Extraversion and introversion. System understanding

A person’s temperament, whether they belong to extroverts or introverts, is a very popular topic, especially among non-specialists.
Very often you can hear that a person explains some of his characteristics or habits by the fact that he is an extrovert or an introvert. But does everyone really know what they are talking about? Does publicly available superficial information about these psychotypes really provide sufficient insight? We'll figure it out now. The first in psychology to talk about the division of people depending on their temperament into extroverts and introverts was Freud's student, the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung. In his work on psychological types, he pointed out that the classification of people into extroverts and introverts depends on the direction of their vital energy, that is, the direction of libido.

Carl Gustav Jung placed a focus on interpersonal interaction between people at the center of his concept. Thus, the focus of introverts’ attention, the direction of their life, based on the thoughts of a psychoanalyst, is precisely in the subjective perception and understanding of mental content, that is, it is directed inward, towards understanding internal mental activity. Extraversion, as a behavioral type, is characterized by concentration of attention and direction of forces on external objects in the world. Jung's concept remains one of the most popular in typologizing people in psychology today. But it is important to emphasize that it is not the only one. Pavlov’s typology is also popular among psychological specialists, who divided people according to the type of nervous system, depending on what qualities are inherent in it: strength, mobility, balance, weakness, and so on.

However, today more and more questions arise regarding the concepts of extrovert and introvert. The knowledge formulated in scientific circles migrated into everyday wisdom. Nowadays, for many, it will not be difficult to explain to the first person they meet a general understanding of these two concepts: extraversion and introversion. However, as practice shows, everyday understanding may differ from the scientific concept.

Concepts

Carl Jung considered the main criterion distinguishing extroverts and introverts to be “the direction of libido movement.” According to Jung, extraversion is manifested in the direction of a person’s libido (vital energy) towards the outside world, in the fact that the extrovert prefers social and practical aspects of life, operations with real external objects, and the introvert prefers immersion in the world of imagination and reflection. An extrovert is aimed at wasting his own energy, moving it towards surrounding objects, an introvert is aimed at accumulating, moving energy into the inner world. Introversion is one of the archetypal manifestations of the collective unconscious. Analyzing the differences in the concepts of two other prominent representatives of dynamic psychology, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler, Jung believes that the essentially similar concepts of these authors differ due to the different fidelity of their authors. If the first, according to Jung, is an introvert, which forces him to look for the mechanisms of the psyche in the depths of the inner world, then the second, being an extrovert, considers the human psyche in a social context, considering the desire for social superiority as the basis of libido.

Hans Eysenck borrows the term “extraversion” from Jung when creating his dispositional model. Eysenck found that across different studies conducted by different research groups, personality dimensions varied consistently in the degree to which they were oriented towards social relationships as opposed to being oriented toward reflection, experiences, and feelings. These concepts are the poles of a superfactor - a complex of personality traits that correlate with each other, which is determined genetically. A typical extrovert, according to Eysenck, is sociable, optimistic, impulsive, has a wide circle of acquaintances and poor control over emotions and feelings. A typical introvert is calm, shy, distant from everyone except close people, plans his actions in advance, loves order in everything and keeps his feelings under strict control. The Jungian term came in handy in this situation. Moreover, it turns out that extraversion may be one of the basic personality traits, of which Eysenck eventually identified three.

In psychiatry, the interpretation of Leonhard is widespread, who borrowed the earliest interpretation of these concepts according to Jung and rethought it: according to Leonhard, an extrovert is a weak-willed person, subject to influence from the outside, an introvert is a strong-willed person. At the same time, Leonhard's typology is psychiatric, not psychological, and relates primarily to pathologies. If we are not talking about pathologies, then close to Leonhard’s (but not Jung’s) interpretation of this term are such psychological terms as locus of control (internal and external), externalism and internalism (R. L. Ackoff and F. E. Emery[en ]), etc. Eugen Bleuler introduced the concept of autism, a symptom of schizophrenia, into psychiatry, which is largely covered by Jung’s concept of “introversion”. Autism is a pathological introversion, accompanied by an active withdrawal from the outside world.

Subsequently, extraversion as a personality trait shows its consistency, persisting in modern models such as the Big Five (John et al., 2008) or HEXACO (Ashton et al., 2004).

