Are you an Introvert?

[pholy]

well apparently I am standing in the field all by myself. I am quite happy alone, and indeed can go for days without seeing anyone, but I also am very outgoing and interested in *things*

Exactly, kindlekitten - It's not so much that extroverts are interested in other people, as that they are interested in 'stuff' that is outside them. As an MBTI expert told me: "If you're an engineer, you're an extrovert."

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by kennyc

From Psychology Today:

Personality
Revenge of the Introvert

There are as many introverts as extraverts, but you'd never know it by looking around. Introverts would rather be entertained by what's going on in their heads than in seeking happiness. Their big challenge is not to feel like outsiders in their own culture.

More:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/artic...-the-introvert

Bull carp. Introverts are simply perfectly happy with their own company and interests.

They don't need to feel validated by what society tells them is the norm.....

And I can't answer the poll because my answer is "sometimes"

Here....I'm a little on the extroverted side. In real life, I like to be 'under the radar'......I'm comfortable with my family and few close friends, but get kinda anxious in unknown situations......

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Bull carp. Introverts are simply perfectly happy with their own company and interests.

They don't need to feel validated by what society tells them is the norm.....

And I can't answer the poll because my answer is "sometimes"

Here....I'm a little on the extroverted side. In real life, I like to be 'under the radar'......I'm comfortable with my family and few close friends, but get kinda anxious in unknown situations......

Well we got your number anyway.....one word: ABBA!

[jbcohen]

Quickest and easiest way to punish me is to leave me alone, I go off the deep end of santity. In fact I feel myself slipping that way now.

About as extroverted as possible.

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by dsvick

I can't answer using the choices given. I'm pretty much right in the middle, or maybe at both ends. I'm equally happy sitting at home alone reading a book as I am at the neighbors for barbecue with the entire neighborhood.

Sure there are times when I prefer one to the other, but usually both are equally appealing. In fact I've been known, much to my wife's displeasure, to take a book to the in-laws and read when we're there for a birthday party

As I understand it, introversion doesn't mean that a person doesn't enjoy socializing or the company of other people. It just means that socializing drains energy from introverts, whereas extroverts draw energy from socializing. So the question is, after barbecues or other social events, do you feel amped up or tired?
As far as reading and extroversion, I'm not really sure how that works. Would an extrovert be exhausted by reading? As an introvert I find reading to be exhilarating. In fact, if I'm reading a really good book I tend to want to put the book down and walk (or run) around. But after any social situation I'm exhausted.

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Bull carp. Introverts are simply perfectly happy with their own company and interests.

They don't need to feel validated by what society tells them is the norm.....

And I can't answer the poll because my answer is "sometimes"

Here....I'm a little on the extroverted side. In real life, I like to be 'under the radar'......I'm comfortable with my family and few close friends, but get kinda anxious in unknown situations......

I don't know how much the introvert/extrovert dichotomy applies to internet forums. Socializing on a forum is vastly different from socializing in person;on forums feedback and response is not instant, it tends to be anonymous, and because of the anonymity social pressures involving decorum are almost nonexistent. This isn't to say there is no etiquette on a forum, but you don't have to worry about saying the exact right thing for the situation. There tends to be more introverts on forums because it allows them the paradox of communicating and connecting with other people in solitude and on a level that doesn't involve ones status, looks, or clothes. Forums tend to be devoted to specific subjects (like ebooks), and introverts are probably much more comfortable and happy talking about subjects and ideas than about themselves or other people.

As far as anxiety in unknown situations, that isn't a issue of introversion/extroversion. Normally, ones comfort level in unknown situations is based on their experiences. It just so happens that since extroverts tend to socialize more than introverts, extroverts usually have more experience than introverts in unknown situations.

[spellbanisher]

One thing I really hate is when people call introverts antisocial. Antisocial behavior is behavior that causes harm to society, like crime. Introverts are not criminals; the correct term for someone who doesn't socialize is asocial, or not social. self-sufficiency is not a crime.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

One thing I really hate is when people call introverts antisocial. Antisocial behavior is behavior that causes harm to society, like crime. Introverts are not criminals; the correct term for someone who doesn't socialize is asocial, or not social. self-sufficiency is not a crime.

Agreed. The intro/extrovert thing was one of the things that played into my becoming single again.

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by pholy

Exactly, kindlekitten - It's not so much that extroverts are interested in other people, as that they are interested in 'stuff' that is outside them. As an MBTI expert told me: "If you're an engineer, you're an extrovert."

Hey, I'm an engineer AND an introvert!!!

[kennyc]

I don't think career and personality are linked. In fact many actors, musicians, etc. who perform on stage are terribly introverted -- Van Morrison as an example...

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by Pablo

Hey, I'm an engineer AND an introvert!!!

A lot of engineers and scientists are introverts. Any profession that requires either deep thinking or difficult problem-solving usually has a disproportionately high number of introverts, because solitude is more conducive to deep-thinking, reflection, and analysis than socializing. Since extroverts become wearied by solitude, it is less likely that they are willing and able to be alone long enough to really think about and analyze things.

As far as being interested in interior or exterior objects, that has little to do with introversion/extroversion. Extroverts care more about interacting with the exterior world than introverts, but engineering doesn't revolve around social interaction but on problem solving and how stuff works. Although engineering usually entails extensive team-work, that team work revolves around problem solving, not socializing for the sake of socializing.

[Magnesus]

Another introvert here. And I like being one.

[desertblues]

I like to be on the fringe of things, don't feel too happy in the middle of it. Optimist with always some blues; yes.......voted for introvert.

[Sparrow]

I don't like it when people rail against solitude as somehow unhealthy or sinister.
I think extroverts are more likely to express themselves in the media, and they foster this idea that being alone is necessarily bad. So 'loner' becomes a pejorative term applied to criminals; but if they don't happen to be loners, you don't see them described as 'sociable'.

[montsnmags]

Thanks, Kenny. It's a worthwhile article to read in full (I particularly like the dot-points on what not to say to an introvert at the article's end). FWIW, multiple testing, sometimes fairly extensive, of me over the years generally concludes that I am all the way over into the furthest reaches of Introversion (also, Neuroticism, but let's just put that aside here ). So, saying that, I like spellbanisher's post above (post #21) - it clarifies something I've sometimes tried to reconcile with my interest and participation in forums (usually two at the most at any one time) such as MR.

I'm going to tweet the link. Hopefully my family will read it and stop spur-of-the-moment inviting themselves over.

Cheers,
Marc