Image:
-
The Wisdom of Psychopaths
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a...
Read More »
Do you enjoy having time to yourself, but always feel a little guilty about it? Then Susan Cain’s “Quiet : The Power of Introverts” is for you. It’s part book, part manifesto. We live in a nation that values its extroverts – the outgoing, the lovers of crowds – but not the quiet types who change the world. She recently answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.
Cook: This may be a stupid question, but how do you define an introvert? How can somebody tell whether they are truly introverted or extroverted?
Cain: Not a stupid question at all! Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments, while extroverts need higher levels of stimulation to feel their best. Stimulation comes in all forms – social stimulation, but also lights, noise, and so on. Introverts even salivate more than extroverts do if you place a drop of lemon juice on their tongues! So an introvert is more likely to enjoy a quiet glass of wine with a close friend than a loud, raucous party full of strangers.
It’s also important to understand that introversion is different from shyness. Shyness is the fear of negative judgment, while introversion is simply the preference for less stimulation. Shyness is inherently uncomfortable; introversion is not. The traits do overlap, though psychologists debate to what degree.
Cook: You argue that our culture has an extroversion bias. Can you explain what you mean?
Cain: In our society, the ideal self is bold, gregarious, and comfortable in the spotlight. We like to think that we value individuality, but mostly we admire the type of individual who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Our schools, workplaces, and religious institutions are designed for extroverts. Introverts are to extroverts what American women were to men in the 1950s -- second-class citizens with gigantic amounts of untapped talent.
In my book, I travel the country – from a Tony Robbins seminar to Harvard Business School to Rick Warren’s powerful Saddleback Church – shining a light on the bias against introversion. One of the most poignant moments was when an evangelical pastor I met at Saddleback confided his shame that “God is not pleased” with him because he likes spending time alone.
Cook: How does this cultural inclination affect introverts?
Cain: Many introverts feel there’s something wrong with them, and try to pass as extroverts. But whenever you try to pass as something you’re not, you lose a part of yourself along the way. You especially lose a sense of how to spend your time. Introverts are constantly going to parties and such when they’d really prefer to be home reading, studying, inventing, meditating, designing, thinking, cooking…or any number of other quiet and worthwhile activities.
According to the latest research, one third to one half of us are introverts – that’s one out of every two or three people you know. But you’d never guess that, right? That’s because introverts learn from an early age to act like pretend-extroverts.
Cook: Is this just a problem for introverts, or do you feel it hurts the country as a whole?
Cain: It’s never a good idea to organize society in a way that depletes the energy of half the population. We discovered this with women decades ago, and now it’s time to realize it with introverts.
This also leads to a lot of wrongheaded notions that affect introverts and extroverts alike. Here’s just one example: Most schools and workplaces now organize workers and students into groups, believing that creativity and productivity comes from a gregarious place. This is nonsense, of course. From Darwin to Picasso to Dr. Seuss, our greatest thinkers have often worked in solitude, and in my book I examine lots of research on the pitfalls of groupwork.
See what we're tweeting about
95 Comments
Add CommentGood article, but the idea that our society values extroverts more than introverts begs the question. We just notice them more. Stephen King doesn't make headlines like Charlie Sheen, but we know who he is and what he does.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOk, society values more extrovert people, and there are introverts who deserve being recognized. But to be introvert is not a characteristic, like having red hair or brown eyes. Introverted children should be educated to improve their selfsteam and their emotional intelligence. I say this becouse I've been one of them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVery sympathetic and well formulated interview. Of course Stephen KIng is valued, but he too puts himself out there. We also value famous introvert scientist. But even more we value success, and many apparently successful people, media-wise, are merely good at simulating success. When looking at recruitment ads for businesses they used to have as requirements that the applicant should be extrovert and creative. Creative was here, I guess, a finer name for social competence. So, society as a whole values, quantitatively speaking, the socially competent extrovert. He will be good salesman, I guess. Or she, of course.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo assume that a majority of introverts have low self-esteem or low emotional intelligence would be a mistake; introversion is a preference, as it states in the article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI would argue that it is a characteristic of one's personality. Of course, many of those who prefer less stimulation over more can be outgoing when it is called for.
As an intravert, I like to being with people until when the politics of domination come into play. It is a mood killer and inhibits all creativity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI seem to recall from my reading of Jung that the terms "extrovert" and "introvert" were originally biological and defined the basic difference between those species that breed by producing many offspring with a high mortality rate (abandoning them to fate) and those that produce fewer but nurture them carefully.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat difference (outward and inward) led through stages to how we use those words to describe aspects of personality. How did we get there? I guess it's because we could have described as extrovert men who attempt to impregnate as many woman as possible and introvert as men who hang around to nurture their fewer children.
If you are up on the neuroscience reading you can spot the huge hole in such thinking.
Take an "introvert" and dump him without competition in the middle of a bunch of fecund females and see just how introverted he'll be then.
Or take an "extrovert" and make him compete against bigger, stronger men for a limited number of females and see just how extroverted he remains.
I think the time has come to abandon the "extrovert-introvert" concept. It's very old-school and describes nothing more than a state of behavior at any particular point in time based on environmental factors effecting the particular individual at that time.
