Introversion and Extraversion as Personalities - Term Paper Example

College: Introversion and Extraversion as Personalities Introduction This research paper will spread the light on thetwo fundamental human personality theories. This paper is very clear to translate the human personality theories into practical examples which will create awareness and make as knowledgeable concerning our personality traits. The paper will base on four important personality gurus who had their perspectives the two most common personalities. The spot light will shine more on the distinguished philosopher Carl Jung (1865-1961) who had firmly believed that our personalities are divided into two fundamentals, the introvert and extroverts (Dembling, Para, 3) In our modern day, human race is eager to know their personality traits all of which tend to explain that human beings tend to associate themselves with. For instance Sigmud Freud’s idea of ego, super ego and id and also Erick Erickson stages of personality development all of which can explain personality traits in different angles. However this paper seeks to establish if there are differences between two personality types the extroverts and the introverts. This paper therefore begins with the assumption that extroverts and introverts are similar. In order for me to investigate this assumption and set the record straight I read several articles and journals concerning personality which will inform my discussion (Cain, 24) This paper will outline the origin of the two personality traits, try to look at their difference, advantages and disadvantages, and cite relevant examples and how these two types of personality can peacefully coexist with each other. Definitions of introverts and extroverts Carl Jung describes introverts who as individuals who prefer their internal world of thoughts and feelings, dreams, fantasies and so forth. Jung states that” introvert is the state or tendency of being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one’s own mental life.” Extroverts according to Carl Jung are described as those who have the placed more emphasis on objectivity and surrounding influence. He claims that extroverts are more aggressive and social individuals. (Cain, 56) Characteristic of extroverts and introverts Carl Jung in detailing his model on human personality explains that introversion and extroversion are the ways in which human respond to the world around them. Other adherent philosopher’s personality claims that one can have two personalities but one will outweigh the other. Carl disagrees completely he says that characters of introverts vary significantly with characters of extroverts. Hence need to find out if they are really different (Cain, 176). The defining characteristics of introverts that distinguish them from other personality traits are; they draw energy from being alone as they dislike and are reluctant to social interactions and over stimulating environments. They like the internally oriented stimuli, such as their own ideas and inner thoughts. Another characteristic of introverts is that they prefer a slower paced talk which allows them to think before they talk. Introverts are very fond of having very few friends. They don’t like making new ones since they feel comfortable with the little company they have but note that this few relationships they have are very deep and mean a lot more to them. This small with introverts every bit and part of life has a purpose. They like taking life very cautiously calculating and spending their time alone mostly in their own houses or rooms. Another major characteristic is that introverts spend more time listening than talking. They are what we may call lurker whose silence may seem like they are not active participants but deep inside they are organizing their school of thoughts and paying very close attention. Unlike the extroverts, introverts like to seek purpose in everything and are very fond of being cautious. Introverts don’t just react; they need to find a reason to. They think of the aftermath of their reaction and the impact of the reaction. This vividly explains that there is no need to be perturbed when you engage in a conversation with an introvert who may take too long to respond. It simply means they are carefully calculating what they are going to utter. Introverts are lonely and very much disconnected to the world. My time as it is called involves pure solitude preferably in their houses or rooms. This lonely moments introverts tend to do a lot of soul searching and try seek their innermost emotions.(Ana, Para, 6) Extroverts on the other hand are the opposites of introverts. You will hardly find them engaged in solitary activities not unless authorized to. Introverts love crowds. Unlike their counterparts the introvert’s, extroverts love big crowds. You will find them where there are people. You will mostly find them in social gatherings, community meetings, marriages parties, birthdays and several interest groups. They are rarely on their own and are always in the company of other people they attract to their life with their persuasive demeanor. Extroverts always crave for attention unlike the introverts who hate publicity and being known, extroverts are attention seekers and they will go to great lengths to get attention to the level they become a bother. Extroverts are never found alone they love the aura where people are many in order to quench the thirst of attention. Extroverts are constantly impulsive that is they take decisions in twinkle of an eye without thinking about the decision and when they have made up their mind about the decision there is no turning back.(Black, summers: pg, 4-8) The characteristic stated above clearly show that difference between introverts and extroverts is like night and day. Introverts get energetic and more productive when they are alone while extroverts are at their best when they are among gathered people. Carl Jung Four Functions of personality. Carl Jung discovered four functions of personality that is sensation thinking, feeling and intuition. Thinking and feeling are noetic process that paves way for humans to allow and have meaning of things. Intuition and sensation are non-rational functions that help humans to perceive the world through means of unconscious process or our sensory organs. These four functions are combined with the two personality traits which lead to formation of eight distinct personality types. These are; introverted sensing-extroverted sensing, introverted intuition-extroverted intuition, introverted thinking-extroverted thinking, introverted feeling-extroverted feeling. The eight personality traits form the basis of Myers Briggs type indicator (MBTI) which the renowned and most used tool for detection of personality. Brigs type indicator came