Are you shy … think again!
Shyness and introversion are widely misconceived concepts. People use them interchangeably as if they underlie a unitary notion. According to Oxford dictionary shyness is “the quality or state of being shy (nervous or timid in the company of other people)”. If you ask the American Psychological Association you will find that shyness is “the tendency to feel awkward, worried or tense during social encounters especially with unfamiliar people”. As an introvert myself, I don’t fall into either of these categories. According to Oxford dictionary, an introvert is a “shy, reticent person” however it has been estimated that 50 % of the US citizens are introverts (I am sure not all of them are shy and reticent). So what is the true meaning of introversion?
According to Carl Jung, an introvert is a person whose interest is generally directed inward toward his own feelings and thoughts as opposed to an extravert, whose energy is directed outward towards other people and social situation. Shyness is a leant psychological attribute however introversion is psychologically innate. So why is there a lot of confusion around these concepts? The reason is very simple… a lot of introverts are shy. This doesn’t however mean that both concepts are synonymous. There are many shy extraverts out there (a couple of you reading this probably fit into this category). Although psychological scales for shyness and introversion share some common items, the majority is quite different. This further proves that both constructs are different.
To finish off, I would like to debunk several widely believed myths about introverts. The most believed misconception about introverts is that they don’t prefer the company of others especially large groups of people. However this is completely incorrect. Introverts indeed enjoy the company of others (especially if they are people they like) however they find it exhausting to socially interact with large sums of people for long periods of time. Another myth is that introverts don’t like engaging in small talk. The truth is that introverts take solace in small talk, as it’s easy, non-intensive and doesn’t require a lot of energy. Finally, it’s commonly believed that introverts don’t make good leaders however this couldn’t be further from the truth. The list of introverted leaders is too long for this blog however some of its celebrated names include Bill Gates, Mark Zuckenberg and Barack Obama.
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