As for building upon it as a base concept in psychology by making it a game of extrovert vs introvert - well all i can say is gee, when are psychologists going to catch up on their reading?
pop (introvert, but girls, i'm happy to turn extrovert)
Let me first say, that I am still up in the air when it comes to introversion and extroversion, because I have yet to find a clear set of definitions, or even ones which are not so situational as to be moot. I believe that if there exists such a thing as introversion, It may be just as valuable as the thing known as extroversion, although I tend to think the optimal (and plausible) situation would be to have a thorough mix of the traits associated with both, with as many positive ones as possible.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOk, back to the article (and the anger)
This isn't science, or research. It's a thinly veiled attempt to manipulate large amounts of people into buying a book I assume is as fallacious as her appeal to emotion/spite laden advertisement.
Further, I know social-cult power plays when I see them:
Create in-group, polarize them from out-group using othering, impassion in-group using victimization, argue using vague or skewed facts, co-opting the validity of semi-similar arguments and if all else fails, imply your opponent sympathizes with the out-group.
agreed
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisp
Does this mean we shouldn't drug the introverts to death to make them 'normal'?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThat would be a vastly different article than the one published here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere's an excellent point to take away about work styles and how working in "teams" is not always the best way of drawing out peoples' talents and ideas. Society as a whole suffers, not some oppressed group, when we deny or dismiss peoples' contributions because of factors that may be irrelevant to the job at hand.
And if extroversion is relevant, by all means, use that criteria! I don't see anybody trying to say extraoverts are meanies or that we all have to become introverts.
Interesting idea.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo how does this relate to stimulation mentioned in the Q&A? The way I understand introversion is a high sensitivity to stimulation. So if you dropped a male into a group of fecund females, without competition, wouldn't this not agitate his stimulation?
I agree with the psychologists that introversion is positively correlated with creativity. Artists usually work alone. Have you ever heard of an art masterpiece done of a group of artists?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCreating arts, music, plays, novels, poetry, theoretical physics, inventions and mathematics require creativity as well as solitude. Some of the greatest people in these trade were introverts. Newton would lock himself in a room for days when doing research. Edison practically lived in his laboratory. Einstein's ideal job was to be lighthouse keeper so he could do research alone.
I think it's not that introverts are more creative than extroverts. But creative work requires solitude and extroverts get bored so they don't engage in creative works.
As an expert in both shyness and introversion (expert in the sense that I have both!) I find myself agreeing enthusiastically with Ms. Cain. Obviously, that alone doesn't ensure that either of us is right. The social "sciences" are a minefield of belief supported by scant data.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm a lot more certain about the social value of the introvert, who has a lot to contribute to mankind and who, at least in the perceptions fostered by the media, might as well not exist.
The herd needs to understand that it needs its black sheep, possibly more than it needs its conforming members.
After all, it's the mistake of looking only at the herd (worrying only about the social dynamics of mankind) that got us into the environmental problems we're facing now. A broader perspective is useful if you want to avoid falling off a cliff...
Ms. Cain's assertions about creativity and group brainstorming are ill-informed and erroneous. She cites only a small sliver of the research - the bits that support her point - and quotes them out of context in ways that are misleading. Several experts have written posts to their own blogs pointing out why she's wrong. Unfortunately, this site won't allow me to posts links to them. If you search "susan robertson effective brainstorming works", you will find links to all of them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMuch of the research that Cain cites can be taken in more ways than one. Take an example from this interview. Cain states: "Gregory Berns found that people who dissent from group wisdom show heightened activation in the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the sting of social rejection. Berns calls this the 'pain of independence.'"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVery well. Suppose this is so. Is there any reason to assume that this "pain of independence" occurs only in group situations? Isn't there some pain involved in dissent and disagreement, whether or not others are physically present? And isn't there also a rush or deeper sense of reward? Might not the rush and reward override the pain in some situations?
And don't tell me that the introverts feel pain and the extroverts feel reward when disagreeing. It's much more complex than that. Much has to do with the situation at hand.
It seems we should be appropriate vertebrates. Some reference to courage is perhaps good. There seems to be times when one should communicate (verbally or otherwise) and times when one should refrain or focus on something else. What we should be encouraging in people is not to hold things in when people are seriously endangered (of course there is some matter of interpretation there). One should not express opinions that seriously endanger those who do not endanger others. IMO
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe you're shy and not introverted?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisintroversion is part of an individualized genetic structure configured from both sides of one's family. thus the question one could ask is, "is it any of my business what others think of me"? "NO" So i choose to be me" and not what others want me to be. Beautifully written! thank you for standing up for us.☺☺☺
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWas it only yesterday that I read and commented a piece on the virtue of crowdsourcing? Yes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCrowdsourcing is not the same as group brainstorming sessions: the essence of crowdsourcing is to put the wisdom of a crowd on a lab bench to be noticed and worked on in collaborative ways by individuals...seemingly, a happy medium between the singular states of extroversion and introversion.
I agree with Susan Cain that group work can be toxic for a potential genius introvert, and her point that at least 50% of people are introverted in various degrees or "acting" extroverts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow much potential brilliance could be unleashed by a solitary army of intelligent creative introverts I can only guess.
