Introverts: A Personality Analysis

To a significant degree, this is a personal one. But all the same, I try to make it entertaining and educational. In this article, there’ll be a lot of psychological jargon. I’ll try my best to make them as simplified as possible. So without further ado, I hope you have a swell time on this page.

Prologue

During the long break from university, I ventured into different areas of academia, ranging from biology, sociology, economics, history, politics, and the like… Psychology happens to be one of the fields I studied.

I looked into the works of great psychologists like Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Jean Piaget. I learnt significantly from them. Particularly how humans work, and why we behave in the ways we do. More importantly, how personality is both a biological makeup and partially a social construct.

Up until my entrance into the university, I never truly gave any consideration to the idea of personality. I carelessly threw around words like “introvert” and “extrovert”. Although as an adolescent, I understood that people were different in their ways, I never truly understood why.

Words like “personality” and “Introvert” were things I thought people said, just to be cool. While that was the case among many of my friends, the idea of personality never made enough sense to me until I studied it extensively.

Personality Traits

Do you ever wonder why some people behave in the ways they do? For example, I have friends who can never do without perfectly punctuating their sentences. A couple of said friends frown upon anything close to horrible structuring of sentences.

But you could say to me “Phaze, you beautiful bastard. Lots of people actually feel that way about disorganization of any kind. What makes them special?”. Then I might say to you that you are wrong. Not lots of people are like that.

Just as I have friends who can’t do without punctuating their sentences, I equally have friends who rarely punctuate their sentences, and disorganisation never bothers them. While texting your friends, try to see which one uses more punctuation than the other.

Of course, punctuation may not be a sufficient marker to determine a personality type. Why yes, that is true. But again, there are reasons people take personality tests. Whether to see the type of job they’ll fit into, the type of partner they should pursue, or generally just to understand themselves better.

Up to such people whether they are being dishonest about the tests. Or whether they are only answering questions based on their mood, as opposed to how they interact with other people on a subconscious and conscious level.

The people I just used for the punctuation example typically score high on the “conscientiousness” personality trait. I am already getting into the content of the article here, so let me move to the next segment.

The Big Five

The Big Five personality traits are five broad dimensions of personality that are used to describe human personality. They are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

Openness: refers to the degree to which a person is open to new experiences, ideas, and perspectives. People who score high in openness are curious, imaginative, and open-minded. Artists, for example, are usually high in this trait. People who are also quick to accept LGBT ideologies are also very open. Most liberals fall here.

Conscientiousness: refers to the degree to which a person is organized, reliable, and disciplined. People who score high in conscientiousness are responsible, dependable, and hardworking. Lawyers and mathematicians usually score high in this trait. Most conservatives fall here.

Extraversion: refers to the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and assertive. People who score high in extraversion are sociable, energetic, and confident. If you are exhausted by being around people, unable to talk to strangers, like being by yourself, etc… You score very low on this trait.

If instead, you can’t do without people, hate being by yourself, are usually the life of the party, are always outgoing, etc. You score high on this trait. There are usually two extremes here. You are either an Introvert or an extrovert, but you can learn to be both — a centrovert, otherwise an ambivert.

Agreeableness: refers to the degree to which a person is cooperative, trusting, and helpful. People who score high in agreeableness are considerate, kind, and empathetic. Men usually score very low on this, that’s why they are quick to get into fights.

This also explains why prisons have more male population. Women, in contrast, score high on this trait. Although in some households, roles are usually reversed. The mom usually takes the role of a strong figure that teaches discipline, and the dad takes the role of a calm gentle soul who pets the children.

Neuroticism: refers to the degree to which a person experiences negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and sadness. People who score high in neuroticism are more prone to experiencing negative emotions and may have a more sensitive and emotional personality.

Women score high on this trait. Globally, females are more likely to suffer from depression than males, with a global prevalence rate being 3.0% in females and 1.8% in males. After puberty, females experience more negative emotions than males. Although the suicide rate among men in the United States is over 3.5 times higher than that of women (according to Statista).

These traits are thought to be relatively stable over time and are believed to influence an individual’s behaviour and cognition. However, it’s important to note that individuals can exhibit different levels of each trait depending on the situation and context, especially in relation to their socialization.

Introverts

Introverts usually score very low on Extraversion. Typically, they score high on Agreeableness. They are usually tired after being in a crowd. An average Introvert needs to retreat into their comfort zone to recharge for about a day or ten. When they have guests over, they get impatient about the guests leaving, so they may have their privacy back.

You usually notice a kid either being an Introvert or an extrovert when you take note of their behaviour. A child that cries around strangers, hates being carried by other people, etc. Such a child is a typical example of an Introvert.

In a different child, you may notice that they are always happy and laughing around strangers. They long to be carried by people, always wrapping themselves around people who have come to visit. An extroverted kid who isn’t well socialized by the age of 4 usually doesn’t have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, so such a child grows up to be antisocial. Introverts can be the same too.

As a kid, an Introvert will always be advised to step out of the house. An extrovert will be advised instead to spend some time in the house. You could also see an Introvert running to their room when visitors are around. But obviously, the case is different for an extrovert.

An Introvert would usually prefer to work in a personal space. That’s where they maximize their time the most. There are some downsides to being an Introvert.

Oftentimes, you try to avoid confrontation or interaction with people, so you let them have their way. Then later, you hate yourself for never being able to speak up when you had something to say. You could hate other people for walking over you or never noticing you.

As an Introvert, your favourite musician is probably XXXTENTACION, Billie Eilish or JuiceWrld (usually among Gen-Z). Typically an artist who perfectly explains your life, either with their music or personality. Your favourite profile picture is an anime character or any of the Gen Z musicians, especially the ones that sing about depression. I know this because I was obsessed with Sasuke.

