Journal Entry #2 - The Power Of Introverts!

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Finch, A., 1960).

Objective Questions: Begin with Data, Facts, External Reality

Personality is defined as: “the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s unique character” (Robinson, J., 2014). Extraverts and Introverts are considered the Yin & Yang of our personality, with introverts being the Yin to the extroverted Yang side of the population.  Introverts constitute about one third of the world population.  This journal entry is based on my reflection on Susan Cain’s TED talk, “The Power of Introverts” and on her book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Doesn’t Stop Talking. She starts the presentation by reflecting on her summer camp experience at an early age where she was encouraged to be ‘rowdy’ at all times and to actively participate in group activities when preferred to be alone, reading her books instead.    

Reflective: What are my initial feelings about the video?

My initial reaction was that of awe. After watching Cain’s presentation, all I could think about was how her own childhood journey matched mine. I was often shy, and never possessed a loud and outgoing personality. Today, I have no issues communicating or socializing, but it certainly is not my natural response. After listening to Cain’s journey to being a high powered Wall Street lawyer, I was suddenly possessed by an urge to find out more about myself. I wanted to know where I fell in the extrovert-introvert continuum. I knew I possessed a more introverted personality, but Cain’s presentation ignited a long dormant curiosity.  Thus, I took the introvert/extrovert quiz posted on https://psychologies.co.uk/self/are-you-an-introvert-or-an-extrovert.html.  Despite having thought originally that I only mildly possessed some of the introverts’ personality, the result suggested that I am in fact an extreme introvert. Originally, this took me by surprise, nonetheless the results affirmed why I was neither as outgoing nor talkative as my parents would have liked me to be during my youth. However, it suddenly occurred to me that this was likely the reason why I had so few friends and were quite selective in choosing them in the first place. One point I found myself nodding was to Cain’s statement about how lifestyle and culture has a profound influence on our level of introverted or extroverted (ness) and how much of those aspects we exhibit in our daily lives. Still, what angered me was learning about the stigma that is still attached to introversion. I did not like the fact that such a dominant aspect of my personality is looked down upon, especially in light of my past achievements and successes. Why should my personal value be determined by how much I could talk without annoying someone else? It also suddenly dawned upon me how culture had long influenced the way I think feel and interact socially. When I was a youth in Iran, men were (still are really) mostly in charge of economics and education, making introversion almost default for women there. Even though in modern Iran, women have started finding their own voice, only a few have found the recognition that they deserve, such as Shirin Ebadi for her work in law, promoting women and children’s rights and Maryam Mirzakhani who won the nobel prize in mathematics. Their achievements make certainly emphasize the power of introverts whether they are artificially created by culture or just born that way.

Interpretive Questions: Draw out the meaning, Values, Significance, Implications

            After thinking about the topic for some time, I started to really think about whether Cain was right or whether society was right. Was it really more important to get along with society or to engage in quiet contemplation? The conclusion I came to was that it was important to have a balance. North America’s obsession with extroverts comes with a price; introverts get relegated to unimportant positions and roles without ever having revealed their true potential. This is a social and talent goldmine that society is neglecting. Instead of pushing people like myself away, society should be looking for ways to properly integrate and utilize our skills. Research on this topic shows that strong organizations have human resources specialists that help recruits choose their roles and align with personalities types that would enhance their productivity (Karimi, 1996). However, as much as I would like to espouse further on Cain’s points, I do recognize that extroversion is an important aspect of human nature too. Just thinking about society makes me realize how little humanity would achieve if we were unable to efficiently communicate. Some of the best inventions would have never seen the light of day as they collected dust within our minds.

In addition, extroverts tend to live more healthy lives as they tend to vocalize concerns and thus receive more assistance and social support, leading to longer lives (Grainge et al, 2000).  As such, the implications of this of course is that in fact personality types is not only one of the fundamental issues in psychology but also must be given a lot more attention and focus in the workforce as well as in academia. It is through this significant importance that the relationship between culture and personality type have found a rather special place in research in the field of humanities as well as in social science.

Decisional Questions: Bring the Conversation to a Close, Eliciting Resolution to Make a Decision About The Future.  (What are you going to do about it, what is your personal position on it?)

In conclusion, I believe that Susan Cain’s presentation outlined the dichotomy between different personality types quite well, while highlighting a few reasons behind the extrovert dominance in our society. While she managed to give a few ideas as to how this shift in focus could be possible, I believe that all individuals possess both introvert as well as extrovert qualities within themselves, therefore it is necessary to cultivate both sides in order to achieve flexibility in a dynamic environment, which much of North America is. This type of thinking is also important in the role of Childhood Education. The current model is terribly didactic and essentially hoists social expectations upon the child, instead of letting them recognize their own potential. However, as an educator I have noticed that the point of education is to prepare a student for the rigours of surviving in society, so it is necessary to adhere to a standard, but not so much that it throttles the abilities of a child. We live in a time of great prosperity, but it is also a time that is rife with conflict and potential worldwide catastrophes, humanity must harvest the most from our greatest resource: our children. I’m quite proud to be a natural introvert; it has brought me to where I am today. However, to be a proper child educator, I cannot sit comfortably in the confines of my own thoughts. Instead, I must reach deep within and present my inner extrovert in order to ensure that the children under my care find a balance in their lives.

References

Bergin, J. (2006). Introvert-Extrovert, Pace University, Last Updated for content: 
      March 24, 2003(For form January 12, 2006)

Briggs, M. (2013). On Ambiverts: Why Distinguishing Between Extroverts and 
      Introverts is Inadequate. Retrieved From: http://diplateevo.com/on-ambiverts
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De Dreu,K., Bechtoldt, M.N, & Nijstad,B.A. (2003). Diversity and the Creative 
    Capacity of Organisations and Teams, Sustainable Development in a
    Diverse World (SUS.DIV) Position Paper of Research Task 3.2, University of
    Amsterdam, Department of Psychology, the Netherlands

Grainge, M.J., Brugha, T.S., & Spiers, N. (2000). Social Support, Personality 
    and Depressive Symptoms Over 7 Years: The Health and Lifestyle Cohort. Soc. 
    Psychiatry Psychair Epidimol, no.35. p. 366-375.

Karimi, Y. (1996). Personality Psychology. Tehran, Publication of Virayesh.

Mulligan , R. (Director), & Pakula, A. (Producer). (1962). To kill A Mockingbird 
    [Motion Picture]. Pakula-Mulligan Brentwood Productions, Universal Pictures, 
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Robinson, J. (2014).  How to thrive in an introverted /? Extroverted workplace, 
    Published in Phys.Org

Soufi, M. (2012).  The Studying of the Relationship between Personality Type 
    (Extrovert or Introvert) and the Personals Organizational Citizen Behavior, 
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