blargh

[wavyarms]

So, when I met up with heatmhub in Boston last week, one of the topics of conversation was introvert vs. extrovert. I've always considered myself a strong introvert, and said so. heatmhub was surprised, and pointed to my social calendar while I was in Boston as an example of extroversion. And it's also true that I practice much better with other people, and get more work done when other people are involved than when I'm supposed to work alone. I began to think that maybe I'm not as introverted as I thought.

Well, chalk up the past few days as another piece of evidence that I may have been wrong. I've been dog-sitting for a professor, and basically living in the next town over with no human interaction at all...and it's getting me down! I thought I'd enjoy a little hermit-time, but not so much.

I think maybe I assumed I was an introvert b/c of my geek tendencies. In high school, I assumed that all geeks were introverts, and never really re-examined that assumption as regards myself, though of course I now know tons of geekish extroverts. Maybe I'm more balanced than I thought.

Anyways, people should, like, update and stuff. Because LJ is the only people-interaction I'm likely to have today.

Comments

[stealthmuffin.livejournal.com]

Some friends of mine and I were discussing this a while back and proposed the following distinction: an introvert "recharges" by spending time alone, an extrovert does the same by spending time with people. Which sums up a lot of it, but does bring up its own questions: e.g., on occasion, time with people is the only thing that'll pull me out of a dark mood, though too much time with too many people and I start making Homsar noises.

And I'll take a poke at your draft later today; I'm up to my ears in packing.

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the definition I've always used, b/c I've always believed that I needed time alone to recharge. But I'm wondering if that's not as true as I thought it was. If I'm never alone, I do go mad...but I seem to go extremely apathetic if I'm always alone.

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

P.S. Is that like being up to your ears in balloons?

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

P.P.S. I'm interested in what you think of other people's editorial comments, as well as your opinion on the draft.

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I used to think I was an extrovert (and may have actually been one, even), but have come to consider myself an introvert in the past few years. I think I have always hovered somwhere on the borderline between the two, though. Depending on my mood, I sometimes need to recharge on my own and other times being with others really gives me energy.

To some extent, I think the defining factor is how one feels about meeting and interacting with people who you don't know, or don't know well. That is something that doesn't come easily to me (though I find I am much more comfortable doing so if I have a good friend with me) and takes a lot out of me.

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

To some extent, I think the defining factor is how one feels about meeting and interacting with people who you don't know, or don't know well.

Wow, wouldn't that make everyone an introvert? Having to interact with strangers generally makes me very nervous, at any rate. :)

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, everyone in my department at work took the Myers-Briggs test. Surprise, surprise, I scored very very very high on the introvert end of the scale. And I do believe that it has to do with how you recharge your batteries at the end of the day. But if I go out to the family cabin for a weekend, and stay inside and read and have no contact with the outside world, I'm stir crazy by Sunday afternoon - it doesn't have to be mutually exclusive!! I do best when I have a little time to myself each day, but that doesn't mean I don't crave human contact too!

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

True! And the discussion arose b/c she had to take the Myers-Briggs for work. I did too, several years ago, but of course I completely forget my score.

[thomascantor.livejournal.com]

Everyone in my family took the Myers-Briggs test at some point - probably when my dad was using it in his work as a cleric. I definitely scored high as an introvert at one point, and I also need to recharge after time spent with large groups of people. Another time that I took it I only scored high on intuiting over sensing. I heard from one of my sisters that it is common for people to score differently in different settings - work, home, social events, etc. etc.

It seems to me that what we mean by introvert or extrovert can be a little unclear. Nobody likes to think of themselves as, say, a total brainiac who has no friends, but then the idea of being an incredibly insensitive yet outgoing socialite may seem a worse model to some, and most people do their best not to fit into such an obvious stereotype anyway. Sometimes introverts can put on the most flamboyant style, even when meeting total strangers, but remain introverts other times.

[chorusgirl19.livejournal.com]

A little info I've never used from my educational psychology class: stealthmuffin is actually close to the clinical definitions of interversion and extroversion. Introverts are more comfortable being alone, and understand themselves more easily than they understand others. Extroverts the opposite.

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

and understand themselves more easily than they understand others

I'd never heard that part before.

I'm also not sure where that part of the definition puts me.

[chorusgirl19.livejournal.com]

Really? As I recall (and long-term memory is involved here because it was seven years ago), the understanding is the important part. It's a multiple-intelligence thing: interpersonal vs. intrapersonal. Interpersonally intelligent people are extroverts and intrapersonally intelligent people are introverts. The definition doesn't really work for you because you have similar and large amounts of both.

[traglar.livejournal.com]

When I was younger, I used to think I was an introvert, but I came to realize it was more that I had no friends.

[wavyarms.livejournal.com]

Isn't it amazing how things change? :)