Am I an introvert or an extrovert?

Introverts prefer the company of people they know well and tend to have a smaller, but closer, circle of friends. — Oduaimages

I have heard about the extrovert and introvert personalities. How did these come about?

The concepts of introversion and extroversion were first introduced by Carl Gustav Jung, one of the fathers of modern psychology.

Jung defined introversion as an “attitude-type characterised by orientation in life through subjective psychic contents”, and extraversion as “an attitude-type characterised by concentration of interest on the external object”.

The truth is, not many people are 100% introvert or 100% extrovert.

Most people fall within a continuum between introversion and extroversion.

If you fall somewhere around the middle range of the continuum, you can be called an ambivert.

How can I determine what my personality is?

There are plenty of personality models, depending on which personality test you are taking.

There is the Big Five model, Jung’s model of analytical psychology, Hans Eysenck’s three factor model, the Cattell model of 16 personality factors, the Myers-Brigg personality types, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Many companies like to do the Myers-Brigg test, but most psychologists today like the Big Five Model.

What is the Big Five personality model?

The Big Five model dictates that any person’s personality can be distilled to five core factors.

There’s a mnemonic for it: OCEAN or CANOE.

• Conscientiousness (C): from being impulsive and disorganised to disciplined and careful.
• Agreeableness (A): from being suspicious and uncooperative to trusting and helpful.
• Neuroticism (N): from being calm and confident to anxious and pessimistic.
• Openness to experience (O): from preferring routine and being practical to being imaginative and spontaneous.
• Extraversion (E): from being reserved and thoughtful to sociable and fun-loving.

There are a lot of free personality tests online.

You can try to take one to see where you stand.

What does introversion mean?

Introversion is a personality trait.

It is estimated that 25-40% of people in the world fall within the introversion spectrum.

Introverts prefer to focus on internal feelings rather than always seeking external sources of stimulation.

Introverts are not necessarily shy or quiet.

Many, in fact, can be quite outgoing externally.

Really? Then how can you tell if you are an introvert?

There are several signs to signal whether or not you are an introvert; here are some:

> You are a good listener

You can actively listen, and you consider small, meaningless talk a waste of your time.

You process information and give insightful responses.

You allow people to air their grievances to you.

In fact, because you are such a good listener, friends and colleagues love to come talk to you!

> You recharge best on your own

You feel exhausted after spending some time with other people.

When you are with people, you need to expend energy.

This is unlike an extrovert, who gets energy from being around other people.

> You prefer the company of close friends

You actually enjoy spending time with other people, but you prefer that they be close friends.

You don’t necessarily like large circles of people whom you only know superficially.

You like long-lasting friendships that are intimate and significant.

You have a smaller, rather than larger, group of friends.

You like to interact with people in one-to-one settings.

> You are introspective

You examine your own feelings and experiences, and are self-aware.

You strategically plan solutions in your head before acting on them, and are not impulsive.

> You prefer texts and emails to phone calls

Even when you are inviting people to a party, you prefer to send out texts rather than calling people.

> You don’t mind doing things alone or being alone

> You tend to be more quiet, mellow, and reserved

> You are a good observer

You like to observe people and nature.

There is nothing more relaxing for you than to sit at a sidewalk cafe with a coffee and book, and occasionally study people and your surroundings.

> You prefer learning before doing

You tend to prefer watching others perform a task until you feel you can replicate the task yourself.

This is unlike extroverts, who prefer to learn through trial and error.

> You are creative

You are always looking for solutions to problems and exhibit out-of-the-box thinking.

> Your hobbies can usually be done alone

Your preferred leisure activities are all things that can be done in solitude.

Examples include listening to music, writing, reading, cooking or walking in nature.

Is it better to be an extrovert or introvert?

There is no better or worse personality type.

And you cannot change who you are either, so please don’t try or you will end up being depleted of energy and very unhappy.

There are some jobs that are more suitable for introverts than extroverts.

These involve work that ensures you have a lot of alone time thinking about issues and how to solve them, as well as less time involved with meeting a lot of people.

So know who you are and arrange your life accordingly.

Dr YLM graduated as a medical doctor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, computers and entertainment. For further information, email [e-mail]. The information provided is for educational and communication purposes only, and it should not be construed as personal medical advice. Neither The Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. The Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.