Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chimeracoder 3434 days ago
> Extroverts are 'outwardly focused' - meaning 'present' - paying attention to others, the world around them. Introverts are 'inwardly focused', more in their heads. Obviously, people can do both - but extroverts have a lifetime of skills in 'relationship management'. They know how to do small talk, how to set the mood, how to change the subject, how to engage with a difficult subject.

This is a common misconception, but that's actually not how the words "introversion" and "extraversion"[sic] are used either by Jung or by contemporary psychology. It's hard to classify the distinction in a single sentence, but to generalize: introversion and extroversion have more to do with how a person 'receives' external stimuli, not in how they react or respond to it.

Extroverts are not inherently better at "relationship management" skills like small talk, how to change the subject, or how to engage with difficult subjects.
2 comments
edblarney 3433 days ago
"introversion and extroversion have more to do with how a person 'receives' external stimuli, not in how they react or respond to it."

Yes - I understand the more precise popular definition.

But I believe that people who enjoy being around other people are far more 'present' than those who do not.

link
chimeracoder 3433 days ago
> But I believe that people who enjoy being around other people are far more 'present' than those who do not.

You may believe it, but that's not what the body of psychology research says.

link
johansch 3434 days ago
> Extroverts are not inherently better at "relationship management" skills like small talk, how to change the subject, or how to engage with difficult subjects.

Since this flies in the face of common sense (and my personal experience of 20 years in selling B2B software).. do you have any research to back up this claim? (Besides name-dropping Carl Gustav Jung.)

link
chimeracoder 3434 days ago
> do you have any research to back up this claim?

I'd recommend reading Susan Cain's Quiet as a starting point. It's very accessible for people without a background in psychology, and it references the original research where appropriate.

link