Psychologists from the very beginning of the formation of this science tried to classify the characteristics of a person's personality according to certain criteria. One of these classifications is the type of temperament, which is based on the characteristics of the individual's nervous system. The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung proposed a different model based on the movement of psychic energy. From this point of view, 2 personal attitudes were identified:
- extraversion;
- introversion.
The nature of this phenomenon
Under the setting of consciousness is meant the attitude towards objects or the world. Introversion and extraversion are psychological ways of adapting a person to the world around him, while these two attitudes are characteristic not only of a person. According to Jung, everything in nature is divided into 2 groups. Features of the first - in the high rate of reproduction, which is accompanied by a low life expectancy of the individual and weak protective abilities. The second group are individuals who are self-sustaining in terms of self-preservation, but the level of fertility suffers from this. It is not so difficult to understand here that extraversion is the first type of behavior in nature, the essence of which isreproduction and dispersion of their energy in all directions, and introversion is the second, here the individual defends himself from any external influences, while spending a minimum of energy.
The interest of extroverts is directed to the outside world. In this case, other people and objects act as an object. This is how the so-called external reality manifests itself. For introverts, their inner world, their inner reality, is of interest.
Characteristic of extroverts
Knowing the basics of psychology, you can clearly distinguish between the features inherent in a particular type of personality. For an extrovert, the following is true:
- life revolves around external objects;
- the value of the objects with which such a person communicates increases;
- building object relations;
- people are empty for him, being only an object of observation;
- since the value of people for an extrovert is low, he himself tries to increase it;
- Despite their energy boost, extroverts get tired quickly. Due to the high energy costs of communication, they prefer to rest alone.
Characteristic of introverts
In turn, an introvert can be characterized by the following features:
- abstraction from the object, that is, the distraction of the libido from it;
- movement is directed to the inner world, away from the real;
- takes people personally;
- often objects for an introvert are hostile;
- the value of objects for sucha person is high, so he tries to lower their value in order not to become attached to them;
- if an introvert is not drawn into an active communication process, then an introvert feels great in noisy companies.
Internal motives
According to Jung, extraversion is sincerity, mobility, accommodating a person with others, easy adaptability to the situation. A nature with this type of personality quickly creates social ties and attachments, while easily discarding bad forebodings and fears. In an unfamiliar situation, an extrovert easily takes risks.
Introversion is characterized by a reflective, hesitant nature, striving for solitude. Such an individual tends to save himself by moving away from objects and almost always being in a defensive position.
The extrovert's perceptions, judgments, and actions are driven by external factors. Whereas an introvert is the complete opposite of this nature of things. In the eyes of an extrovert, a person with a different personality type is boring and predictable, spoiling the fun for everyone else. At the same time, an introvert who strives to be self-sufficient perceives people with the opposite type of psychological attitude as moody, superficial bums who are constantly trying to attract attention in any way possible.
Exploring extraversion and introversion
Psychologist Hans Eysenck deduced a pattern, according toin which the personality model can be characterized by two factors: personal attitude (extraversion / introversion) and stability. Such a system allows you to accurately determine the type of human temperament and its orientation. In this case, extraversion / introversion can be decomposed into 8 different models.
We talked about personal attitudes a little higher, so we will not dwell on them again. Much more interesting in this regard is the indicator of neuroticism. As Eysenck argued, temperament largely depends on the stability of a person. So, with high neuroticism, a person is characterized by unbalanced mental processes, instability of emotions and lability of the autonomic nervous system. An individual with this type of personality is excitable, with characteristic mood variability, suspiciousness, slowness and indecision. At the opposite pole of neuroticism is a personality characteristic with emotional stability, poise and determination.
Temperament
The introversion-extroversion and instability-stability scale is independent and bipolar. That is, it is quite possible to meet an introvert and an extrovert with both high rates of neuroticism and low ones. The character traits of individuals in this case will be very different. Most people have characteristics located around the center of the Eysenck scale. A strong distance to the poles indicates a deviation from the average value and, thus, the severity of personality traits.
WhenBy harmonizing this scale with four types of temperament, a direct relationship can be deduced. So, when moving along the horizontal axis from left to right, extraversion increases - this reflects the level of openness of a person. On the vertical axis from bottom to top you can see a decrease in stability.
According to Eysenck, temperaments can be described as follows:
- choleric - unstable, extroverted;
- sanguine - stable, extroverted;
- melancholic - unstable, introverted;
- phlegmatic - stable, introverted.
Introversion-extroversion - test
In order to accurately determine the type of psychological attitude of an individual, it is necessary to contact a psychologist who, on the basis of several tests, will be able to determine it as accurately as possible. For a quick check, you can use various questionnaires available on the Internet or thematic literature. They allow offhand to assess the personal qualities and orientation of the individual.
But it should be understood that the accuracy of such tests may be limited due to the sufficient complexity of determining psychotypes. After all, extraversion is not always a completely open type of person. There are a sufficient number of “steps” of psychological attitude. Thus, it is quite possible to meet an introvert who is distinguished by sociability and openness, and, conversely, a closed extrovert.
Conclusion
But be that as it may, the extraversion test will determine the strengths and weaknesses of the individual. This is primarily about the degreeexcitability, which directly affects the speed of perception and learning. Knowing a person's psychotype allows you to more correctly choose the type of activity and profession, and also helps to avoid conflicts when communicating with an individual of an absolutely opposite type.
