Psychologists from the very beginning of the formation of this science have tried to classify the characteristics of a person’s personality according to certain criteria. One of these classifications is the type of temperament, which is based on the characteristics of the individual’s nervous system. Swiss psychologist Carl Jung proposed a different model based on the movement of psychic energy. From this point of view, 2 personality attitudes were identified:
- extraversion;
- introversion.
The nature of this phenomenon
By the installation of consciousness is meant the relation to objects or the world. Introversion and extraversion are psychological ways of adapting a person to the world around him, while these two attitudes are not unique to man. According to Jung, everything in nature is divided into 2 groups. Features of the first - in the high speed of reproduction, which is accompanied by a low life expectancy of the individual and weak protective abilities. The second group is self-sustaining individuals in terms of self-preservation, but the fertility rate suffers from this. It is not so difficult to understand here that extraversion is the first type of behavior in nature, the essence of which is to multiply and dissipate one’s energy in all directions, and introversion is the second, here the individual defends himself from any external influences, while spending a minimum of energy.
Extrovert interest is directed to the outside world. In this case, other people and objects act as an object. Thus, the so-called external reality is manifested. Introverts are interested in their inner world - inner reality.
Characteristics of extroverts
Knowing the basics of psychology, you can clearly distinguish between the features inherent in a particular type of personality. For an extrovert, the following is true:
- life revolves around external objects;
- the value of objects with which such a person communicates increases;
- building object relations;
- people are empty for him, being only an object of observation;
- since the value of people for an extrovert is low, he himself tries to increase it;
- Despite the charge of energy, extroverts get tired quickly. Due to the high energy costs of communication, they prefer relaxation alone.
Introvert Characteristics
In turn, the introvert can be characterized by the following features:
- abstracting from the object, that is, diverting the libido from it;
- movement directed to the inner world, away from the real;
- perceives people personally;
- often objects for introvert are hostile;
- the value of objects for such a person is high, so he tries to lower their value so as not to become attached to them;
- if the introvert is not involved in the active process of communication, the introvert feels great in noisy companies.
Internal motives
According to Jung, extroversion is frankness, mobility, covetousness of a person with others, easy adaptability to a situation. Nature with this type of personality quickly creates social ties and affections, while easily casting off bad forebodings and fears. In an unfamiliar situation, an extrovert easily takes risky undertakings.
Introversion is characterized by a reflective, wavering nature, striving for solitude. It is typical for such an individual to maintain himself, moving away from objects and almost always being in a defensive position.
The driving force for the perception, judgment and actions of the extrovert are external factors. Whereas an introvert is the exact opposite of this nature of things. In the eyes of an extrovert, a person with a different type of personality is boring and easily predictable, spoiling the pleasure of everyone else. At the same time, an introvert who seeks to be self-sufficient perceives people with the opposite type of psychological attitude as capricious, superficial loafers who are constantly trying to attract attention by any possible means.
Study of extraversion and introversion
Psychologist Hans Eisenck deduced a pattern according to which a personality model can be characterized by two factors: a personal attitude (extraversion / introversion) and stability. Such a system allows you to accurately determine the type of human temperament and its orientation. In this case, extraversion / introversion can be decomposed into 8 different models.
We talked about personality attitudes a bit higher, so we will not dwell on them again. Much more interesting in this regard is the indicator of neuroticism. According to Eisenck, temperament largely depends on human stability. So, with high neuroticism, a person is characterized by an imbalance of mental processes, instability of emotions and the lability of the autonomic nervous system. An individual with this type of personality is highly excitable, with characteristic mood variability, suspiciousness, slowness and indecision. At the opposite pole of neuroticism is a personality profile with emotional stability, poise and determination.
Temperament
The scale of introversion-extroversion and instability-stability is independent and bipolar. That is, it is quite possible to meet an introvert and an extrovert with both high rates of neuroticism and low. Character traits of individuals in this case will be very different. Most people have characteristics located around the center of the Eysenck scale. A strong distance to the poles indicates a deviation from the average value and, thus, the severity of personal properties.
When matching this scale with the four types of temperament, a direct relationship can be derived. So, when moving along the horizontal axis, extroversion increases from left to right - this reflects the level of openness of a person. On the vertical axis from the bottom up, you can see a decrease in stability.
According to Eysenck, temperaments can be described as follows:
- choleric - unstable, extrovert;
- sanguine - stable, extrovert;
- melancholic - unstable, introverted;
- phlegmatic - stable, introverted.
Introversion-extraversion - test
In order to accurately determine the type of psychological attitude of an individual, it is necessary to turn to a psychologist who, on the basis of several tests, will be able to accurately determine it. For a quick check, you can use various questionnaires available on the Internet or in the literature. They allow you to randomly evaluate the personal qualities and orientation of the individual.
But it is worthwhile to understand that the accuracy of such tests may be limited in view of the sufficient complexity of determining psychotypes. After all, extraversion is not always a completely open type of person. There are a sufficient number of "steps" of the psychological attitude. Thus, it is quite possible to meet an introvert, which is characterized by sociability and openness and, conversely, a closed extrovert.
Conclusion
But be that as it may, the test for extraversion will determine the weaknesses and strengths of the individual. This primarily relates to the degree of excitability, which directly affects the speed of perception and learning. Knowing a person’s psychotype allows one to choose the type of activity and profession more correctly, and also helps to avoid conflicts when communicating with an individual of the completely opposite type.