Pop Psychology on CBS ‘Early Show’: Obama the Explorer?

On Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-hosts Harry Smith and Maggie Rodriguez talked to biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher, who defined four personality types and their compatibility with each other: "Well, it's all hormones -- yes, I mean, it's hormones, it's neurotransmitters, it's all kinds of chemicals and genes...I call them the explorer, the builder, the director, and the negotiator."

Fisher described the ‘explorer’ type: "An explorer is someone who's very expressive of dopamine. They're very curious, they're very creative. They're very novelty-seeking." Smith asked: "Daring, born free?" Fisher replied: "Yes, energetic, irreverent often, very liberal, very flexible." She gave a few examples, including: "I think Barack Obama is also an explorer, different kind. Well, that daringness, the energy. He even moves like a high dopamine type. They're very comfortable in their skin." Smith added: "High intellectual curiosity." Fisher agreed: "Yes. And that's the point."

Obama had company in the ‘explorer’ category, as Fisher earlier explained: "I think Angelina Jolie's a perfect example. I mean, she's got a tattoo on her body of a -- of a window. You know, ‘let me out. Let me loose. Let me go.’...I mean, she wore a vile of blood around her neck for one of her weddings. And this is -- this is outlandish. I mean it's -- it's charismatic...She’s an explorer." Rodriguez asked about Jolie’s husband Brad Pitt: "And he's definitely that, too?" Fisher responded: "Yes. Oh, absolutely. Very curious, both of them. Very daring."

Smith went on to describe the ‘builder’ personality type: "Another type that you said, there's the builder. Traditional, calm, loyal, boring." Fisher added, "Conscientious" and explained: "I think George Washington was a very good builder. He was the right guy at the right time. He was very traditional. Actually...Steadfast...Steady. I think Gordon Brown is, in England. I think that Tiger Woods is a good builder...The builder goes for the builder, they're traditional. Those, I think, are the red states, actually."