Where is the science in this article, and what are the author's scientific credentials? Why would Scientific American publish this blatant book promotion? This article might be fine in Oprah, but not in Scientific American.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAlejandro, introversion is a characteristic like having red hair or brown eyes. People who are introverted are born that way and cannot change it. They can modify their behavior to appear more extroverted, in essence faking it, as the article discusses. I have not read this book (but plan to), so maybe its covered within it, but in another fabulous book on introversion called "Introvert Power" by Laurie Helgoe, she discusses how the brain chemistry is different between introverts and extroverts. As mentioned in the above article, this is exhibited by how introverts require less stimulation (because they are naturally over stimulated), whereas extroverts require more stimulation (because they are naturally under stimulated). Other cultures, such as in Japan and even certain regions in the US, like in Minnesota, value introversion a bit more than the overall US culture. As an introvert myself, I am perfectly capable of interacting with other people, public speaking, I've even had people argue with me that I'm introverted, but ultimately, I LOVE having quiet, alone time. My batteries are recharged by it. Parties drain me, not because I hate people, but because I hate meaningless conversations and overly chaotic settings. I can fake it. But should I have to all the time?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisjonhuie, you judge too quickly. There's lots of science in her book. Take this, from page 29, where she goes into genetics:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Of course, the Extrovert Ideal is not a modern invention. Extroversion is in our DNA--literally, according to some psychologists. The trait has been found to be less prevalent in Asia and Africa than in Europe and America, whose populations descend largely from the migrants of the world. It makes sense, say the researchers, that the world travelers were more extroverted than the ones who stayed home--and that they passed on their traits to their children and their children's children. 'As personality traits are genetically transmitted,' writes the psychologist Kenneth Olson, 'each succeeding wave of emigrants to a new continent would give rise over time to a population of more engaged individuals than reside in the emigrants' continent of origin.'"
Was Copernicus extro or intro? Madame Curie? Can any person spend hour after hour over a micro or telescope be an extro?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAccording to Cain, we got much of our admiration of the extrovert from the Greeks, Romans, and Founding Fathers:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"We can also trace our admiration of extroverts to the Greeks, for whom oratory was an exalted skill, and to the Romans, for whom the worst possible punishment was banishment from the city, with its teeming social life. Similarly, we revere our founding fathers precisely because they were loudmouths on the subject of freedom: Give me liberty or give me death!"
Nice analysis. I think the problem is that people think of "outgoing" as being focused on people outside of themselves and "introverted" as being self-focused and not as interested in others. It seems obvious now that this is not the case. I think that anyone can easily think of an outgoing person who is very self centered and, with some thought, can think of an introverted on who thinks mostly about others. Seems like we still have a lot to learn about this aspect of our personalities.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am looking forward to reading the book.
So you should again go through the portion where she clearly mentioned that -being an introvert is different from being shy ,shyness shows the fear of confronting negative comments- which surely is a result of their low self esteem . Definitely shyness should be erased from a kid and -being an introvert myself I can firmly say that, this shyness owes it origin to the general belief in the society that being an introvert is bad,and introverts do not acquire success in their lives .A kid who is exposed to these kind of prejudiced views will slowly start doubting his own instincts ,his own behavior and his own views and eventually this leads to shyness to openly say anything or do anything .The only cure to this to accept a kid with his uniqueness and this will give him confidence to present himself before others
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI meant to finish that last comment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn reply to your query, Anthony M., maybe the French and the Poles are more introverted historically than the Greeks, Romans, and Founding Fathers.
So: Copernicus--introvert. Curie--introvert.
The French and Polish languages have lots of soft consonants, which suggest a dislike of confrontation, I would think. I haven't seen any research to that effect, but it kind of makes sense, doesn't it?
I don't know if shyness and introversion are two different things, but shy people inevitably become introvert.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs an introvert, everything she has said in the article is quite true. My idea of Hell is a cocktail party. Introverts need to be alone to recharge their batteries, and extroverts need the company of others to recharge theirs. I didn't see her saying one was better than the other, it is just how our society is put together. In Japan, introverts are highly prized. In the U.S. extroverts are seen as healthy, while introverts are sometimes seen as strange loners. I think most introverts will find this book helpful. Maybe if you are an extrovert it just won't make any sense because you don't experience the world the way an introvert does. Most of my life I tried to conform to become extroverted. It was only as I grew older that I realized how important it is to understand and accept who you are, the way you see the world, and the best way for you to live in the world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI suspect what Susan Cain may be saying is that introversion, the preference for working alone, is a measureable psychological dimension, that at one extreme end, lands square in the middle of the autistic spectrum. Individuals with strong autistic tendencies have sticky attention, and stay focused on something for prolonged periods of time. Such individuals avoid crowds, and prefer isolation. Social interaction is difficult. Of course, all autistic tendencies are not binary (i.e. all or none). Rather, there are differing degrees.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSusan also provides another data point along this idea. Individuals with autism are frequently highly sensitive to sights, sounds, touch, etc, etc. So, when Susan writes, "Introverts even salivate more than extroverts do if you place a drop of lemon juice on their tongues!", and "Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments", she is further acknowledging this connection with autism even if she doesn't realize it.
