Understanding Introverts

September 18 by | 6 comments | Communication | Tags:
introverts

My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.

Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues.

Understanding introverts can be a hard task for some, particularly extroverts. We hate to polarize here but this difference, in ‘orientation’ as Jonathan describes, can cause obvious friction.

Here Jonathan discusses how introverts are different, why they may act certain ways and how to accommodate them. It’s a fun read for both opposites.


Caring for Your Introvert – [TheAtlantic]

  • http://mikkel.hoegh.org Mikkel Høgh

    I wonder how that picture ended up there – If I’m not very much mistaken, it’s taken from behind a bench where I enjoyed to sit. In Hillerød, north of Copenhagen, Denmark.

    The castle in the background is Frederiksborg, one of the many beautiful castles in the northern parts of Zealand.
    It’s also seen here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillerød

  • http://hongkongphooey.wordpress.com/ Hong Kong Phooey

    Interesting article. Still wondering whether I am one or not, hehe.

  • JMS

    Love the article! As an INTJ, I sympathize completely with the author. The world -would- be a calmer, saner, quieter place if introverts were in power. Then all these talking heads would have nothing to yap on ad nauseum about.

  • Daria Sofiyeva

    This article actually made me wonder if I have some introverted tendencies. Its hard to confuse with privacy/independence sometimes. Perhaps I have been wrongfully convincing myself otherwise all these years, just like the author… I suppose it comes down to knowing yourself well and being able to predict how you will interact with others in certain situations – whether you shelter yourself at all and enjoy it or see that tendency as a personal weakness.

  • http://rivercitywriter.com/ Adam Snider

    I read this article a long time ago, and actually blogged about it (on a blog that I no longer maintain)…mainly because I’m pretty introverted myself, and wanted my friends to understand that I’m not being anti-social, I just sometimes don’t have the energy to deal with people!

  • http://freewiipoints.net mattsos

    Thanks for the link to the article. Was looking for something like this.