Introversion

[GWhizz]

I'd say I'm a highly sensitive person, which would give the impression of an introvert. But I don't like the definition of introversion. It just has negative connotations and I can't say that I agree that it's a real characteristic. I've been reading a lot on this lately and 'hsp' seems so much more plausible when you consider society's pressures and expectations on people to fit in to every new situation. Especially people with pre-existing conditions such as ptsd.

 

[Deleted member 19804]

But I don't like the definition of introversion. It just has negative connotations and I can't say that I agree that it's a real characteristic.

Exactly!
I study psychology and I am often confronted with those connotations. Some of them may be a little true, in some cases, but introverts really are generalized as being shy or uninterested in social interaction.

 

[ihateusernames]

Introverted, but not shy at all. Extremely awkward, but it doesn't really give me anxiety. It did in like, middle school when everybody cares about that stuff, but I'm pretty comfortable with my level of weird now.

Other things may cause anxiety and make me withdraw from society, but I don't think it's ever the social interaction itself. I just don't need or want a large number of friends or opportunities for socialization.

I believe in the classifications, but am annoyed by the way they're used. One is not better than the other or smarter than the other or weirder than the other. We're just different, y'know?

 

[ihateusernames]

Now that I've actually read the thread I can participate in the conversation instead of just throwing my opinion out there. lol

Yes, as introverts, we have indeed learned to adapt to an extroverted world as these are the traits that everyone seems to want----friends, employers, etc.

I wish I had a better memory. I read the book Quiet. A therapist my husband was seeing recommended it to him and then he passed it on to me. I'm not sure if she touched on it in the book or if it was something related to it that I read online around that time period. Anyway, the gist of what I read, wherever I read it, was that extroverted characteristics are only recently preferred, that things like silence and stoicism and introspection were much more highly valued in the past. That modern commercialism is what brought about the shift in the opposite direction. I found that really interesting. It makes a lot of sense to me. Of course, it does rest on how we want to define introversion/extroversion.

When I'm doing badly I may still be socializing, but my socialization skills are out the damn window.

Obviously I use the terms interchangeably (see post above) but I have argued the same point as the woman in your quote quite a few times before. speaking specifically of homeschooling. I don't feel that school is an ideal place to learn socialization skills and it seems that people confuse opportunities for socializing (which I would argue are constantly diminishing in schools, anyway, some elementary schools even have silent lunch periods now) with opportunities to gain socialization skills. But I know, this isn't a homeschooling discussion, so I'll move right along...

Same thing happens to me. I can fool anybody into believing I'm a perfect social butterfly on a good day, but during bad days I'm a bumbling idiot.

@Lemontree Yeah, I've had the Myers-Briggs test administered and have taken various forms of it from books and online. I'm always an INFP. I guess that means absolutely an Introvert. That's the one they call the "Idealist" type.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I am shy in new and unfamiliar social situations and I do feel so uncomfortable yet I can have casual conversations with strangers. I do better one on one. So I am an introvert.