Introversion / Intraversion / Extroversion / Extraversion

[GOD]

Many people believe that Introverts energy is drained by social interaction while extroverts are energised by the same interaction.

Well, its only part of the story.

Consider this diagram



Also, this is my take on everything and from what I can decipher a here is a model of what is being defined when we talk of extroversion, extraversion, introversion and intraversion.

Consider this statement - Being Introverted is described as "less likely to seek stimulation from others because their own thoughts and imagination are stimulating enough" and "Introversion is generally not the same as shyness". "Introverts choose solitary over social activities by preference, whereas shy people avoid social encounters out of fear".

In my opinion the statement is confusing and misleading. Shyness is just a pronounced manifestation of the desire to choose solitary activities by preference. Shyness is the counterbalance against extroversion, it could make all the factors enabling successful extroversion to be negated and thus the person appearing and feeling introverted. However, in the appropriate setting with "shyness" lifted they could easily appear extroverted.

Factors enabling extroversion are features such as:

High tolerance for others views = generally a flexible view that is malleable to the group in which the participant wished to be part of. Mob mentality etc.

Social Skills = Refrain from actions that create divisions and display actions that allows the participant to be accepted by the vast majority of the group.

Socially beneficial traits = Have attributes that enhances the group or is desirable by factions of the group. E.g. as an obvious one "looks".

Group conformity = Do what is required, say what is required and act as required to enhance, maintain and accept the identity of the group.

If one or more of these factors is a sufficient barrier or negating factor then the person may well have a preference for and seek introversion.

In terms of Extraversion and Intraversion, this is more "internal thought" or thinking driven. This is not thinking in the classical Thinking versus Feeling trade off it is more of the understanding, pondering and analysing of information and experiences. Generally what I'd believe are the elements that build towards Intuition (Whether feeling or Thinking). Seeking Intraversion allows the person sufficient time and space to think and experience under their terms and conditions. Groups can relieve individuals of the requirement to think and given all the extrovert requirements of conformity etc this is very constraining on someone whom likes to think.

From my diagram you can be a combination of the factors. The respective combinations and counterbalances all come into play. Intuitives are more likely to be intraverts, also you can see some correlation with types, for instance an INTJ is likely to be manifestly introverted as 1) They have classical "Introverted features", they have their own views (Judgemental basically = J), they don't care for social skills, and they are not group conforming and 2) Because they like to think they are "Intraverted" and consequently intuitive.

Most extroverted types are likely to be ESFP (Extroverted & Extraverted) and most introverted INTJ (Introverted and Intraverted).

With a type such as ENTP I would expect the E and P to be Extrovert, with the N and T being Intravert. While Feeling (F) could be intraverted on the whole because its more outward looking and group "feeling" then on the whole it would less weighting towards extroversion/introversion and more likely to follow out more predominant attribute either Extrovert or Introvert.

Lastly, Shyness and similar types of emotional vulnerability is always the wildcard and potential conflicting to the external observation of the individual (E.g. Appears an Extrovert but acts as an introvert irrespective of whether they are intraverted or extraverted).

[GOD]

Hans Eysenck decribed the two opposing traits as a function of underlying physiology of the brain.

Extroverts seek excitement and social interaction in an effort to heighten their arousal levels, whereas introverts tend towards the opposite to keep such arousal to a minimum.

I believe there is a lot of merit in this proposition, however are the introverts more sensitised to social interaction and thus suffer burn out quicker (relative to extraverts) or more interestingly do introverts derive heightened arousal levels via other pathways in the brain and thus orientate themselves to "satiating" those.