as a result computation of Carl’s two types of personality which eventually led to formation of eight stages of personality development. The MBTI is a psychometric assessment questionnaire designed to identify people’s psychological preferences and human’s perspective of the world and how these issues aid them in making decisions. Carl Indicates that the fundamental functions by which we experience the world are categorized into feeling, sensing, intuition and thinking, and one of these functions is dominant at a particular time. Jung also identifies that these four functions are dived into two dichotomies these are perceiving functions (sensing and intuition) and the two judging function (thinking and feeling). These eight stages of personality awareness and development are important to human beings who constantly want to discover their true being. Hence did Carl’s identification of the two personalities have a significant impact? In order to determines Carl’s impact in identifying these two personalities we take a look at closer look at the importance of this two personalities. (Pickren, Para, 7). Importance/benefits of extroverts Elaine N Aron in his book “the Highly Sensitive Person” states that “one cannot emphasize enough on the importance of carl Jung’s view this world that we live in is overflowing and intoxicating life is not purely external, but also exist within. Their life teaches more than their words, their lives teach other possibility, the interior life which is so painfully wanting in our civilization.” This kind of possibility is much more glaring for extroverts. The good part of being an extrovert is the fact that; 1. There is always room to create and make new relationship with people. When we step in front of a gathering for instance in a church, wedding and so forth we open a window for connection in the world around us in a significant manner. Our audience get the experience of our energy and passion concerning our ideas. 2. You make your value more visible and marketable. This specifically applies to marketers who apart from representing their organization they market themselves. With extroversion, one can easily become a visible example. The more often you are visible the more your brand is visible and then your name becomes more familiar and synonymous with what you are expert in and then there is instant facial recognition 3. An individual proves his credibility. When you are extrovert talking, talking, talking is the order of the day but within the speech an intellectual extrovert will share insightful comments, offer some advice, ideas and compare them. Your ability to willingly share something of value and your style of doing it appropriately motivates people not to only like you but trust respect and adore you. 4. One gets in the presence of many individuals in a short time. The constant engagement and talking creates more attention and if you are seller for instance you get more sales and be ahead of the pack 5. Extroverts do not let their feelings be hurt easily. There I don’t care attitude provides a leverage for their feelings not to be bruised easily. Importance introverts As noted above, introverts are the complete polar of extroverts. They prefer quiet serene where they can read. Introverts are known to be very intelligent. 1. The slow approach to situations and critical thinking enables them to solve problems in the right way. The more time allocated on the problem the better its solutions 2. In her book dubbed ‘quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world That Can’t Stop Talking.’ Susan Cain states that collaboration kills creativity and that the rise of new group think and the power of working alone focus specifically on creativity and innovation. Advance research observes that creative people tend to be introverts who like to work in solitude and independently. This is quite different with the emergence of team based brain storming methods often used to solve problems and create solutions. 3. Another advantage of being an introvert is that the lesser you speak the more you gain respect. In world where people cannot stop talking in the process, they blatantly expose all their skeletons stashed in the closet unknowingly or utter words which they latter regret. In his book “The 48 laws of power” Robert Green explains on the importance of saying less than necessary. He claim that saying less will keep you from saying something foolish or even dangerous since once the words are out you cannot take them back. When you keep silence and talk less much of your information may not be revealed hence no adversary will be able to find a way to attack. Hence introversion is a good defensive mechanism. Extroverts and introverts in today’s world In her book “Quiet” Susan indicates that 30% of the world’s population are introverts. That means mother earth is dominated by extroverts. Yes extroverts. People who talk and are socially outgoing, love attention and like to make new friends (Robert, 107). In this trendy world where there is rapid technological innovation and emergence of a global village. Introverts in this era are more prone to create few deep friendships and enjoy thoughtful conversation rather than pep talk. Even when invited to parties, they tend to go but later feel like leaving or alternatively retreat somewhere alone. After experiencing highly stimulating environments’, introverts in today’s world are fond of retreating and need time to recharge. This case is quite different with extroverts who like to rejuvenate themselves after experiencing a quiet environment. This is a typical case for most humans who for instance after work will call their colleagues or buddies to have a coffee or beer at the bar just to get him back to the social mood. Extroversion constitute about three quarters of Americas population. Extroverts are usually associated with being happy as in contrast to their fellow counterparts introverts. However, according to a research which was conducted every three hours in one study in once per week and was recorded on a seven point zero scale how extroverts were behaving and how happy they felt. The research was shocked to observe that even individuals with low levels of extroversion traits system were happier when exposed to extroversion environment. The researchers also used a specific set of words to describe happiness and to be specific, positive effect like being proud, alert, interested strong inspired, determined attentive, active (Susan, Para, 3). From the above point we critically look at why introverts are describe as somehow melancholic and introverts in the daily encounters of the world. The question is why introverts not happy fellas as compared to extroverts are. In this paragraph we tend to look shed more light on the aspect of happiness