The 16 Personalities of the Mean Girls Characters

Do you see yourself in a Mean Girls character? Hopefully not. While a cult classic, the original Mean Girls movie was filled with social climbing, petty backstabbing and the messy cliques that defined high school. No one wants to identify with that level of teenage drama.

And yet, Mean Girls was successful because of its flawed characters. They’re outlandish, but they’re relatable. How many of us can honestly say that we never changed our personalities to be liked, or coordinated outfits with our friends?

Now with the remake, a whole new generation can see themselves in the characters. But what personalities do these girls represent? Here's our best guess, based on their 2004 on-screen behavior!

Cady Heron: ISFJ

Like most ISFJs, Cady Heron wants to be liked and accepted. In fact, she’s the ultimate people-pleaser. Remember how she befriends Regina and ruins her life to please Janis, but then ditches Janis to please Regina? Cady loses herself in the process, eventually becoming a Plastic.

This behavior is possible because of another ISFJ trait—being good at reading people. Cady knows how to seem nice to others so they rarely suspect her of wrongdoing. She uses this trait to manipulate Regina into tearing down her own empire.

At the same time, Cady is a loyal person. Yes, she spends the majority of the movie looking out for herself—but she was also a former homeschooler navigating her first year in a public high school. She was eating lunch in the bathroom on the first day. Of course she jumped at the opportunity to become popular.

But once she realizes the harm she has caused her friends, Cady sacrifices her reputation to make amends with Janis and Regina. That’s a pretty good move, especially for a teenage ISFJ.

Cady’s most ISFJ moment: Gaining the admiration of the entire school, just to lose it in weeks.

Regina George: ESTJ

Regina George is a natural leader. But while mature ESTJs can regulate their desire to control everything in order to have balanced relationships, Regina cannot. She lets her controlling tendencies dominate her life. In popularity, male attention and physical attractiveness, she has to be the best.

Immature ESTJs like Regina have not yet learned to be sensitive to the feelings of those around them. And so, she has no qualms about using others’ insecurities against them. Regina is the perfect queen bee because she knows that at the core of every high schooler is the desire to belong. So she creates the rules that dictate whether or not they do.

She also does not understand how to deal with or express her emotions. When she is betrayed by Cady and the rest of the Plastics (literally her only friends at school), she spends only a few minutes processing her anger. Then, she gets to work on revenge.

Regina’s most ESTJ moment: Framing the other Plastics for creating the malicious, gossip-filled Burn Book.

Karen Smith: ESFP

A classic ESFP, Karen floats through life in a happy bubble. She enjoys being popular less because of the social status it brings and more because she likes shopping and wearing pink with her friends. ESFPs are conflict-averse, and they understand that picking sides leads to complicated situations. That’s why Karen does not get involved in the drama between Regina and Gretchen.

Karen also exhibits the ESFP’s lack of focus. She’s always several steps behind in the group’s conversation, or sometimes completely checked out of the situation. This isn’t to say that ESFPs are “dumb blondes” like Karen’s character, because that is a harmful Hollywood stereotype. Sometimes, they just zone out of conversations and get bored easily, especially when the topic doesn’t interest them.

Karen’s most ESFP moment: Being the only one to try to catch Gretchen during the trust fall exercise.

Gretchen Weiners: ESFJ

One common ESFJ flaw is a love for gossip, and Gretchen is the movie’s number one gossip girl. More than even Regina, she knows everything about everybody. That’s why her hair is so big—it’s full of secrets.

Gretchen wants to fit in so badly that she loses herself. Her identity is found in others so much that without Regina, she doesn’t know who to be. For Gretchen, this means being terrified of getting on Regina’s bad side. After identifying Regina as the key to social stability and safety, Gretchen becomes her number one henchwoman.

Gretchen’s most ESFJ moment: Trying (and failing) to make the word “fetch” catch on. It’s a quintessential ESFJ moment—desperate to be recognized and validated, yet emotionally wounded when her efforts are dismissed. 

Janis Ian: ISFP

Janis is an expert on the social cliques of North Shore High and is quick to establish that she doesn’t belong to any of them. Instead, she finds her identity in being different. So much of what she does stems from her desire to go against others’ expectations, which is a key ISFP trait.

ISFPs don’t let things like romantic relationships, deep friendships or grudges just go. This is why Janis spends the whole movie obsessed with Regina. She never gets over the rumor that Regina started about her in middle school and harbors such a deep hatred towards her that she uses Cady to hurt her.

But Janis also exhibits kindness. When Cady first arrives, Janis and Damian recognize how lonely she is and take her under their wing. This is a telling sign of an ISFP’s tendency to be empathetic and compassionate towards others.

Janis’ most ISFP moment: Hatching an elaborate, months-long plan to ruin Regina’s life.

Damian Leigh: ENFP

Charming and funny, Damian Leigh is unique because he has no enemies. He serves solely as Janis’ sidekick, balancing out her intensity by making jokes about situations, no matter how dire they are.

But while he carries the usual ENFP charm, Damian is also very smart. He has the intuitive ability to see people for who they really are. When Cady begins to resemble a Plastic, he has no issue calling her out for being a bad friend. He’s also fiercely loyal to Janis, backing her up in her decision to kick Cady out of the friend group.

Damian’s most ENFP moment: “She doesn’t even go here!”

Aaron Samuels: ISFJ

Like our other ISFJ Cady, Aaron exhibits a lot of sensitivity to his surroundings. Instead of resolving to do something, he will loosely intend to do it until external factors redirect him. His love life is the greatest example. At the beginning of the movie, Aaron asks Cady out. But then, he notices Regina at a party and decides to get with her instead. But then, when he finds out Regina cheated on him, he’s back to pining after Cady.

However, he still shows the moral compass that healthy ISFJs possess. When Cady changes, he calls her out on it and doesn’t get with Cady again until she has regained her morals. In true ISFJ fashion, he doesn’t want to take any risks when it comes to matters of the heart.

Aaron’s most ISFJ moment: Somehow earning the affections of both of the most popular girls in school by acting aloof in math class.

Ms. Norbury: INFJ

While Ms. Norbury is insulted many a time for her odd clothing and bleak love life, she holds the empathetic yet down-to-earth quality of an INFJ. She’s perceptive and realizes early on that Cady loves math and is good at it. Even while Cady is going through her Plastic phase and pretending to be bad at math to impress Aaron Samuels, Ms. Norbury sees straight through the act and continues to try to recruit her.

Like a true INFJ, Ms. Norbury always sees the best in people. She helps organize the junior girls’ meeting to help them all put aside their differences and talk to each other.

Ms. Norbury’s most INFJ moment: Trying to get Cady to tell the truth at the junior girls’ gathering.

Girl Who Cries: INFP

The crying girl is not a main character, but she’s one of the most iconic. When the junior girls at North Shore turn on each other, she sneaks into their trust-fall exercise and shares that she wishes everybody could get along like they did in middle school. Everybody’s feeling her speech until it’s revealed that she doesn’t even go to the school.

Despite her brief appearance, the crying girl is a prime example of INFP empathy. She feels deeply for others and yearns for harmony among people. Her emotional outburst embodies the INFP’s tendency to be driven by high values. She wants the world to be a better place, although doesn’t have a strategy for how to make that happen. 

Girl Who Cries’ most INFP moment: “I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy!”