hit radio show, Young Street, Irene continued to show her disinterest in the MBTI phenomenon. When asked about her type, she somehow let another member speak for her again — despite the member not even being there.

My MBTI… probably Wendy knows it. I’m not familiar with it. Actually Wendy goes back and forth with I and E. I’m an I but I’m not sure about the rest. I think there’s also an F. And what else is there…

— Red Velvet’s Irene

| @renebaebae/Instagram

Despite the growing popularity of the MBTI test, Irene’s disinterest in the trend is refreshing. While it’s interesting to speculate on idols’ personality types, it’s important to remember that they’re unique individuals beyond the bounds of a four-letter code. After all, who needs an MBTI label when you’ve got a personality as compelling as Irene’s?