A Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung is credited with popularizing the terms introvert and extrovert in the early 1900s, but a hundred years later, his views on character traits have been so subverted by popular culture that the reputations of introverts around the world are now in jeopardy.
Understanding how and why humans obtain their energy was Jung's primary goal. To put it another way, extroverts draw energy from those who surround them, whereas introverts draw power from the inside. These personality traits are different yet equally healthy, according to him. None of them is better than the other.
Although we live in an era of "extroversion bias," argue the authors of a study released in Psychological Science, studies indicate that the general population is roughly split between introverts and extroverts. In the United States, public opinion has modified Jung's original descriptions, giving extroverts more positive adjectives like "outgoing," "high energy," and "chatty," while dismissing introverts as "withdrawn," "shy," and "silent."
Can both introverts and extroverts coexist, biases aside? The quick response is: Depends. We may better grasp how these two character traits might interact, play together, and collaborate successfully if we go back to Jung's original idea and realize how these two character traits focus on how individuals refill their "social batteries" in various ways.
Love Partners
According to specialists, it boils down to the wiring in our brains. An extrovert takes energy from the stimulus of a group, but an introvert requires a calm atmosphere to refuel, according to Todd Kashdan, a psychology professor at George Mason University and co-author of The Upside of Your Dark Side. Researchers and people who have completely different personality types agree that we can benefit from one another.
In a 2016 Washington Post piece about his relationship with his introverted partner, Lev Novak, a self-described extrovert, writes that "love doesn't mean finding someone who's the same as you; it means finding somebody who makes you better." Instead of being a barrier, our varied viewpoints have enriched and bonded us. I grew as a person, and our differences provided us with new opportunities for development.
Both introverts and extroverts may evolve, according to Arthur Brooks, a Harvard Business School professor of management practice. Extroverts can start listening, conduct meaningful conversations, and spend time with only their thoughts and silently ponder, while introverts can begin to communicate with others, push themselves beyond their comfort zones, and seek help. In fact, a 2019 study claimed that introverts could really be happy if they simply pretended to be extroverted, such as by making eye contact with a total stranger or getting in touch with an old friend.
But in the end, we are who we are, at least according to a different recent study that appears in Evolution and Human Behavior. While those among us who are "strong and outgoing" or "shy and retiring" might alter and learn to be someone else when necessary, at our core, we are all the same, and that doesn't change much throughout the course of our lifetimes.
In The Workplace
According to popular belief and popular culture, we need to be outgoing in order to succeed professionally. In a survey conducted in 2006, senior corporate executives said that introversion was a "challenge to leadership" for them. Therefore, in order for even an introvert to succeed, bias must be overcome.
However, another study indicates that introverts' reserved temperament gives them a secret advantage in the workplace, and their resilience and tenacity can help them advance. According to ghSmart's CEO Genome Project's 10-year analysis of 17,000 company executives, introverts make for competent (if not better) managers, especially when their subordinates offer suggestions for development. Extroverted bosses may feel intimidated by such conduct. In fact, introverts have a propensity to pay closer attention to what others are saying and to be more open to recommendations, which makes them more effective leaders," they write. Additionally, it appears from other studies that introversion and creativity are favorably correlated.
How do these two dissimilar personality types interact in the workplace? Don't hold your luck; the two sorts' various communication methods can result in a lot of miscommunications. According to a 2014 study, introverts consistently rate their extroverted friends as bad performers and are less likely to recommend them for promotions. This results in subpar performance assessments for both groups.
When we examine every one of these character traits, what seems to matter most is that every one of us remains loyal to ourselves. According to research inside the Journal of Research in Personality, people experience the most emotional stability when they make their own decisions about how they behave rather than allowing themselves to be controlled by external influences. It all boils down to the truth's strength.
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