Features of empathy

Jung defined empathy as “introjection of an object,” which is the act of objectifying (assimilating) an object to a subject. In its essence, empathy is a form of affirmation of the will to live. A person is capable of empathy only in an organic, naturally true form that strives for life.

The form of empathy may reflect the type of life attitude or orientation. Derivatives from this indicator are:

• Worldview;
• Behavior;
• The nature of creative expression, etc.

Libido, which Jung understood as the psychic energy of a person as a whole, is capable of receiving a pronounced outward direction in the presence of empathy. This type of orientation is a property of extraversion.

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The extroverted attitude is determined not only by its orientation towards objective reality; the responsiveness of extroverts and their need to join was also noted (manifested in continuous attention to the environment, the desire to have friends, etc.).

The ethics and philosophy of life of an extrovert are endowed with an altruistic nature and collectivist traits. Such people live by other people (in them, through them). It is obvious that such a person is more prone to empathy.

Jung wrote:

“A person who is in an extroverted state manifests thoughts, feelings and actions towards an object in such a way, so directly and with such external clarity that there is no doubt about his positive attitude towards the object. Extraversion is intellectual, so the subject thinks about the object. When it is carried out by feeling, the subjects feel into the object. In the state of extraversion there is a great, if not exclusive, conditioning of the object.”

Behavior

Extroverts and introverts have differences in behavior. According to one study, extroverts tend to wear more decorative clothing, while introverts prefer practical, comfortable clothing.[4] Extroverts tend to enjoy music that is more upbeat, traditional, and energetic than introverts.[5] Personality traits also influence how people organize their workspace. In general, extroverts decorate their offices more, keep their doors open, keep a few spare chairs nearby, and are more likely to place bowls of candy on their desk. They tend to try to invite other employees and encourage interaction. Introverts, on the contrary, decorate less and try to isolate their workspace from social interaction[6].

People are complex and unique, and since introversion-extraversion is a continuum of dimensions, people can have a mixture of both types of characteristics. A person who behaves as an introvert in one situation may behave as an extrovert in another, and people can learn the “opposite type” of behavior in some situations. Jung's theory is based on the fact that if a person's primary function is extraversive, then the secondary is always introversive (and vice versa) [1].

Child psychology

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There is an important characteristic of a child’s personality called “temperament.” Temperament is a person’s predisposition to act and react in a certain way, based on the individual characteristics inherent in him from birth. Extraversion and introversion are a kind of “south and north poles of temperament,” as one scientist once put it.

The most famous personality assessment scale is the Myers-Briggs Type Identifier (MBTI), based on Jung's "psychological types" as described in his book of the same title.

Jung proposed that we all have a natural tendency toward either extraversion or introversion, combining certain preferences for the four basic mental functions of thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuition. The Myers-Briggs Scale measures these preferences and offers sixteen different personality profiles that reflect a person's tendency towards extraversion or introversion depending on their specific preferences for thinking or feeling, sensing (sensing) or intuition, judging (judging) or perceiving.

For parents, knowing their child's temperament can be very helpful in understanding what types of activities and situations can best bring out their natural talents and preferences, as well as what types of situations are difficult and sometimes draining for them. Armed with this information, parents can better understand why their child acts a certain way and guide them toward success. It is also useful for parents to understand the characteristics of their own temperament and evaluate how they are in harmony or dissonance with the child's temperament. This will become clearer later as you read this article. So, the topic of discussion is: tendencies towards extroversion and introversion.

Extroverts

Everyone is capable of being both an extrovert and an introvert, since in many cases the way we act is dictated by the situation in which we find ourselves and directly by what is required of us. For example, if you have a job that requires a lot of meetings and interaction with many people and perhaps participation in group projects, you will use an extroverted approach, that is, as the situation demands. But you may also have a constitutional preference for introversion. The fact is that we all have a preference for one type or another, which becomes obvious when we consider ways to restore our own energy or, in other words, ways to recharge with energy.

An extrovert gets his or her energy from other people. He loves situations that involve a lot of interaction, activity and stimulation. Thus, extroverts tend to be quite outgoing and sociable people and have an innate ability to meet new people. They feel comfortable in a group, can quickly get close to people, including strangers, and enjoy working in a busy business environment. Conversely, they may feel sad and empty if they have to spend a lot of time alone.