I am not saying that introversion = autism. What I am saying is that I'll bet the farm that those with stronger degrees of introversion will score higher in quasi-autistic tendencies than, say, extroverts.
Excellent & thoughtful comments, sruthyshree! Most definitely they are not the same quality. I think that's the part people aren't getting, because shyness=weakness in our society & because people still see the introvert as the negative opposite of the extrovert, as if good/bad or normal/abnormal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese negative attitudes that introverts consistently hear as children only worsen an already shy kid or even create a shy kid w/ low self-esteem where there wasn't really one.
I'm guessing you're an extrovert?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAre you suggesting that introverts lack courage? Is it your mis-perception that because we're quiet & solitary, then we must be self-absorbed, spineless(inappropriate vertebrates), and selectively mute so as to allow others to be "seriously endangered"?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNext time read the article or STFU.
I found this article/interview to be a little troubling. My main issue is with the distinction between shyness and being an introvert. I understand the definitions given, but toward the end of the interview Cain remarks that a common attribute for introverts is stage fright and disliking confrontations, which sound like attributes that a shy person would feature. Introverts suffering from stage fright doesn't even make sense as there is nothing being overly stimulated, unless it is the overwhelming fear of negative judgment from your audience. But that was already established to be a symptom of shyness, not introvertedness. Is it possible that at least some so-called introverts want to dismiss that they might be shy, which has a negative connotation, while falling into a sort of complacency that convinces themselves that they are completely comfortable being introverted, when in fact, they are just shy?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMany years ago, I read an article in some popular magazine about introverts v. extroverts. The expert quoted in the article said something like, imagine you have been at a large party, for example a cocktail party where you mingle and talk to many people. When you arrive home, do you feel energized and ready to party the rest of the night, or do you feel mentally and physically exhausted and need 24 hours or more of peace, quiet, and solitude? That was so familiar to me.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYears later my psychologist confirmed my conclusion and actually said I was one of the most introverted people she had seen. I embrace my introversion and decline invitations when I just don't feel like putting on my "chatty face" and spending time with people. My close friends know this about me and understand. And I no longer worry "what's wrong with me?" as I did for many years.
One of my grown sons is also a strongly introverted person. I used to discuss it with his teachers each year and try to stress to them that group work was very overwhelming and very often unproductive and frustrating for him. Some would make allowances on certain assignments and let him choose to work alone. That was when he did his best work.
My mother is also a very introverted person, so I am curious about the genetic tendencies of this trait.
I am looking forward to reading Cain's entire book to see what she has to say.
My experience as an introvert demonstrates that shyness and introversion are not the same. I am not shy; I am not afraid of public speaking (I have been a member of organizations where I often spoke to large groups of "strangers"). I can mix and mingle whenever needed, but it wears me out mentally, emotionally, and physically, so I often avoid it for that reason. I don't know if I am unusual, but I suspect not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the third page, Cain says that stage fright disproportionally affects introverts, not that all introverts have stage fright. I just thought this kind of muddled up the defined differences that Cain had already established. I don't doubt that there are lots of people like yourself who are introverted without being shy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"One of the most poignant moments was when an evangelical pastor I met at Saddleback confided his shame that “God is not pleased” with him because he likes spending time alone."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSeveral years ago I was told by the pastor of a megachurch that if I do not enjoy being outgoing and gregarious to other people including total strangers in order to win them to Christ, I should find another church.
I did better than that, I converted to Buddhism.
Man is extroverted or introverted it depend on his nature.Both kind of man are useful to society.Don't compare with each other or called this great and other is low quality.How man developed this or that gift we are ignorant.Let us welcome both gift are boon of nature to us.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is a reply to Alejandro77. You say, "Introverted children should be educated to improve their selfsteam and their emotional intelligence." That assumes that they have low self esteem and low emotional intelligence. I have not found this to be the case. Are you sure that the problem is with the introverted children and not with the standards you are using to evaluate them? Perhaps there is an extrovert bias in your outlook on them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDenigrating the self promotion of others as a way of promoting yourself is ugly and sleazy.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIntroverts do better than extroverts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIntroverts do better than extroverts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIntroverts do better than extroverts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am an introvert, but I have gone through stages of my life from been a total introvert, to at times been the life of the party, back to been a total introvert to the point my wife considers me an “unsociable bast.. d”.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhen I was a kid in school I was the nerdy introvert who spent time reading and studying. But I was never shy, and one of my pleasures has always been to meet new people.
By the time I was in my twenties and married for the first time I was I moving in groups and at times was the life of the party, I was in the car group, the CB group and other groups I was involved with, such as starting one of the first computer groups here in Queensland, back in the old Z80 days, I was president of a number of organisations that I was involved with. I was Vice President of a Toastmasters club and gave speeches and competed regularly. I continued to do these things right up until about 15 years ago when my introvert side started to take hold once again.
I do try to get out of events as often as I can, But when I can’t get out of situations such as her Xmas parties I do enjoy myself, it is just that I would much prefer to spend my time alone either reading or watching something educational on television. Or much preferably to ride motorbike where I can be totally on my own to my own thoughts, and I get the chance to contemplate all the things I have learnt and philosophy about.
