We explain what it means to be an extrovert and the characteristics of an extroverted person. Also, what is it to be an introvert.
What is it to be extroverted?
Someone is said to be extroverted or extroverted when their general personality traits tend to enjoy the company of others, activities outside the home and high levels of socialization. In other words, extroverts are those who recharge their emotional and mental energy when they are in the presence of others. It is the complete opposite of introverts.
It is worth clarifying that, according to the Royal Spanish Academy, both the terms extrovert and extrovert are acceptable, although the latter is preferred in academic and cultured environments, as it is more faithful to the original formulation of these psychological concepts. The same does not happen, however, with introverts.
Extroversion and introversion are personality typologies formulated by the doctor and psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) in his work Psychological Types (“Psychological types”) of 1921. In this work the Swiss scholar proposes them as “poles” of the personality: the one that tends towards the outside world (extraverted, that is, turned outward) and the one that tends towards the world. interior (introvertthat is, poured inward).
Furthermore, Jung combined these poles with four main functions of consciousness: two of them perceptive or irrational, which would be intuition and sensation; and two of them are judging or rational, which would be thought and feeling. So, with respect to the extroverted attitude, there could be four psychological types:
- Extraverted-thinking. People who are guided in life by a set of stable, invariable rules and principles, and who are interested above all in reality.
- Extravert-feeling. Conventional people, interested in social and personal success, and who are generally well adapted to their times. They are prone to fads and tend toward the fickle.
- Extravert –sensation. Practical and stubborn people, who accept the world as it is, and are interested more than anything in the experiential phenomena of reality.
- Extravert-intuition. People with leadership capacity and a “sixth sense”, who tend to be attracted by novelty and opportunity.
In all these cases, the common trait is extraversion, that is, the prioritization of external life over the internal world.
See also: Psychology
Characteristics of an extroverted person
Broadly speaking, extroverted people tend to be:
- Very sociable able to enjoy group activities and tasks in which they must perform in front of others.
- Active and energetic with a tendency to enjoy the external world and physical activities.
- Charismatic with leadership, problem-solving and dialogue skills.
- More energetic when meeting people and less energetic when alone.
extrovert and introvert
Introversion is exactly the opposite of extraversion, and they are fundamentally distinguished in that Introverts privilege their inner world over the social and external world which is why they “recharge their energy” when they are alone, in comfortable environments with low social activity.
Introverts, therefore, tend more toward reflection, inner contemplation of their thoughts and emotions, while extraverts feel more comfortable dealing with the real world and with others.
References
- “Introversion and extraversion” on Wikipedia.
- “Introverts vs. Extroverts, what makes us different? in La Vanguardia (Spain).
- “Extraverted -da” in the Pan-Hispanic Dictionary of Doubts of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Extroversion” in Psychology Today.
- “Introvert and Extrovert” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
