Extroversion, Introversion & Ambiversion

River

Active member
Which are you, introvert, extravert, ambivert?

I'm a lifelong introvert trying to become more ambiverted in various ways. I can be, in some respects, surprizingly outgoing. But I remain basically shy-ish, and it makes it hard for me to meet new people and get to know them. I thought it might help to talk about this stuff here, as I need to gain perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraversion_and_introversion
 
I'm an extrovert, but I can be shy in group situations where I don't understand the social dynamic or feel actively not a part of the group.
 
I think I am an Ambivert. I can be extrememly social but don't actively seek out social settings. I'm a loner by nature but seem to be able to blend in almost any social setting.
 
I am very much on the line. I find my most perfect rejuvination when I have a group of people around me all doing their own thing but just being together. My job fulfills that to a large extent. I'm lucky that way.
 
I feel extroverted and introverted in different ways. I think of myself as fairly shy, and I'm not really comfortable being thrown into social situations where I don't know anyone and meeting people on my own. But I do like going out and being around other people often as long as I'm with at least one person I already know, and once I've been introduced to someone as a friend of a friend or as part of a group I'm involved with, I'm plenty talkative and friendly.

I'm definitely extroverted in the sense that I prefer to recharge and get energy and/or process things I'm dealing with by spending time with other people I'm close to and having conversations with them rather than by spending time thinking or relaxing alone.
 
I read that and asked myself "Do I like to touch other people more, touch myself, or like to touch others and myself at the same time?"

<ahem>

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.
 
I am mostly an introvert in that I like to stay at home , but there are times that I just need to get out and be with people. Being bipolar but medicated make me the official introverted extrovert! hehehe
 
ambi...vert? what???? i know introvert, i know extrovert..... whats this third one?
 
i am a pretty classic ENFP when things are going good, but when i am stressed, tired or PMSing i swing 'round into INFP. not surprising, since apparently, "unlike other extroverted types, ENFPs need time alone to center themselves" (source).

i can really recharge in either environment. it's all about adjusting my expectations appropriately. which i excel at. :)
 
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Ummm are you even in the right thread :p...:D

Sure am. I think I'm an ambivert--it's as much fun to touch myself as to touch others!

:eek:
 
I suspect most folks (I'm guessing!) are plenty okay about where they are on the introversion-to-extroversion spectrum, but lately I'm feeling rather boxed in as a result of my having been a lifelong introvert.

Well, I'm on my way toward ambiversion, I suspect -- and I have no doubt that a lot of folks will see me as quite extroverted, until they get to know me well. That's as a result of my being much more assertive than passive. I'm probably much more assertive than the average person. But I'm also, in some respects, probably more shy, too.

Actually, I can surprise people with my occasions of extroversion, my willingness to talk with strangers, my ability to create quick rapport with people, etc. So even I am having a little bit of a challenge understanding my shyness, which is also there.

Maybe it all roots in my childhood -- when I was the proverbial Boy Never Chosen for obligatory schoolyard ball play. That sort of thing. I was a mess, then. Trodden down at home and on the school yard. A bedwetter, a scrawny scardycat boy who made up stories about pirate treasure to try to win friends. I used to have a beadspread with football helmets on it even though I neither understood nor cared for football. I'd do anything to win the acceptance and appreciation -- the love -- that was so foreign and strange to my longing heart.

Ooops! See, there I have gone and done it again. I seem to extravert my introversion. I'm a pro!
 
Maybe it all roots in my childhood -- when I was the proverbial Boy Never Chosen for obligatory schoolyard ball play. That sort of thing. I was a mess, then. Trodden down at home and on the school yard. A bedwetter, a scrawny scardycat boy who made up stories about pirate treasure to try to win friends. I used to have a beadspread with football helmets on it even though I neither understood nor cared for football. I'd do anything to win the acceptance and appreciation -- the love -- that was so foreign and strange to my longing heart.

It probably does have roots in childhood. I was an introvert for a long while. There was a time in my childhood where the only safe course of action was to not get noticed. If I got noticed, it generally resulted in abuse. That resulted in years of working to not get noticed in any situation in which I was unsure of how I might be viewed.

It took many years of adulthood before I figured I was safe if I got noticed. Now I can play inside my head or outside with others as I please.
 
It took many years of adulthood before I figured I was safe if I got noticed. Now I can play inside my head or outside with others as I please.

Congratulatoins, AT! (And a touch of envy.) I'm working and playing
toward such freedom.
 
I'm an extrovert, with an introvert mind. In my head I'm shy, self-conscious, a loner, pessimistic, and just generally unsure of myself. But publicly I come off as a friendly people-person. I have always gotten along with most people, make friends easily, I have always had fun with my coworkers no matter where I worked, and have no reservations about talking to strangers (all of our friends are just strangers that we talked to... maybe our parents had it wrong ;-) ) but when I need to be introverted and just have time to myself, the contradiction of my physical personality as opposed to my mental personality just causes stress and pressure because I'm now expected to be the life of the party and keep everyone laughing, even at times where I don't even want to smile... it's frustrating to say the least -_-

side note, what does these 4letter combinations mean as related to your personality type??? I'd like to find out what I am :)
 
I figure I am an ambivert. Didn't know there was a word for it. I get energy equally from group situations and from "me time." I belong to a support grp and no matter how depressed or stressed I feel before i go, I always feel up and energized afterwards. However, if I am around family too much, I really need to be alone now and then... I get to feeling drained when there are too many demands on my time and energy. A day to myself is nice then, but if not possible, an hour or two at the gym or with a book helps a lot.

WTH, that personality type website charges $5 to take their damn quiz!
 
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