"It's obvious that the American dream is to be extraverted. We want our children to be "people who need people." We want them to have lots of friends, to like parties, to prefer to play outside with their buddies rather than retire with a good book, to make friends easily, to greet new experiences enthusiastically, to be good risk-takers, to be open about their feelings, to be trusting. We regard anyone who doesn’t fit this pattern with some concern. We call them "withdrawn," "aloof," "shy," "secretive," and "loners." These pejorative terms show the extent to which we misunderstand introverts.
"The majority of Americans are extraverted (about 75%), but the majority of gifted children appear to be introverted (about 60%), and the percentage of introverts seems to increase with IQ (Silverman, 1986). In addition to the problems encountered with being gifted, these children are frequently misjudged because they are introverted. Introversion is a perfectly normal personality type identified by Carl Jung. It is actually healthy to be an introvert. The only unhealthy part of it is denying your true self and trying to disguise yourself as an extravert.
"Introverts are wired differently from extraverts and they have different needs. Extraverts get their energy from interaction with people and the external world. Introverts get their energy from within themselves; too much interaction drains their energy and they need to retreat from the world to recharge their batteries. People can be extreme extraverts, extreme introverts, or a combination of both. Since extraversion is the dominant mode in our society, there are no "closet extraverts," but there are many "closet introverts," people who are so ashamed of their introversion that they try to be extraverts.
"Introverts need to learn about the positive benefits of their personality type. They need to be taught that reflection is a good quality, that the most creative individuals sought solitude, and that leaders in academic, aesthetic and technical fields are often introverts. Parents need to know that more National Merit Scholars are introverted than extraverted, and that introverts have higher grade point averages in Ivy League colleges than extraverts (Silverman, 1986). Contrary to public opinion, success in life is not dependent upon extraversion. Introverts also have an advantage at midlife in that long, hard journey to the soul which heralds the second half of the life cycle. The time has come to respect the introverts in our families and classrooms, and the hidden introvert in ourselves."
4 comments:
i've added you to my rss feeds of journals, so I am going to start reading your writings in the world of internets. Your writing will now never be in vein.
Thanks for adding me, Paul. But I have to ask (since I know multiple Pauls), is this Wilkes or Pellegrino?
Sorry for not recognizing you by first name and writing style alone. :)
Thanks for the post, Steph--I am an extreme introvert, as you know :). I like the quotation saying, "It is actually healthy to be an introvert. The only unhealthy part of it is denying your true self and trying to disguise yourself as an extravert." Good advice, and true!
This is sort of an oddball comment, I know, but I love the illustration in this post and I wonder if you might let me borrow it for a post on my writing blog that, by way of example, talks about introverts:
http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/34
If you read the post, you can see that the picture you've got here is kind of perfect for mine, too. If you don't mind sharing, I'd most appreciate if you could drop me a note at 'jason -at- plottopunctuation -dot- com'
Thanks!
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