I actually look forward to her going out and taking our grandson with her for the day if I am not going for a ride. But one of the joys I get out of going for rides is exploring new places and meeting new people. So I am definitely not shy as suggested by some. But I do hate shopping centres, or even the thought of having to go shopping for a present for my wife.
As Timeflyer said I too need to be alone to recharge my batteries. I look forward to reading the book as well. About 25 years ago a friend gave me some very good advice, “ it is none of my business what someone else thinks of me”, and since receiving that advice I think maybe I have started to change how I look at myself and I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks about me.
I did a business course some years ago and we had to sit down in teams and come up with brainstorm ideas for business concepts, there ended up been a number of teams each consisting of about 7 or 8 members, plus one Me. In the end I found I couldn’t work in a team brainstorming even though I had worked professionally in teams successfully a number of times before, but not brainstorming, I just couldn’t do it.
Fascinating article however I would have to question if really we are divided as such that there are merely introverts and extroverts. Perhaps there is a middle ground. To me, it makes sense to envision the two more as qualities we embody to a certain degree rather than one or the other. I would consider myself 60-70% introvert, but definitely 30-40% extroverted. Yes, that would make me predominately introvert, but seeing it black and white it too simplified. You wouldn't call a guy who is 1/4 or 1/8 black "black", maybe I'm just being nit-picky.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI also wonder what affects our society has had on us that actually--counter to her idea on the matter--forces us to be introvert whereas we might have been more extrovert had certain external factors not been present (abuse, etc)? We have things that are actually disconnecting us from the world (video games, stress, etc). For the most part, this article is right on. I just have a few lingering questions.
The classroom is an excelent place for the teachers to assign tasks to estimulate introverts and extroverts to help each other in group works cooperatively. Of course this is not the only one aspect that should be considered in the complex activity of developmental teaching and learning in a societal perspective.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut does this not beg the question? Why should introverts rather than the extroverts adjust? "Self-esteem" has generally little to do with being introverted, but a poor self valuation of oneself as part of society can be the result of the extroverts in society valuing extroverts at the expense of introverts. Prisons and penitentiaries are filled with inmates of the highest "self-esteem".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy do people always try to put a price tag on a quality and why does a person has to have a quality in every aspect? One might need more stimulation in certain aspects and another in others. If I'm introvert in a certain aspect, I just can't benefit from others and I want them to be out of the game. This has nothing to do with self-estimation, this is pure egoism. Egoism is another quality people tend to put a price tag on. But egoism can be the best choice, since nobody would benefit of participation. People tend to be extrovert when they need stimulation of others, be it "estimation" or information. Now you may ask yourself, who's the person with the lack of self-estimation. The one who's autonomous or the one who seeks for estimation? And by the way, if somebody claims, that this article is not on scientific bases, than I'm asking this person, what is science all about? Is it only about sending rockets to Mars or is it about to find and establish essential knowledge? And when it comes to social and psychological knowledge we have to make up a huge leeway.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou've heard the old line which is apropos here:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"A Camel is a Mouse designed by a committee."
I've always hated going to parties -
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut a SEX ORGY - well that's another matter.....
There you go, stimulation needs are individual.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am in complete agreement. This sort of absurd, manufactured dichotomy between so-called personality types is no more than an attempt to market old-school psychology. Jung was no more a scientist than any astrologer ever was. Does this article belong in Scientific American?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe traits of introversion and shyness do not 'overlap'. They are statistically independent. Shyness occurs when you have some introverted character and some tendency towards higher than average anxiety. Introverted neurotic, in Eysenck's terms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere aren't any shy extroverts, because in them anxiety takes a different slant: tendency towards acting out, a trouble-maker.
Introversion-extroversion is a genetic trait which is normally distributed: introverts at one end, extroverts at the other. Most people are neither clearly introverted or extroverted. And it is not a choice or a preference - it is the way the brain is programmed and is unchangeable (although people tend to get slightly more extroverted as they get older, which is not at present understood).
William F. Wallace, Ph.D.
I do not believe introverted, or left-handed children for that matter, should be 'educated' to improve and be like what society approves;it might be counterproductive as to creativity and the realization of self;the extreme of extraversion brings to mind Donald Trump! I know men and women who are introverts and 'selfsteamed'(have self-esteem?)and emotionally intelligent as well.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnother thing: one comment refers to using drugs to make introverts 'normal'. Since overstimulation is the danger for introverts, sedatives, particularly alcohol, is often their drug of choice. For extroverts it's uppers because their danger is understimulation. One guy I knew took uppers and downers and sidewaysers (LSD, pot) and said that he had never been at the place he wanted to be. I have no idea what he is other than nuts.
I am extremely introverted (99%ile) but not a bit shy. I can give a speech to a big group but just taking a Ferris wheel ride overstimulates me. Not fear, overstimulation.
There are shy Extroverts. Extroverts tend to act. As soon as you ask them personal questions, they just hide away. People are most often too much impressed on acting. Acting does not prove that you are not shy, it only tries to convince people that you have everything under control.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou could be right, but shyness is not necessarily the cause of failure to disclose private information. Shyness is a fear. Of course some people act in an extroverted way, perhaps in imitation of the more popular extroverts.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't know where this fits in, but many people are afraid of being 'discovered'. This even happens to very successful people and they are afraid someone will find out that that are a phony. Whether this is shyness is debatable.
