What are introverts and extroverts?

Introduction

Traditionally, Western philosophy has conceived of two main ways of fulfilling human potential: vita activa and vita contemplativa. Vita activa represented one’s being through action, while vita contemplativa represented solitary reflection. The term “introversion” first appeared in the seventeenth century in a purely descriptive sense of turning one’s thoughts inward in spiritual contemplation.

Theoretical conceptualizations of extroversion and introversion have gradually and consistently evolved since the 1920s. Today, they are found in nearly every widely used personality inventory. Extroverts are often described by such adjectives as adventurous, assertive, sociable, and talkative. Introverts are often described as being quiet, reserved, and unsociable. Although the constructs of extroversion and introversion are intangible and thus difficult to determine, many personality inventories have been developed to attempt to do so. Most individuals could be located at some point on a broad continuum rather than labeled as clearly an extrovert or an introvert.

Personality Theories

The concepts of introversion and extroversion in their modern psychological sense were introduced by Carl Jung
in 1910 and were possibly the best-known parts of his system. Jung viewed extroversion-introversion as a bipolar personality dimension along which people can be divided into types, characterized by outward-directedness on one extreme and inward-directedness on the other extreme. Jung did not view introversion and extroversion specifically as personality traits, but rather as different attitudes or orientations. Jung believed that attitudes of extroversion and introversion determine much of people’s perception and reaction to the surrounding world.

Extroversion for Jung was the preference for active interaction with others and the environment. Introversion for Jung was characterized by the habitual attitude that preferred introspection and solitary activity. According to Jung, introversion was an orientation inward toward the self.

An important way in which Jung differed from Sigmund Freud was in his conception of the nature of libido. Rather than viewing it exclusively as sexual energy, Jung perceived it as a broad and undifferentiated life energy. In a narrower perspective, libido became the fuel that energized the psyche or personality. It is through this psychic energy that the important psychological activities of perceiving, thinking, and feeling are carried out. As such, the libido could be directed externally toward the outside world (extroversion) or internally toward the self (introversion). Although everyone has the capacity for either attitude, one of them becomes dominant for each individual. At the same time, the nondominant attitude exists and also has the capability of influencing one’s behavior. According to Jung, a person is not exclusively extrovert or introvert.

Jung’s proposal of extroversion and introversion as two personality types emerged as a single dimension in the analyses of personality as provided by Hans Eysenck
in 1947. Eysenck, a German-born British psychologist, is credited with popularizing the terms “introvert” and “extrovert.” Eysenck established two dominant factors as being important dimensions of personality, the introversion-extroversion dimension and the neuroticism-stability dimension.

Factor analysis, widely accepted since the 1980s, identified five fundamental dimensions of human personality known as the “Big Five”: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience or intellect. Extensive interest is focused on this five-factor model of personality. Paul Costa and Robert R. McCrae emphasize the Big Five personality theory in their NEO Personality Inventory, which is an extension of their earlier three-factor model (neuroticism, extroversion, and openness).

Practical Applications

An important issue in life-span development is the stability-change issue, which addresses whether an individual can develop into a different personality type or whether there is a tendency for people to remain older renditions of their earlier years. Costa and McCrae concluded that there is considerable stability in the five personality factors, one of which is extroversion.

Some additional areas of research give interesting practical applications of the extroversion-introversion dimension. First is the question of the heritability of the extroversion-introversion variable. Eysenck believed that individual differences in extroversion-introversion were based in biology, although he had little evidence to support this. Since that time, however, a great deal of research has appeared to support his view for the genetic source of introversion/extroversion. A second question is the potential difference between introverts and extroverts in their preference for arousal. Researchers have found that introverted individuals could be characterized as operating at a near-optimal arousal level and are more sensitive to stimulation. The extrovert, however, is always seeking additional stimulation from the environment. A third area of consideration is the question of whether greater happiness can be predicted for introverts or extroverts. Researchers find that extroverts report higher levels of subjective well-being than do introverts.

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