As an Introvert (more accurately a Gen Z), you’ll probably have a cringy write-up text about being weird as your wallpaper. This is not a general description of introverts, by the way. It is merely samples of traits you might find among introverts. Especially the Gen Z types. This is also a personal opinion. Not a general consensus.

Although the case is that you’ve probably grown past all these. But I’m very sure it was a phase. That’s not to say of course that an extrovert wouldn’t have all these qualities. But you must remember that I’m picking from the extreme, not the average person.

Socialization helps you enhance your Introversion or teaches you to be an extrovert. It is important to be omnivert but still maintain your uniqueness. Today, no matter how outgoing I could be, I enjoy being by myself. And if I had to choose, I’d choose to be in my room than be at a party. Let’s get into the next segment.

Life As An Introvert

Oh, to be an Introvert. Such shitshow my years as a teenager were. I pulled no girls, I had no game, my rizz game was bad, and I had no fashion sense… Generally, everything you can imagine a young Phaze to be. Everything except an extrovert.

I have reasons to believe that my parents probably questioned my sexuality at one point. No girls came to visit me, even though I was a class captain at least 4 times all my teenage years. I was so socially awkward that it pains me to think about it.

There was a time I went to see a movie at the cinema. Then this girl showed up out of nowhere to sit beside me. I had so many questions, like; why not there, or there, or there? Where is the camera, is this prank? What do she want?

I was uncomfortable. I couldn’t decide whether to talk to her or continue watching the movie. Ultimately, she politely asked me to open her drink for her.

I could swear that I had a mini-erection. It might have been an emergency-uncomfortable-what-should-i-do reaction. That’s never happened to me. I had no idea how to act. But I opened the drink for her anyway, and I continued watching the movie.

“Oh God, is she going to ask me to marry her next? What if someone dared her to talk to a random guy?”. I had lots of questions on my mind. But it is usually dark in the cinema, so it wasn’t too obvious.

There was a lot of back-and-forth checking out. She was checking me out, while I was just trying to see whether it was a prank. Or someone dared her to victimize me. When the movie ended, I immediately stood up and left the theatre. Till today, I can’t explain what came over me. The girl, I would wager, was only trying to be friends. And I was less ugly then, so, maybe that’s the case.

There have also been other instances where I was awkward. I had a legendary pickup line. It never worked, but I used it about 4 times. It was, “you look familiar”.

There was a girl I met around the University of Ibadan at 8 pm. I’d gone to buy a DVD. After I used the line on her, I spent the next 10 minutes trying to explain where I’d met her.

Blud, I didn’t know the girl from Adam. I was just trying to get her phone number. The chronicles of an Introvert. It was tough starting conversations and not being awkward about it. All thanks to God, I discovered my inner Yoruba demon and it’s all changed now.

I never truly got out of the Introvert stage until it was time for me to write exams for the university. That’s where I met my best friends. Today, we are all good friends and we helped each other grow in one way or the other. I also grew up to be a chronic gamer. I played games like Clash Of Kings, Call of Duty: Mobile, Mobile Legend: Bang Bang (the only multi-player game I still play), etc…

To a significant degree, I’ve been through it. But I have no regrets. Although, there was a beautiful woman that liked me because I was smart or some shit like that. I wish I dared to go along with her dictates. I could have probably lost my virginity sooner.

It became easier over time. For example, I had a friend invite me to his estate for his birthday. Some girl I liked happened to be there. Three guys and four girls. Towards the end, we had a truth or dare game, and it wasn’t so easy being among strangers like that. Especially given that it was an enclosed place. I was probably thinking five things per minute.

After the birthday event, I started talking to the people from the event, and from there, it got significantly easier talking to strangers and making new friends. The trick I learnt there is that I had to be out of my comfort zone. I needed to be in a place where I couldn’t predict all possible outcomes.

This worked well for me. I adapted to the setting, and I grew up, one might say. At the place where I was preparing for the entrance exam to university, I became a little confident. So I started going to other departments. That’s where I met my first crush. I think it’s fair to argue that I have had quite the experience.

Epilogue

Just like every good drama, Character Development is necessary. As an Introvert, you must learn to be assertive, and expressive, and most importantly, you must be able to step outside your comfort zone. You must grow.

Change might be difficult, but it is necessary. Sometimes, you need people who are different from you. Your partner doesn’t always have to be an Introvert like you. In most cases, you need people who think differently from you. Step outside, touch some grass. You are not a potato. Accept invitations to hangouts and the likes.

Introversion and extroversion are both unique personality traits. But there has to be a Ying Yang balance. An Introvert should learn to be extroverted. and vice versa. People on the extreme end of both traits need to learn to be the other, or often times — learn to be both. For life is uncertain, mastery of environments and how to adapt is necessary.

Dear extrovert, if you are reading this, one way to help your Introverted friend grow is to take them to new places. The reason we have anxiety usually is that we are in a place where our brain can’t predict all the outcomes. So, baby steps. Take them out to hangouts, then to parties, then other large gatherings.

I joined an organization that changed my life. The organization is AIESEC. Such an amazing community of people. It has helped me in such wonderful ways that I can’t imagine. So, if you are an Introvert, join a community, or a local club. Meet strangers, and learn to be comfortable.

If this article was a bit anticlimactic, for that I apologize. I’m still working on how I can imbibe entertainment in educational articles. I hope you stick around for subsequent articles.

Thank you for reading through. I hope you enjoyed this article. If you do, please feel free to share with your friends, Introverted or extroverted.

You may leave comments about your favourite part, or criticisms of this to write up. I will be writing about extroverts in my next piece. I hope you stick around. See you again next week. Cheers!