Maurice Wilkin: MBTI-Personality Type INFP

It is Maurice Wilkins’ personality that drives his optimistic views that if it weren’t for conflicts with his assistant Rosalind Franklin, he would be the inevitable founder of the DNA structure. By deductive reasoning while reading Watson’s DNA account, one can infer that Wilkins has the MBTI-personality type ‘INFP’. The MBTI, or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test determines a person’s “preferred ways to attending to the world and making decisions” (results sheet from MBTI instrument). In this particular case, Wilkins showed introversion, intuition, feeling, and perceiving. This personality type combination is often known for being imaginative, independent, and more interested in possibilities than practicalities, partially explaining why Wilkins was convinced that he was right in being awarded a portion of the Nobel Prize. Franklin, an assistant that was brought in to help Wilkins with his research, had an almost completely opposite personality style: ‘ISTJ’. The introversion, sensing, thinking, and judging combination led Franklin to be incredibly detail-oriented, decisive, and painstakingly systematic. These two personality types tend to clash when they are together, as the decision-making processes are almost completely opposite. The introversion results in both Wilkins and Franklin to become absorbed in their own ideas instead of focusing on the personal relationship. With that barrier, it is almost impossible for them to communicate and see each other’s views, as the approach is completely different. While Watson and Crick had some personality differences, their strength came in that they both relied on intuition and perception. Being able to relate on these two playing fields, as well as Crick being focused on external personal traits, it was possible for them to successfully work together. In order for Wilkins and Franklin’s relationship to be productive, they would have had to have a “middle-party” administrator. Someone with an ‘ENFJ’