Hi, Your comment is very on point, but I think you may be missing a part of the picture. Emotional intelligence is an important part of the equation, however it is extroverts, I think, who could use the education. Business societies and other professions may look to extroverts for leadership. But extroverts are probably more drawn to other extroverts. Education about their introverted brethren could probably teach them, and society at large, a thing or two.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI beg to differ on introversion with the expert Cain. An introvert person prefers minimum stimulation from the self to the environment, while she says that he/she prefers minimal stimulation from the environment.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI completely agree. I couldn't quite place why I bob in and out of certain friend groups and I think that might be it
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI recognized I was different from my friends when I was 10. I thought they just didn't like their own company and couldn't stand a quiet study of the beauty around them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this6 decades later and not much has changed. In College, one of my Clinical Psych profs told me that I was too much in my own head. He wasn't happy when I asked if he were jealous. He seemed unhappy and unsettled as he tried to be the most liked member of the department.
I think we all try to find the place where we find our own respect, friends, and our personal nourishment. Running about and being noisy is not for me. For those who are sustained that way, I am happy for you. I still prefer to share five minutes with a friend than to spend 5 hours chasing what seems elusive even to those who run.
In the meantime, I explore ideas, views, and concepts as I taste flavors, smell aromas, and see beauty unfold before me. I cherish my friends and my time with them as I enjoy their vibrant energy. Sometimes I envy their happy vitality, but I hear comments from them that they have some appreciation of how I live.
Being an introvert does not mean being incompetent, shy, or even reticent. I recognize I need not go far to enjoy being alive or make noise to realize I am alive. Whatever is over there is not so different from what is here, but I am a contemplative person. Many, if not most, find my way of life not for them. Of course.
2,500 years ago another and far wiser person than I said that we must work out our salvation with difficulty. In mild contradiction, I say it doesn’t have to be so hard; be you extrovert, introvert, or ??vert, enjoy your life and promote the lives of all you meet.
Interesting comments. Some dismissing the concepts involved, some agressively hostile to the argument. My observations of humanity sugest that introversion and extroversion are merely regions of a continuum, much as homosexuality and heterosexuality are. I've seen many waste time trying to "fix" people who don't act as if they occupy the approved region of a psychological continuum, and much damage done in the process. Introverts and extroverts are not hostile groups, not antithetical, not unable or unwilling to interact or work together cooperatively. They do have different operating modes and preferences, and for any individual, optimal is uinique to that individual, not to some group aproved standard. For the record, I detest group projects and group work, even when i have nothing but love respect and admiration for the individuals that form the groups. Group work is simply frustrating and suboptimal, time is wasted, and results never exceed a least common denominator outcome.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf we admit like Margaret Boden, a philosopher of science, that true creativity really challenges current social beliefs. Such creativity demands that its actors be relatively free from social influences. Introverts in that respect are in a better position than extroverts who, by and large want to be "popular," and will at most be "anti conformists," which in a sense still makes reference to the current culture.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIntroverts care much less about what people will think about them. This gives them more freedom to be creative.
Among people who don't care much about what people will think of them, one must seriously consider some autistic people which sometimes prove to be very creative. I know, I have one at home, my own son, and through my parent societies activities, I have met a rather large number of them.
Their creativity fits very well that given by Margaret Boden for "Hard creativity"
Hard Creativity
[is when] “the world has turned out differently not just from the way we thought it would, but even from the way we thought it could”
M. A. Boden, "The Creative Mind, Myths and Mechanisms", Basic Book, 1992
Actually even those who don't contribute directly via genius creative feats, often present tough challenges which are so different from usual challenges to the society at large, that they constrain society members to find solutions to problems that no one had ever imagined before.
I've been working over the past 20 years on trying to understand some of this exceptional creativity shown by a few people on the autistic spectrum.
My latest published paper was at Autism Europe 2007 Oslo international congress:
"Autism and creativity, A Different view of Autism
Competences and Potentials alongside Disabilities"
Available here :
http://trehinp.dyndns.org/prehistautistic/a_different_view_of_autism.htm
In this paper I develop the idea that many aspects of autism that are often only seen in a negative way can be viewed as much more positive, especially if nurtured.
Quite a few examples of such exceptional talents can be seen on the Wisconsin University website:
http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/savant_profiles
Among which my son whom really started me on that research path.
Paul Trehin
France
Reply to rambansal:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThink of the introvert's brain as idling high compared to extroverts. Then assume an optimal level that is above the idle speed of both. Introverts need less to get to that level as their brains are already fairly stimulated. When an introvert drinks alcohol it reduces brain speed thus making the introvert seek more stimulation from outside and thus more like an extrovert.
