I seem to have started an association

[firecat]

On a local mailing list recently, there has been a discussion of Myers-Briggs, and someone posted that she had become more extroverted as her confidence increased. I posted the following:

The Association of Introverts Educating Everyone (AIEE) would like to
congratulate [name] on her increase in confidence and also to offer the
following Public Service Announcement:

Improvements in confidence are not necessarily associated with becoming extroverted, and introversion is not necessarily associated with lack of confidence. Extroversion means being recharged by being around people. Introversion means recharged by being alone.

[/aiee psa]

ag_unicorn added AIEE to his interests list. So I added it to mine.

Feel free to join AIEE if you would like to see introversion better understood by society at large.

Comments

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

K.

I joined. :)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

So this means is is theoretically possible to have an outgoing extrovert?

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

So this means is is theoretically possible to have an outgoing extrovert?

[firecat]

It's possible to have a non-shy introvert. And a shy extrovert.

[ag-unicorn.livejournal.com]

*grins* Trust me to kick out the rock that was holding back the avalanche...

Besides the fact that it would be (IMO) a Good Thing to better understand introversion (and, by doing so, better understand extroversion), I liked the sound that pronouncing the acronym makes. I make that sound often. :)

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Oops. I meant to say "Outgoing introvert." But I thinks you've answered my question.

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Oops. I meant to say "Outgoing introvert." But I thinks you've answered my question.

[submarine-bells.livejournal.com]

The point is that shyness/social confidence and introversion/extraversion are somewhat orthogonal. Introversion != shyness. Some introverts are shy, some are not. Same as extraverts, really.

Item from an introvert

[tedesson.livejournal.com]

I'm rather introverted, but I can do lots of social stuff relatively well. It's mostly a question of getting balance in how I spend my time. For example, having an office in the same room as someone else adds quite a lot to my baseline stress level. (Not necessarily working with them, but merely being in the same room while working separately on projects. Cubefarms are evil.) Having my own office space means that work time can become social recharge time for me.

Caring for your Introvert (http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/03/rauch.htm) Jonathan Rauch, The Atlantic Monthly.

[firecat]

Yes, that is a very useful sound.

Re: Item from an introvert

[firecat]

You know, I'm mostly an introvert, but I actually prefer cubicles and open offices to a closed office - as long as my office mates are other introverts. I had that kind of work environment at Yale Press, and it was exquisite. A dozen of us working away silently, maybe once an hour one of us would go to another's desk to point out a particularly silly passage, chuckle quietly together, and go back to work.

That article is a bit overstated, but otherwise wonderful.

"I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."

"[Extroverts] are as inscrutable as puppy dogs."

"I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."

[bookofnights.livejournal.com]

I'm a proud introvert. (I rank at 100% introversion on the Myers Briggs survey.) I'm frustrated in the extreme by people that don't understand what "introvert" means. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, and I also got a major insight about the painful death of a wanna be relationship, so I'll stop here, add it to my interests and go rant in my own journal :)

[illandaria.livejournal.com]

I'm glad at least that my own definition of being an introvert works...People have told me all the time that I'm outgoing, but I have to deal with people in small doses, and I *need* my alone time.

BTW, we seem to have a lot of mutual friends, so I added you to my list. :)

[firecat]

I added you back!

Re: Item from an introvert

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this is me these days, too. I'm not shy now, nor have I ever been shy, but for a couple of years now I've been getting more and more introverted. I think this is due to a number of factors, some drastic, some gradual. I think it's okay (even a good thing!), as long as I retain my ability to be social when I need/want to be.

-J

Re: Item from an introvert

[tedesson.livejournal.com]

Jung's theory of Adult Developmental Psychology is that as we gain wisdom, we learn to rely less on those patterns which served us well as children and young adults, such as introversion, and come to rely more on different patterns such as extroversion.

I take this to mean that as we learn from situations we encounter through time, we have the choice of doing the things that we've always done, and getting the same results we've always had. Or the choice of doing them differently, to get different results, which requires different skills.

Jung's idea was that someone who was a strong Introvert, would develop more Extroversion, and become more balanced on the I/E scale. In Myers Briggs speak, I would be going from an INTP to an xxxx. I do know that as I grow older, I find having Extrovert skills to be much more useful than I used to.

Still working on that T/F thing.

Love and Kisses xxxx!

Re: Item from an introvert

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know about the theory that maturation leads to more balance (and there's a lot of stuff that doesn't jive between Jung's theory and actual research, but I really like that idea in principle). But what I meant was that I'd actually gone from being an extravert to being an *introvert*, quite strongly. All the way over to the other side of the spectrum with me!

Oh, and *smooches* back!

-J