Introversion: Nature or Nuture?

**miffed23** · 10-26-2008 03:02 PM

Myers-Briggs Typology test breaks everybody down according to whether they’re closer to one or the other of the following pairs of characteristics: introverted/extroverted, intuitive/sensing, feeling/thinking, and perceiving/judging.

After a short test online, I ended up with the four letters I/I/F/J - my percentage for introvert was 92% which shocked me to the core, as i would have said i was extrovert to a certain extent... i am a bit mad

, as for intuitive, feeling and judging.. these didnt shock me, i can be extremely judgemental...but i usually have it under control..hahaha.

Apparently introversion/extroversion is due to differences in the nervous system. Extroverts tend to be cortically "understimulated" and thus seek out external excitement to maintain optimum levels while with introverts the reverse is true...

To make this thread have a purpose - do you think being an introvert is down to genetics or down to the society that we live in, or a combination of both?

Also, what are you?

**N01** · 10-26-2008 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by miffed23

Myers-Briggs Typology test breaks everybody down according to whether they’re closer to one or the other of the following pairs of characteristics: introverted/extroverted, intuitive/sensing, feeling/thinking, and perceiving/judging.

After a short test online, I ended up with the four letters I/I/F/J - my percentage for introvert was 92% which shocked me to the core, as i would have said i was extrovert to a certain extent... i am a bit mad

, as for intuitive, feeling and judging.. these didnt shock me, i can be extremely judgemental...but i usually have it under control..hahaha.

Apparently introversion/extroversion is due to differences in the nervous system. Extroverts tend to be cortically "understimulated" and thus seek out external excitement to maintain optimum levels while with introverts the reverse is true...

To make this thread have a purpose - do you think being an introvert is down to genetics or down to the society that we live in, or a combination of both?

Also, what are you?

I think you mean that you are a INFJ instead of a IIFJ. There are sites (and I remember not to link to them) that give a description of what the personality types mean, the kinds of professions certain types tend to have, and with what other types they are attracted to. I think they are called personality portraits or something like that.

Another thing to keep in mind is that certain aspects of the personality type can change over time, or even in a short time frame depending on mood and current "issues". The change usually isnt from E to I or I to E, but can be from a J to P or vice versa.

I generally test as a very strong ISTJ, which should come as no surprise if you know anything about me. Sometimes I test as a Strong IST with a mid-range P (that sounds too graphic!), but it's only when I'm having a mood or something has happened.

**miffed23** · 10-26-2008 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by N01

I think you mean that you are a INFJ instead of a IIFJ.

...i do..

Originally Posted by N01

Another thing to keep in mind is that certain aspects of the personality type can change over time, or even in a short time frame depending on mood and current "issues". The change usually isnt from E to I or I to E, but can be from a J to P or vice versa.

True, i read somewhere that its extremely difficult for an introvert to be extrovert.

My personality type shunts me to a scientific / educational based profession, which is correct...and cant you determine from your type, which type is favourable for a partner?

Introvert and extroverts are meant to be a poor match...for obvious reasons, by then my mother is extrovert and my father is incredibly introvert... maybe he just 'puts up' with her

**N01** · 10-26-2008 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by miffed23

my mother is extrovert and my father is incredibly introvert... maybe he just 'puts up' with her

probably! lol

**N01** · 10-26-2008 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by miffed23

True, i read somewhere that its extremely difficult for an introvert to be extrovert.

Almost forgot this part. It's a preference, not what you exhibit. A lot of the people I work and deal with think I an very extroverted, as I'm always talking and interacting with people. But my preference is introverted.

**SorridLives** · 10-26-2008 05:38 PM

I think it is a combo. I do think nuture probably has more to do with it overall.

**WildChild** · 10-26-2008 11:53 PM

My son was born an introvert, even at a couple months old he didn't want anyone outside family to look at him. He would turn his head away. At age three in swim class he would stand at the edge of the kiddie pool with his head down on his folded arms to avoid looking at or being seen by other people. I never pushed him to be social but as he got older did insist that he be at least polite enough to say hello when someone greeted him. He was always selective as to whom he interacted with and would observe them for a while before he decided if and how he would interact. He is a teen now and well adjusted, has no trouble talking with virtually anyone of any age. We moved before the school year started and he already has half a dozen buddies in his new school and told me the other day that the Honors English teacher had to limit the responses he could make in class because he was answering so much. This is the kid, teachers used to tell me they could hardly get two words out of! Is he an extrovert now? No, but he has developed the confidence and self assurance to be comfortable speaking and to be around new people and situations. I don't think this would have happened if he had been told his earlier behavior was "wrong".

People can learn to adjust and modify their behavior. Maybe the fundamental don't change but how well they cope does.

**N01** · 10-27-2008 04:38 AM

Originally Posted by WildChild

My son was born an introvert, ...

Is he an extrovert now? No,....

People can learn to adjust and modify their behavior. Maybe the fundamental don't change but how well they cope does.

That's it! You hit it exactly when you said "Maybe the fundamental don't change but how well they cope does."

Personality type is about preferences, not what you actually do. If he took the test, either on paper or one of the many on-line versions, he could test as either an E or an I. But all that shows is his preference.

People do modify their behaviors based on what they need to do to get by, but their preferences are another matter.

**anonymouswhitefemale** · 10-27-2008 07:04 AM

I did that test a while ago, if I remember correctly I am an ISTP.

As for nature versus nurture? I'd say both can completely accound for it. For example, an autistic kid is going to be quite introverted (even if loud and annoying), just like if someone who's been unloved as a kid, undernurtured etc. will be a bit of a reclusive introvert.

I'm introverted on a basic level, but I push for fun things to happen, I play life a bit like a game, I do things that result in me having fun. If that's talking to strangers, demolishing people in an argument or whatever then sobeit.

**Little** · 10-27-2008 07:25 AM

I test as an ENTJ all the time. All the bad mothering in the world didn't turn me introverted.
The ENTJ is called the "Field Marshall" according to the test I took, and everything they say about the Field Marshall is spot-on for me. I'm basically a slave driver

Has anyone taken the enneatype test? It's basically the same thing but there are fewer outcomes ... I'm an 8. If I knew anything about the test before I took it, I could have picked that one out too.

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MBTI isn't what you do or how you act, it's about preferences

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