This a gift or nature or childhood experiences man make up himself Introverts or extroverts. Both are useful to society.We must not compare both of them,not one is great and other is small. Most leaders come from extroverts and most scientists philosopher writers came from introverts.After all this differences we must take superficiality.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a purely anecdotal observation it seems to me that an individual can be introverted (descriptive, not a personality trait) or extroverted at different times in his/her life, in different situations or environments. The author does not really address this idea but perhaps has found that individuals are inherently or fundamentally one or the other. It still seems more a behavior than a trait. One can make him/herself appear more extroverted at will while at the core is introverted? In the end, are we all not both?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHow does this impact the common and expanding practice of using Cube Farms to house workers who are involved in creative work. These workers are exposed to continuous external stimulation. For the introverts this has to be extremely distracting.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAt last, some sense! I have to put up with bolshy, narcissistic, artistically challenged, knuckle-headed, preening extroverts every day. No creativity, no foresight, no attention to detail, everything's a breeze (because I'm achieving their goals for them) and who gives a flying fig about learning from your mistakes? (even when reminded of them).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese people are a scourge on society. If introverts were put in charge of governments and business we would be 50 years ahead in a decade.
Oh! Did that sound like an extrovert rant?
If you think that extroverts are more unreliable, shallow, flighty, unable to concentrate for long, make poorer students, are in general less serious people who prefer to have a lot of friends whose friendship goes no deeper than the person who added you as a friend on Facebook but wants no real contact with you, then you are quite correct!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll above statements are to be construed as ON THE AVERAGE!
I think this article's perspective on group work supports the online learning environment, in that introverts can take part in group work from the solitude of their own computers--teachers in many online classes assign students to groups to "discuss" topics or solve problems. Whole class discussions would also follow the same idea because a response (not real time, but in forums) would again be made from the solitude/privacy of a student's desk (or couch or favorite tree!).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a younger student, i grew up before group work was known. I grad school, it took some getting used to. I still don't care for it personally. As a teacher, I am pressured to use group work, and so try to give credence to those who prefer to work alone.
Yep Foozler8. Between us, I think we've just about summed them up (on average!)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't think this necessarily means that being one or the other is “better” or that we, as a society, even place more value on one than the next. It's the fact that we value certain qualities like aggression, tenacity and so forth for certain functions. To clarify, I don’t equate aggression and hostility as one and the same. I mean it in the way a salesman would try and coax someone into buying a product. While introverts can be just as tenacious their counterparts, I wouldn’t be surprised if aggression was disproportionate between the two. Maybe that’s too wide of an assumption.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn any case, I think one group would be readily equipped to perform certain functions better than the next, which is neutral at worst. Alternatively, the second group would be able to perform/excel at other things better so than the first. I’m a PR graduate. I hate public speaking, so I write. I’m not only better at this, but I enjoy it. That’s what it all comes down to.
I found this article so fascinating as a life long extrovert! It goes a long way toward my understanding of my by greatest fear of aging, not sickness or even death but of isolation. Thank you for giving me more insight into my fear!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think this book may help a lot of people who thought they were different but not in a good way. Personality and intelligence scales can help a person find the right college major, job, or book or even mate. Introversion/extroversion should be considered in medicine doses but physicians are a very conservative crew and they don't seem to like much that they don't discover themselves.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOpposites can attract. As an extreme introvert I am somehow attracted to extroverts but living with one would drive me nuts! Lust and love cannot overcome basic personality traits in the long run.
I'm surprised to see an article about introversion (and extroversion) without reference to the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and that way of conceptualizing introversion/extroversion. Oversimplified, I understand introversion from an MBTI perspective to mean a person is more gratified and energized by internal stimulation (internal life, can include external stimulation that stimulates internal reflection). External stimulation (social activities) can be enjoyable but tends to be depleting. Extraversion refers to being gratified and energized more by external, including social, stimulation. Being alone would be more depleting. MBTI ideas seem widely used in industry and effective for understanding how people fit/work and don't fit/don't work well together. Surprised it's not even referenced.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting research. But I would question the statement "Introverts prefer quiet, minimally stimulating environments". To an introvert, the lack of *negative* stimulation comprises *positive* stimulation. I don't think the concept of stimulation can be made sense of unless we operate with both a positive and a negative form.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust my two cents.
Alejandro -- introverts are not necessarily "Shy" and therefore don't need re-educating -- read the article again please.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNo es "introvertido".
"old-school" means traditional, thorough, quality, time proven. It does not mean old fashioned or out moded.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is strong experimental support for the "Five Factor Model" of personality: openness, conscientiousness, _extraversion_, agreeableness, and neuroticism. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits for details. It's strange that some people, using their own intuition, doubt that any of these are meaningful, or dismiss them as merely the products of Jung's intuition.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDans le trésor une poésie.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisComme un
diamant qui
brille dans
l'intensité d'une
âme silencieuse
je l'écoute le
sourire et le
chant du matin.