Extroverts can be characterized by the word “expressive” (“expressive”). They tend to direct their energy outward into actions and speech. The desire to interact and preference for activities may cause them to perform actions before thinking about them. This is because they process information and gain energy through interpersonal interactions and do not engage in internal information processing before communicating or interacting with anyone. Extroverts are perceived as approachable and open people, and are often noticed because of their ease of communication and the obvious pleasure they take in talking and interacting with others. They enjoy being the center of public attention and gravitate towards activities that promote interaction or take place in large groups.

Introverts

Unlike extroverts, introverts can become overwhelmed by large amounts of interaction. They draw energy from their inner world of thoughts, emotions and ideas. They are more contemplative and enjoy solitary activities that allow them to work calmly and alone with themselves. After they attend social events or participate in group activities, they need time alone to recharge their batteries. They tend to be the earliest to leave parties and celebrations, while extroverts stay until the last minute.

Introverts can be described as “reserved.” They tend to keep their thoughts and ideas to themselves, listen carefully to what other people have to say, and thoughtfully process and accept information offered. An extrovert, on the other hand, has a need for self-expression and tends to say what's on his mind instead of listening. An extrovert speaks well and listens poorly, while an introvert listens a lot and speaks little.

Introverts prefer one-on-one or small group interactions. They feel better with people they know well; they greatly enjoy deep conversations that focus on ideas, concepts and reflections. They know how to concentrate and enjoy the content of such interactions, unlike extroverts who enjoy the energy of communication more than its content. Introverts are private people who take time to get to know each other.

Extroverted children

An extroverted child is usually very energetic and loves to interact with parents. These children love partnerships, interactive games and often act out skits; they do not like to play alone for a long time in their room. Such children have little or no ability to keep themselves occupied and, from a learning style perspective, learn best through interaction and conversation. Extroverted teens enjoy learning in groups because they learn by explaining to others what they know or by listening to others explain what they are learning to them. In general, these children enjoy interacting with other children and are energized during group activities.

Suitable Activities for an Extroverted Child

Extroverted children may enjoy any of the following activities:

• Participating in plays, puppet shows or screwball comedy productions and dressing up in costumes accordingly - they enjoy acting and participating in any theatrical performances.
• Speak into a microphone or address an audience.
• Build something.
• Do painting and crafts.
• Play team sports.
• Participate in clubs of interest.
• Visit libraries, museums, or science fairs.
• Go on picnics or hikes.
• Talk freely about topics of personal interest.
• Discuss ideas and future goals with interested listeners.
• Engage in physical activity, such as trampolining.

Situations that depress an extrovert

Extroverts become bored if they spend too much time alone. Due to their interactive, interacting nature, they need a large number of outlets for their own energy and creative expression on an artistic, physical or intellectual level. In addition, they need feedback from others and prefer to demonstrate their talents to other people rather than independently enjoy the feeling of satisfaction with the results achieved. Since extroverts have a strong need to express their ideas and views, they are very constrained by criticism and a large number of objections that come in the process of their self-expression. They also don't like routine or projects that last indefinitely. Extroverts need regular stimulation and are drained by long-term commitments that block their need for variety. This does not mean that they are not capable of long-term personal commitment to relationships or personal goals, but they need to find ways to bring variety and excitement to these situations.

Calming activities for an extrovert

A bubble bath with lots of toys, time to just talk and vent, walks and conversations in nature with a loved one, or reading a captivating story are all calming activities for an extrovert. For an extrovert, it is important to have a partner or assistant who can help with tedious work and with whom you can discuss new ideas. Sometimes, for better concentration, an extrovert needs physical activity that involves smooth, sweeping body movements, such as water aerobics or yoga. First of all, it is very important for an extrovert to be able to pursue his own goals and interests, which requires patience and parental support.

Introverted children

An introverted child may enjoy some of the same activities that extroverts enjoy, but introverts place more emphasis on self-exploration rather than self-expression. This is especially noticeable when engaging in activities related to acting and performing arts.

