Myths About Introverts

At our last Aspie Insiders get-together, the group discussed the differences between introverts and extroverts. One thing quickly became clear: even though it's nice to categorize human beings in one of these two camps, it's rarely the case that someone is "purely" an introvert or an extrovert. We used an introvert vs. extrovert quiz that helped us generate some discussion (found here), and what we found as we went through each statement is that most of our members were all over the place.

Even the very first statement ("I prefer one-to-one conversations to group activities") was met with some speculation. Some of the more introverted members said that they enjoy group activities so long as they don't have to actively participate all the time — if they could remain the "quiet member," it was even better for their personality than a one-to-one conversation. The rest of the quiz was much like this, with many surprises as our extroverts indicated some introverted tendencies and vice versa.

Social Circles!

Rather than look at the quiz as a failure, we determined that everyone is their own unique person, such that even the most introverted person maintains some extroverted qualities. This became very apparent as the issue of social media came up; many introverts have a richer social presence online than in real life. For them, this is where many of their social circles exist.

One other thing that we talked about briefly is some of the myths that exist about both introverts and extroverts. Here's a good article from a self-described introvert about some of the falsities that are out there concerning introverts. (As an introvert myself, I can attest to many of these.)

A last thought from our Insiders is this: a good indicator of whether you're an introvert or an extrovert is in how you react to being social. If being "out and about" and talking to others drains your energy, there's a good chance you're an introvert. Extroverts, on the other hand, often feel energized from being around other people. Of course, this isn't always the case and there are many people who float between these two extremes, but it's often a good starting point for realizing where you stand in all of this.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN EXTROVERT OR AN INTROVERT, AND WHY? IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE TIPS FOR FIGURING OUT THESE DIFFERENCES, PLEASE SHARE BELOW!