Apparently There Are 4 Kinds of Introversion. Introversion, thanks largely to Susan Cain's 2012 best seller Quiet, is having something of a cultural moment.
Once a mostly misunderstood personality trait — and often considered a behavioral defect when it was considered at all — it's now the subject of countless other books and online listicles (and, more recently, parodies of listicles). And as more regular, non-scientist types started to talk about introversion, psychologist Jonathan Cheek began to notice something: The way many introverts defined the trait was different from the way he and most of his academic colleagues did.
"When you survey a person on the street, asking them to define introversion, what comes up as the prototypical characteristics ... are things like thoughtful or introspective," said Cheek, a psychology professor at Wellesley College. And yet neither of these things are part of the definition of the trait according to scientific literature. Quiet, Please: Unleashing 'The Power Of Introverts' Introverts, who prefer quieter, lower-stimulation environments, have trouble thriving in today's extrovert-oriented culture, says author Susan Cain.
iStockphoto.com hide caption toggle caption iStockphoto.com From Gandhi to Joe DiMaggio to Mother Teresa to Bill Gates, introverts have done a lot of good work in the world. But being quiet, introverted or shy was sometimes looked at as a problem to overcome. In the 1940s and '50s the message to most Americans was: Don't be shy. Susan Cain — who considers herself an introvert — has written a new book that tells the story of how introversion fell out of style.
Quiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain Interview Highlights On the difference between introversion and shyness "Introversion is really about having a preference for lower stimulation environments. "Many people believe that introversion is about being antisocial, and that's really a misperception.
On how today's workplaces are designed for extroverts. Susan Cain: The power of introverts. Difference Between Introversion & Shyness (Are You Getting it Wrong Too?) When people throw out conversation advice, they often mix up the terms introversion and shyness.
The truth is, they are completely different concepts that cannot be used interchangeably. But I do feel they are related in several ways, which I’ll go over later. If you aren’t happy with your social life and want to talk to more people with confidence, this is important information to know. It helped me realize the type of person I am and the type of socializing that works best for my personality. And that allowed me to feel less critical of myself and meet new people using my strengths instead of trying to be something I’m not. First, What is Introversion? Introversion is a personality trait you’re born with and it doesn’t go away. The important thing to realize here is, nothing is wrong with you if you are introverted! First, the difference between introversion and extraversion (or extroversion) is mainly about energy and where you get that energy.
What Does It Mean To Be An Introvert? The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Quick Quiz: Which of the following are signs of introversion? Highly sensitiveDeep ThinkerReflectiveIntrospectiveNegative emotionsSocially AnxiousDefensiveVulnerableAlways prefers solitude over social interaction Answer: Not a single one. Introversion is one of the most misunderstood dimensions of personality. Many people are not aware that the original definition of introversion, as posed by Carl Jung, is not how the term is used in modern personality psychology.
But that’s not introversion. Common Misconceptions About Introversion Whereas Jung based his definitions of extraversion and introversion on his own theory, experience, and intuition, modern psychology identifies personality dimensions empirically, based on what patterns of behavior tend to go together within individuals. In fact, what many people ascribe to introversion really belongs in the intellect/imagination domain [1]. 1. 1. 22 Tips To Better Care for Introverts and Extroverts. 2.1K Flares Filament.io 2.1K Flares × Here is something that hit me recently: For a long time I had a certain idea about what makes an introvert or an extrovert.
I had always thought that it works something like this: Extroversion relates to how outgoing someone isIntroversion is the same as being shy. That was kind of my general perception. Doing just a little bit of reading made it clear very quickly - my thinking was way off! Recently I dug into some of the full-on research about introverts vs extroverts and I think I’m much closer to understanding what the terms introvert and extrovert actually mean. Where it all started – and why I had it all wrong If we go a bit further back, we find that the terms introvert and extrovert (originally spelled extravert) were popularized by Carl Jung in the early 20th century. There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. So really, if we looked at how most of us operated, we would never be on either spectrum of the scale. ASSESSMENT.