Introversion: It's Not What You Think It Is
The words we use matter.
And, the language we use every day is constantly reinforcing the ideas and beliefs of a given culture. This is certainly the case regarding the use of the word “introvert” in the U.S.
For many or most of us, we use the word as synonymous with words like:
- Shy
- Quiet
- Unsocial
- Unhappy
- Depressed
- Non-leaders
Despite this common use of the term, there is good evidence to suggest that introversion has nothing to do with the way it is typically understood.
What Introversion Is Not
Here are five of the most common myths perpetuated about introversion in no particular order:
- It’s the same as shyness. Though often equated with shyness, which is actually social anxiety, introversion is a temperamental trait of the majority of the population, some of who are shy and some who are not. The same is true of extroverts, who are made up of a mix of shy and not shy individuals. Shyness and introversion are distinguishable traits.
- It’s related to being antisocial. This myth keeps being perpetuated in keeping with our preference for extroversion as psychological health. It’s common to connect introversion to those who commit antisocial acts, even if we have to force the shoes to fit. In reality, antisocial individuals sadly arise from both sides of the temperamental scale. Most introverts love people, in appropriate situations and smaller doses. Extroverts just love them differently in larger doses.
- It’s pathological/curable. Carl Jung clearly advocated for the psychological health of both extroversion and introversion. Since his day, this understanding has been threatened. Today, there is widespread thinking that views introversion as unhealthy or pathological. Under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), this thinking has unfortunately been systematized. Jung was correct, however. Introversion or extroversion are simply differing traits in psychologically healthy people.
- It’s a choice. Though we can choose our behavior in a given situation, we cannot choose our temperament or our behavioral style. We are differently wired and have different natural responses to our environment. We can no more choose our temperament than our race or our gender.
- It’s a disqualifier from leadership. Tell this to George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln. Tell this to Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Reid Hoffman or Tony Hsieh. You get the point.
What Introversion Is
Introversion isn’t a problem belonging to a minority of the population who are shy, withdrawn, antisocial and unfit for leadership in today’s organizations.
Instead, introversion is best understood as explained by Dutch psychologist Hans Eysenck. Eysenck explained that introversion is about sensitivity to external stimulation.
Introverts run at a higher base level of arousal and are more sensitive to stimuli around them. Too much stimulation is too much. In keeping with this, introverts will tend to avoid overly stimulating environments as often as they can.
Extroverts, according to Eysenck, are the reverse. They run at lower levels of base arousal and seek out external stimulation to bring them up to the optimal level that feels good to them. The optimal level that we’re all seeking is at the balance point between under stimulated (falling asleep) and over stimulated (hyper aroused).
These differences are not imaginary or theoretical, but can be seen in brain scans. In addition, introverts and extroverts are running on different neurotransmitters and utilize different neural pathways.
Most of these preloaded operating system differences are due to heredity and because the brain retains plasticity throughout the life span only somewhat altered by nurture or the lack thereof. Apart from trauma, most of us remain similarly wired throughout our lives.
Introversion actually includes the following:
- It involves higher sensitivity to outside stimuli
- It has different and longer neural pathways (more activity in frontal lobes and Broca’s area)
- It includes different neurotransmitter preferences (acetylcholine, rather than dopamine)
- It has different needs to recharge and renew related to the above
- It includes different ways of processing information and making decisions related to the above
- It uses different, often slower, operating speeds due to the above
In other words, introversion is directly related to real neurological differences in perfectly healthy people.
So What?
Getting a clearer understanding of the true nature of introversion is important for all of us, wherever we fall on the introvert-extrovert continuum.
Accurate knowledge empowers introverted leaders to counter the myths that attempt to invalidate them. Accurate understanding also empowers extroverted leaders to more accurately leverage the essential introverted strengths around them as well.
In the end, according to the data above, we may need to do the following:
- Identify myths we’ve believed or perpetuated about introversion
- Study the science that better explains the true nature of the introverted side of the spectrum
- Replace myths with accurate knowledge
- Value introverts (including ourselves if we’re one) in a fresh way