Francesco Sinibaldi
i am an introvert who tried to be more gregarios when i was young and it only made me miserable or at least uncomfortable. i have always preferred small gatherings (preferably 1 or 2 people and myself) and hate noisy gatherings. i absolutely hate going to a club where you can not hear yourself speak. i think that introverts tend to be more introspective and that is an asset to the creative mind. {yes i noticed i wrote all i statements} christina knight
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi forgot to add that i always hated to be assigned group projects in school because i found it extremely limiting (and there is an inevitable inequity in individual contribution to the collective effort, which is unfair). i have always performed better on my own. christina knight
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanks so much for the expansion here. I recently read the piece at the Good Men Project, http://ht.ly/9uw80 and while intrigued then, this closer look has further encouraged me to investigate deeper and read the book. Thanks so much Ms. Cain.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActually introversion is a personality characteristic. And if your introverted you should embrace it. I'm introverted and there is nothing wrong with my confidence level. I don't have high self esteem, but I certainly don't have low self esteem. And I actually found the use of "them" highly offensive. But, I'm sure you didn't intend it to be...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAh,That's some scintillating piece of information.I,probably,used to understate the word "introvert" and I,definitely,had this blithe disregard about the introverts!Thanks,Keep up the good work:)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDoes the book misspell 'extravert' too? (I'm not just being a snooty Brit; at least Americans can spell 'fetus' properly!)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe main thing I see here is talking in categories rather than the spectrum, as we too often do. "According to the latest research, one third to one half of us are introverts." It took "latest research" to figure this out? Of course, half are on one side of average and half on the other side, or, one third are 'normal' and one third on either side, making the statement true, but meaningless.
This division is a case of "positive feedback". To the degree you start out early as slightly introvert, you fail to develop community building skills, so you learn to think for yourself, or "think outside the box", therefore think differently from others, therefore miss out on more of those skills. Like a basketball landing on the edge of the basket, who can say whether it will go in or out?
Is there any correlation between childhood conditions and this dichotomy? I started out on an isolated farm, then we moved to a suburb, then back to two different farms. I think I missed out on some community building skills, but gained in "thinking outside the box". Members of a viable community must be similar enough to communicate well, but each different enough to have something new to say. I tend to be on the latter side.
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people [often the perception about introverts] try to adapt the world to themselves. All progress is therefore brought about by unreasonable people."
- George Bernard Shaw
Having read some of this article, I must disagree with the author's contention. I spent 43 years working in Bell Telephone Laboratories which operated under the premise that interactions among technical people was primary to it's successful operations. Very few really prolific innovators, inventors or creators can operate as independent "introverted" entities, Claude Shannon was one of the few.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a holder of 12 patents, including one with William Schockley, co-inventor of the transistor, interactions were and are very important. Until the "government" decided that it knew more about the business of science than the Labs, it was one,if not the most, inventive organizations in the world populated mostly by extroverts with introverts thrown in for "seasoning".
Mervin Kelly was instrumental in establishing the "open door" policy which dictated that even the humblest technician could converse with the most eminent scientists about technical issues. And, this was practiced daily by many of my coworkers.
I know this as fact because I started my Bell Labs career as a lowly junior draftsman and retired as a technical manager with a reporting group of 23 people. This establishment did not inhibit personal development, as a matter of fact, it encouraged people to be the best possible and provided the means to attain their goals.
So ultimately, it mattered not whether one was an introvert or extrovert but whether the environment was nurturing, supportive and conducive to creativity.
Yes, I'm sure that there's some book spruiking going on with this article, but that's hardly a surprising revelation.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCain's book is filled with extrapolations based on mri scans, etc. Is this science? Well, no, not in any real sense, but it doesn't make it any less interesting.
Is Cain creating a market through exclusionary tactics? Possibly. However, if you want to cast her book in a pejorative light, then a better accusation would that she is exploiting an already existing personality type. I knew well in advance of reading any explanation of introversion that my personality type fit the bill -- no question. And while some pedants may complain that Cain's book is not science, Cain does offer genuine insight into the mind of the introvert. I find it quite cathartic, as prior to this I felt like an outcast with nothing to offer society. Now I know that I'm not totally weird (well, maybe I am just a little bit).
I agree completely with Susan Cain- most of the people who do serious brainwork, whether scientific, philosophic, or artistic are introverts. I notice that many of the people writing comments still don't understand what an introvert is and recommend remedial teaching to make them less introverted. My experience, and that of my equally introverted son, who is currently in school working on both MD and PhD degrees, is that putting people in groups to work on projects, ends up with all the work being done by a small number of people while the others are hanging on their coattails.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am an introvert and I come from and entire family of introverts- we like to spent most of our social time with family. I need a daily dose of solitude, but I am a physician and work with people every day, can speak to any size group without the slightest elevation in my epihephrine levels, took up the violin at age 35 and become a published novelist at age 50. I have never been shy and am happy to express my opinion (even if I disagree with the person to whom I am talking!). In the course of my writing I have done considerable research on the Regency Era in England and am a speaker at writing conferences on the history of medicine. None of the original or creative things that I do can happen in a noisy or crowded environment. I am fortunate to be married to someone who, although he is much more of an extrovert than I am, is also independent and understands my need for "alone time."
The world needs both introverts and extroverts, and neither type of person should be considered inferior.
Does it really matter...there are different types of people and it's not just ok, it's normal.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNot everybody wants to bowl. sky-dive, or cook and it's not a problem.
Introvert or extrovert really is a matter of what someone enjoys.
Nothing to do with one being better, everybody's different.
Sorry people intro and extro are simply genetic. No pseudoscience can prove it, only an examination of evolution. Which this has already been done.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI like your comment, also, I think it would be easy to explain down to the neurochemical/molecular level the switch of intro to extro and vice versa.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI also think that a very firm grasp of Quantum Physics (I assume and most likely rightly so that neuro biologists have an incredible grasp of bio chemistry) would help Neuro Scientists come up with more discoveries and what not.