Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is “Introvert or Extrovert: Which are You?” I don’t know that I’d identify with either, since my expressiveness can vary widely depending on whom I’m with. My best friend from school, for instance, was surprised in sixth grade to discover that his quiet desk-mate suddenly morphed into a prank-pulling chatterbox at church. When I first moved back to town over a decade ago and entered a new social circle, I was more observant and quiet, and then when doing a skit in costume, I suddenly erupted with energy — again. I think it’s accurate to say I have a decided inclination toward introversion, given that I’ve always been bookish and thoughtful, but it’s only an inclination and balanced by my fondness for good company and the fact that I have a job in which I have to be personable. I’ve also noticed that I tend to be drawn toward people who are very outgoing, because their energy activates my own — all of my best friends are outgoing. I do like withdrawing into the quiet lunchroom and just spending an hour reading, though. I know other people who can switch on either mode: my friend DJ, for instance, was known for his outrageous and loud personality, but those who knew him well also knew that he could happily spend hours in silence, engrossed in a book. Cody Jinks, a guitarist and country singer, described himself once as ‘an ambivert’. I don’t put too much stock in labels, myself, but perhaps that’s the most accurate.
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Reading Freely 
There are a few people I know who waver between the two. I think like most things, it’s not such a black-and-white thing.
(This is an independent comment, but the independent comment button doesn’t seem to be working…)
I think there’s a physical, neurological difference but it’s not always easy to see without a brain scan. Some of us develop more brain circuits than others. If a person has an internal sense of moral right and wrong (after age 25), the person would normally be an introvert. If that sense fails to develop, the person would be an extrovert. However, some people who have had some neurological damage believe that they genuinely have become extroverts despite having kept *some* of the brain circuits they formed as introverts. And some people choose to ignore or pervert the sense of right and wrong–some violent criminals are introverts too.
Extrovert and introvert *behavior* are a different thing. Anyone can learn to behave in either way, at least for a few hours.
Hmm…if I’d read this post first, my post might have been a long essay, instead of a short rhyme!
Priscilla King
I’m afraid I don’t follow how moral awareness and intro/extroversion would be connected?
You sound like an ambivert. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by earlier.
Lydia
As the terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung colour me off-the-scale sceptical! I think you might be able to point to a behaviour and say “that’s extroverted/introverted”, but I really don’t think you can classify *people* that way. Sure some people are generally more outgoing than others and some people need more alone time than others – but I think that can change in a heartbeat given the right environment/social situation. Personally I think the whole idea is very suspect – but then an Introvert *would* say that….!
Oh, and I’m confused about where morality comes in too….
I haven’t encountered much of Jung except for the idea of the ‘shadow’, and goal of integrating it.
I’m afraid that I’m *far* too sceptical to give ‘ideas’ like that much credit. But I do find most ‘therapy’ ideas deeply suspect. They seem to pull things out of the air – of other less savoury places……
You might be interested in “Bad Therapy” when I post a review of it. Hoping to pair it with Haidt’s ‘Anxious Generation”, which I preordered but haven’t read yet because of RoE.
I always thought of myself as quiet when I was young, but now I’m terribly talkative in person. I think I am a lot like you.