Introverts: 4 characteristics that define them

The introverted personality is one of those that arouses the most interest both in the fields of differential and applied psychology and in popular culture. And it is that many people feel identified with the category of "introverts" based on the assessment they make of the way in which they relate to the environment and with others.

But…what exactly is being an introvert beyond that notion that it has something to do with shyness? Let's see it starting, first, with the most basic question of all.

• Related article: "The main theories of personality"

What is introversion?

Introversion is a concept originally coined by Carl Jung, known among other things for being one of the disciples of Sigmund Freud who ended up distancing themselves from his teacher. Jung created the categories of introversion and extraversion to refer to a duality of mutually psychological traits exclusive (although every introvert has something extraverted and vice versa) and that were based on an idea principal.

This idea was that introverts tend to focus their psychological activity on private and related mental processes only. with the environment indirectly, while introverts tend to seek external stimuli in the present, constantly.

Over time, the psychodynamic paradigm from which both Jung and Freud began to lose force, but in the second half of the 20th century, starting from a psychometric approach, psychology researchers differential, they kept the introversion-extraversion dialectic in force because they saw that it describes well the way in which a part of the human personality distinguishes us and explains trends in our behavior.

Specifically, both Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck, two of the main referents in the field of differential psychology, have used this category in their personality models. And they are not the only ones.

• You may be interested: "Carl Gustav Jung: biography and work of a spiritual psychologist"

Its relationship with shyness

Although it is very easy to confuse introversion with shyness, and in practice it is very easy for these two characteristics to occur at the same time in people are not technically the same, and it is not uncommon to find introverts who are not shy, although the reverse is more strange.

The main difference between introverts and shy people is that the former they don't have to worry about giving a bad imageNor do they have to have a certain respect for the situation of interacting with people they do not know. Their link to the "private" realm of their own mind is not the result of fear, but rather the way they process information in real time.

Characteristics of introverts

When it comes to describing the typical traits of introverts, the most common are the following.

1. They avoid being constantly in complex and changing environments

Introverts they feel a significant psychological drain if they have to be constantly involved in events that happen around them and that present a relatively high degree of uncertainty. For example, if they have to carry out full-time public-facing jobs.

That is why they need to "regain strength" away from those kinds of contexts.

2. They need to have time alone

Another characteristic of introverts is that they actively seek to reserve a time and a place to be alone. This not only has to do with the need to rest, but also, due to their way of being, a good part of the activities they consider to be the most motivating and stimulating are based on introversion and consequent try to have environments that are free from distractions.

This is something that especially affects relationships, and something that can cause problems if it collides with expectations of the other person, who may interpret this as a distancing or as a sign that the love bond is weak.

3. Tendency to associate with few people

This is another consequence of the way these people's minds work. As they especially seek stable environments and do not appreciate situations in which there is uncertaintyIntroverts prefer to associate with a rather small circle of friends, and not depend on many other face-to-face interactions with those outside of that group.

As a result, they are not usually very talkative or assertive people, preferring to maintain a low profile in their social relationships so as not to lengthen them too much and keep them simple, without complications.

4. They prefer the practical to the flashy

For introverts, social capital doesn't have much value beyond those with whom they have a strong emotional bond. So, the idea of ​​wanting to attract attention doesn't make much sense to them, and this even tends to be reflected in the way they dress, chosen not so much for its striking aesthetics as for practical use criteria, such as its comfort.