Lately I wonder whether I'm an introvert or an extrovert. I've read lots about both, and grasp the basic principles, but I still can't figure it out. Sometimes I like to be alone, but often I'm angry about it, or feel guilty, or feel like my alone-ness relates more to crankiness and irritation than true desire. I like being with people, but sometimes find it difficult. I feel shy and nervous. I feel tired. I feel drained by others' needs and demands. I feel self-conscious and out of place, and unsure whether I really want time alone or just want to escape the intricacies and confusion of interaction.
I suppose it might be one of those things that's neither this or that, but sometimes one or the other. Which is muddled, and sometimes annoying, but often the most interesting things (and people) aren't so easily determined.
Posted by thevieve at November 6, 2007 7:16 PMMyers-Briggs time!
If I'm not mistaken, the introvert/extravert thing is less about whether you like being around people or are sociable, but how important other people's opinions are to you. If you rely solely on others for your self-image, it's a problem; if you rely solely on yourself for your self-image, it's a different kind of problem; most people are somewhere in between...
I can't remember all the MBTI details. I took it back in the day but I just don't remember. I think I'm an ENTP?
Posted by: Aaron on November 7, 2007 1:15 PMOh, boy. Yeah. I know that battle intimately. If you're unwilling to be an introvert and you're peevish about extroversion, is the neutral state aversion - as in asexual? Hmmm.
Posted by: 'nette on November 7, 2007 5:14 PMI have been an INFP. I have been an INTP. I most recently was an XNXP. Woo! I'm x'ing my ass off!
Oh, wait, I was talking about personalities...
I have decided that I am the ultra-rare shy extrovert. I do not like crowds. I am so-so in large interactive groups (such as my own parties). I have also realized that I thrive on new interactions. But I can only enjoy these new interactions in small groups of people; thus the shy extrovert. There is a certain pleasure that comes from new interaction that is ultimately the extrovert/introvert distinction; it's easily lost, however, in the social baggage of the introvert inhibitions. (Eeek! 15 people in that room! No way in hell!) So you hang out with two pepole you know and two people you don't, and things are, well, at least good, social-wise.
I think, personally, shy extroverts are extroverts with over-developed consciences, which provide them greater empathy. Or maybe non-shy extroverts have a lesser sense of empathy. (This is no slight to extroverts, so no hate mail, please.) I've always found empathy at odds with extroversion. But that may be my own self-flattery, or my own twisted sense of obligation.
Regardless, WE should hang out soon. Our introvert/extrovert issues are more than enough to cancel out. :)
XOXO, and extra XOs,
Drunky