Introverts like:

• Keep a diary.
• Engage in writing, including writing stories, prose and poetry.
• Do dramatic art.
• Painting, graphics, sculpture.
• Arts and crafts.
• Play alone, especially imaginary games with dolls, or play school or store.
• Read.
• Visit libraries.
• Build various structures, collect puzzles, play on the computer.
• Deep implementation or study of a single subject or idea.
• Spending long periods of time alone in your room, doing solitary activities.
• Spend time with one or two good friends.
• Play near other children.

Situations that depress an introvert

Most of all, introverted children get bored with any situations or activities that overstimulate them. They are usually very sensitive to noise, crowds and too many activities going on at one time. If such children are in society for a long time, without the opportunity to recharge their energy alone, they become exhausted, which can manifest itself in the form of moodiness, fatigue, or physical symptoms such as stomach pain, headaches, and the like. They do not like to frequently change from one activity to another and are very sensitive to constant or sudden changes. In general, introverts love their independence and are unhappy when external situations or strangers interfere with the satisfaction of this need.

Calming activities for an introvert

Introverts enjoy spending a lot of time alone to explore ideas, contemplate, or become fully immersed in an activity. They can work all day on a project and relax if no one and nothing interferes with their work. Introverts like to spend time daydreaming and immersing themselves in reading books, drawing, or their own thoughts. They like a calm environment and prefer to plan everything in advance so they can be emotionally prepared. It is equally important for them to have clearly understood expectations before undertaking any activity. Keep in mind that introverts like to process all available information first before acting, and they also perform better when they can identify and understand the relationships between ideas. Some introverted children demonstrate a desire to engage in solitary activities or hobbies at a very early age.

About your temperament

When thinking about what type of temperament your child is, while reading this article you have undoubtedly thought about your own temperament type. This is important not only to help you build and confirm what you already know about yourself, but also to help you understand the differences and similarities that exist between you and your child. If you're an introverted parent and your child is an extrovert, you likely often feel drained by his constant need for your participation in his activities, even something as simple as flipping through a new book. Conversely, if you are an extroverted parent of an introverted child, you may be puzzled by his need to be alone for long periods of time or his irritation when you talk for too long or involve him in a lot of activities outside the home.

What you can learn from any of these situations is how to modify your parenting strategies to deal with your child's specific behavior patterns. Your newfound understanding of how your child energizes can help you create the best environment and activities for your child, while also helping you find time in your schedule to meet your own needs.

Parents should not attribute all behaviors and tendencies to simplistic categories of temperament. It is important to keep the big picture in mind when it comes to individuals and the activities that suit them. In addition to temperament, other factors such as age-related development, home conditions, stress and family relationships play a role in shaping your child's behavior. This article is intended only to sensitize parents to the significance that a child's innate constitution can have so that you can use this information to help him succeed.

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Related links:

• ▶ Let children be themselves
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• ▶ More articles about child psychology

Child development 02/15/2016

Ambiversion

Ambiversion corresponds to average scores on the intro-extraversion scale[8]. Ambiversion is an independent personality characteristic and is a category separate from introversion and extraversion. An ambivert is neither an introvert nor an extrovert, but lies between these two extremes, combining the qualities of both. An ambivert can act like an introvert or an extrovert depending on the situation[9].

Most people are ambiverts[7][8][9][10][11].

Swiss psychiatrist C. G. Jung, who popularized the idea of ​​introverts and extroverts, recognized the existence of a third type (which he assumed corresponded to the norm) in his lecture at the International Congress of Education in 1923. However, Jung did not include this third type in his typology of introverts. -extroversion[7][12].

The term “ambiversion” was proposed by the American psychologist Edmund Conklin[en] in 1923. Conklin considered ambiversion to be a psychological norm. The scientist explained the absence of a term to designate people who are neither introverts nor extroverts by the fact that psychoanalytic terminology was developed primarily to describe pathologies. Conklin believed that, unlike the other two types, ambiverts are healthy, flexible, adaptive, and efficient[13][12].

American psychologist M. Crow et al. by 2006, examined the relationship between the level of introversion in midlife and cognitive status after 25 years (number of participants: n = 4039). According to testing results, ambiversion is associated with a lower risk of cognitive impairment; this allowed the authors to put forward a hypothesis according to which ambiversion has a positive effect on the preservation of cognitive functions during aging[14].