in between these two personalities. Happiness is probably the absence of negative affect that is not having frustrations, anger, fear, or sadness. Peaceful is the vice versa of negative affect. Note that feeling peaceful is the absence negative affect. This is the same with this personality extroversion is not the absence of introversion. If its peace and calm both introverts and extroverts can have it. This is the same thing with introverts and happiness. Extroverts have embraced happiness and this can happen the same way with introverts can gain happiness only if wear the robe of enthusiasm, outgoing and talkativeness. “Emotion follows behavior” William James. (Susan, Para, 6) Can one change from extroversion to introversion or from extroversion to introversion? Are personality traits interchangeable? Can a normal individual who maybe is fed up with being an introvert transition to an extrovert, are these personality traits inherited? This chapter in this paper looks at origin of personality traits in human beings what influences such traits and whether or not one can exchange the shirt and wear the other. (Pickren, Para, 4). Human beings are different because of their personality. The general profile of a human being is made up from his personality or the combination of his psychological traits and character that refer to his unique behavior and his habitual reactions to different situations in life. When a child makes mistakes, why do we say that he has acted like his father or mother? Is this where drew our reference from concerning personality that it may be genetic? Or is just the environment which shapes an individual. Psychologist claim that personality traits are neither obtained hereditary nor are they influenced by the environment but personality is derived from the combination and integration of the two. Therefore we can firmly say that personality traits are hereditary and can be developed and the environment provides the cultural, social and situational factors and influence the hereditary development of traits. This combination of environment and genes are the factors that contribute significantly to development and creation of personality (Dembling & Sophia, 24). Simon North, the founder of Career Consultants Position ignition and the Co-author of “Make your career Change Happen.” Wrote to Forbes magazine stating that mankind has personalities either as introvert or extrovert. He continues to state that these traits affect us at work and in our social lives and this is sometimes detrimental if it has negative impacts. That cripples and makes one to despair in agony. However, the convincing factor is that one can actually withdraw from these personalities and change and adapt to new ways of doing things. He claims that there are six fundamental steps to change ones personality and it’s pragmatic. The steps he lists them as follow; 1. Know thy self- introverts are good listeners. They will listen and then process the information while extroverts are the ones who put the information there and process it later. If you can identify your behavior, that is the first step of success, one can be in a enhanced situation to understand your behaviors and practice replacing them with your behaviors that are opposite to achieve your full range of capabilities (Leigh, Geoffrey & Elwood, 202). 2. Be receptive- it’s an uphill task to adopt a habits that you dim as undesirable. Many occasions introverts view extroverts as arrogant chaotic and shallow the same as extroverts who see introverts as nerds and uptight freaks. To change to a personality of your desire you can list all the characteristics of introverts/extroverts that you like and respect and you will figure out their dominant personality habits are not bad after all 3. Do the opposite- Rome the capital was not built in a day same as behaviors they can’t be changed overnight but one can practice since practice makes perfect. This involves behaving differently until it becomes your natural you. Fake it till it becomes part of you. For instance a beautiful extrovert young girl can top wearing the attention grabbing tights and put more a more conservative dress. They can start listening to soothing music and so forth. 4. Give a performance- Beyoncé the RnB singer is a freak at the stage she will charm you with her dance moves and vocal prowess but when it comes to real life she is an introvert. This you may wonder how does she pull this off? Even though this is not who you really are its possible to put fake a wear different personalities till you make it. 5. Watch and learn: extroverts are mainly quiet such that when you give them a management task. Their approach will be different as compared to the extroverts. Introverts will be quiet just listening while the same task given to extroverts who will be busy drawing charts, discussions and dialogue all through. 6. Fake it till you make it- once you have mastered all the above techniques you will find out that the most important thing is to try it until it becomes part of you. It is important and to continue acting differently till everyone will see it as the normalcy (Leigh et al, It is possible for one to change his/her personality and change your life. Conclusion All human beings have personality traits that enable them exist peacefully with fellow human beings. However personality traits are not the same two personality traits; extroverts and introverts were subjected to research to determine if they are different. Are they different? Yes this paper concludes that the introverts and extroverts are as clear as day and night. Personality traits in the modern day world have also proved to be changing rapidly and some personality borrowing some traits from other personality but they are still different. We have also determined that these personality traits are not only hereditary but also influenced in a great deal by the environment. And it is possible to change from being an extrovert to an introvert and vice versa. Works cited Ana. “Characteristic of the Introvert Personality.” Ezinearticles.com. 2014. Black, Summers. “An Investigation, of the Study, Habits of Introverts and Extroverts.” Pg 4-8, Dembling, Sophia.” The Introverts Corner; Is Our definition of happiness Extrovert- Centric?” Gemma. “Review: Quiet-Susan Cain.” Theperfectionistpen.wordpress.com. February 15, 2014. Leigh, Geoffrey K, and Elwood Miller. Ways Introverts, and Extroverts Can Accept, Respect, and Embrace Human Differences. Reno, Nev: Nevada Cooperative Extension, 2006. Print. Pickren, Marc.” Carl Jung: Extravert vs Introvert” helpingpsychology.com. 2014. Robert, Green. ’48 Laws of Power” Penguin Books, 2000 Susan Cain.” Quiet: The, power of Introverts in a world, that can’t stop talking.” New York: Crown Publishing, 2012, 323 pages. Read More