According to a study by American psychologist A. Grant (2013), based on the results of 3 months of work of 340 salespeople working in outbound call centers, ambiverts from among these salespeople achieved 24% more income compared to introverts and 32% more income than introverts. % higher income compared to extroverts. According to Grant, ambiverts tend to be more flexible in the way they interact with customers, use a wider range of behavioral approaches, make balanced decisions about when to speak and when to listen, express sufficient confidence and enthusiasm to persuade, and are inclined to carefully perceive the interests of the buyer[10].

Differences in the behavior of extroverts, introverts and ambiverts in conditions of conflict were described in 2020 by Ph.D. n. S. V. Dubrovina et al. According to researchers, the competitive strategy is more characteristic of extroverts; introverts more often resort to the strategy of avoidance, adaptation and compromise; ambiverts, in a conflict situation, are more cooperative than others[11].

K. psychol. n. O. A. Apunevich et al. by 2020, they studied the dependence of emotional burnout of law enforcement officers on their level of intro-extroversion. 32 employees of the Cherepovets police department took part in the study. According to the authors' findings, ambiverts are more resistant to emotional burnout compared to introverts and extroverts[15].

Empathy and its relationship with extraversion and introversion

Jung viewed thinking and feeling as rational functions of consciousness. If empathy is “feeling” and “thinking about” an object, then it can be considered a conscious attitude that was opposed to abstraction.

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As a rule, the need for empathy contributes to the manifestation of extraversion, and the need for abstraction leads to introversion. Empathy is characterized by a certain willingness of the subject to trust in relation to the object. The desire for empathy is associated with a happy, trusting, childlike, initially active and kind attitude towards the external phenomena of the world.

Empathy involves viewing an object as somewhat empty, filling it with life. On the contrary, abstraction is a consequence of the individual’s great internal anxiety, which is caused by the external world. For an abstracting person, the object is alive and active, so he must protect himself from it, evading its influence.

Note 1

Thus, the category “empathy” as a property of an extraverted attitude can contribute to assimilation in the outside world. The process of abstraction serves as protection from the outside world.

Empathy is a type of perception according to which an individual, with the help of feelings, can invest a certain mental content into an object. In this process, a very close connection is formed between them. Thus, the subject begins to feel himself in the object. With empathy, a person is characterized by the spiritualization of things. It seems to transfer unconscious contents into the object.

An extrovert is an empathetic person, as he views the world from the perspective of needing his participation and feeling to have life and soul. An introvert, on the contrary, shows a desire to protect life and soul from the active participation of the world in them. If we trace the mechanism of empathy more carefully, we can find that it also plays the role of protection (the subject protects himself from himself, from his internal boundless fantasies, the need to act).

The object with which the empathizer prefers to merge has for him the beginning of a restrictive and organizing character. An empathizing person shows the desire to invest his whole self into an object (irrespective of the object’s desire), experiencing himself in it. For this reason, the difference between them is required to be small.

Notes

1. ↑ 12
   Jung, C. J. (1921) Psychologischen Typen. Rascher Verlag, Zurich - translation by HG Baynes, 1923.
2. Jung, Carl (1995). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. London: Fontana Press. pp. 414-415. ISBN 0-00-654027-9.
3. Thompson, E. R. (October 2008). "Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers". Personality and Individual Differences 45 (6): 542–548.
4. Sharma, R. S. (1980). Clothing behavior, personality, and values: A correlational study. Psychological Studies, 25, 137–142.
5. Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2003). The do re mi's of everyday life: The structure and personality correlates of music preference. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1236–1256.
6. Gosling, S. (2008). Snoop. New York: Basic Books.
7. ↑ 123
   Jung, 1998, p. 615.
8. ↑ 12
   Meshcheryakov, Zinchenko, 2009.
9. ↑ 12
   Georgiev, Christov, Philipova, 2014.
10. ↑ 12
    Grant, 2013.
11. ↑ 12
    Dubrovina, Klimontova, Chepurko, 2020.
12. ↑ 12
    Davidson, 2020.
13. Conklin, 1923.
14. Crowe, Andel, Pedersen et al., 2006.
15. Apunevich, Smirnova, 2020.

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