On my journey to self discovery I find this very interesting and amazed at how much i relate to the sentiments listed here.I am not anti social,amazingly I converse very well,but with limited people(takes time to make new friend circles) ,alone time is very fulfilling and peaceful.
huffingtonpost.com- Lists 23 signs of an introverted person-:reading through them I realized I am not an extreme introvert but all this made sense ,they way I behave and interact,there is nothing wrong with me,the introvert in me shines more than the extrovert
1. You find small talk incredibly cumbersome.
If chit chat along the corridors or during lunch breaks
seems to weigh you down, then most probably you are an innie. Most times I
prefer lying on my desk rather than chit chat away my lunch time. I don't hate people;
I realize it’s the load of the small talk I can’t handle.
2. You go to parties -– but not to
meet people.
If you're an introvert, you may
sometimes enjoy going to parties, but chances are, you're not going because
you're excited to meet new people. At a party, most introverts would rather
spend time with people they already know and feel comfortable around. If you
happen to meet a new person that you connect with, great -- but meeting people
is rarely the goal.
3. You often feel alone in a crowd.
Ever feel like an outsider in the middle
of social gatherings and group activities, even with people you know?
"If you tend to find yourself
feeling alone in a crowd, you might be an introvert," says Dembling.
"We might let friends or activities pick us, rather than extending our own
invitations."
4. Networking makes you feel like a
phony.
Networking (read: small-talk with
the end goal of advancing your career) can feel particularly disingenuous for
introverts, who crave authenticity in their interactions.
"Networking is stressful if we
do it in the ways that are stressful to us," Dembling says, advising
introverts to network in small, intimate groups rather than at large mixers.
5. You've been called "too
intense."
Do you have a penchant for
philosophical conversations and a love of thought-provoking books and movies?
If so, you're a textbook introvert.
"Introverts like to jump into
the deep end," says Dembling.
6. You're easily distracted.
While extroverts tend to get bored
easily when they don't have enough to do, introverts have the opposite problem
-- they get easily distracted and overwhelmed in environments with an excess of
stimulation.
"Extroverts are commonly found
to be more easily bored than introverts on monotonous tasks, probably because
they require and thrive on high levels of stimulation," Clark University
researchers wrote in a paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology. "In contrast, introverts are
more easily distracted than extroverts and, hence, prefer relatively
unstimulating environments."
7. Downtime doesn’t feel
unproductive to you.
One of the most fundamental
characteristics of introverts is that they need time alone to recharge their
batteries. Whereas an extrovert might get bored or antsy spending a day at home
alone with tea and a stack of magazines, this sort of down time feels necessary
and satisfying to an introvert.
8. Giving a talk in front of 500
people is less stressful than having to mingle with those people afterwards.
Introverts can be excellent leaders
and public speakers -- and although they're stereotyped as being the shrinking
violet, they don't necessarily shy away from the spotlight. Performers like Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera and Emma Watson all identify as introverts, and an estimated 40 percent of CEOs have introverted personalities. Instead, an introvert might
struggle more with meeting and greeting large groups of people on an individual
basis.
9. When you get on the subway, you
sit at the end of the bench -– not in the middle.
Whenever possible, introverts tend
to avoid being surrounded by people on all sides.
"We're likely to sit in places
where we can get away when we're ready to -- easily," says Dembling.
"When I go to the theater, I want the aisle seat or the back seat."
10. You start to shut down after
you’ve been active for too long.
Do you start to get tired and
unresponsive after you've been out and about for too long? It's likely because
you’re trying to conserve energy.
Everything introverts do in the outside world
causes them to expend energy, after which they'll need to go back and replenish
their stores in a quiet environment, says Dembling. Short of a quiet place to
go, many introverts will resort to zoning out.
11. You're in a relationship with an
extrovert.
It's true that opposites attract,
and introverts frequently gravitate towards outgoing extroverts who encourage
them to have fun and not take themselves too seriously.
"Introverts are sometimes drawn
to extroverts because they like being able to ride their 'fun bubble,'"
Dembling says.
12. You'd rather be an expert at one
thing than try to do everything.
The dominant brain pathways
introverts use is one that allows you to focus and think about things for a
while, so they’re geared toward intense study and developing expertise, according to Olsen Laney.
13. You actively avoid any shows
that might involve audience participation.
Because really, is anything more
terrifying?
14. You screen all your calls --
even from friends.
You may not pick up your phone even
from people you like, but you’ll call them back as soon as you’re mentally
prepared and have gathered the energy for the conversation.
"To me, a ringing phone is like
having somebody jump out of a closet and go 'BOO!,'" says Dembling.
"I do like having a long, nice phone call with a friend -- as long as it's
not jumping out of the sky at me."
15. You notice details that others
don't.
The upside of being overwhelmed by
too much stimuli is that introverts often have a keen eye for detail, noticing
things that may escape others around them. Research has found that introverts exhibit increased brain activity when
processing visual information, as compared to extroverts.
16. You have a constantly running
inner monologue.
“Extroverts don’t have the same
internal talking as we do,” says Olsen Laney. “Most introverts need to think
first and talk later."
17. You have low blood pressure.
A 2006 Japanese study found that introverts tend to have lower blood pressure
than their extroverted counterparts.
18. You’ve been called an “old soul”
-– since your 20s.
Introverts observe and take in a lot
of information, and they think before they speak, leading them to appear wise
to others.
"Introverts tend to think hard
and be analytical," says Dembling. "That can make them seem
wise."
19. You don't feel "high"
from your surroundings
Neurochemically speaking, things
like huge parties just aren’t your thing. Extroverts and introverts differ
significantly in how their brains process experiences through "reward"
centers.
Researchers demonstrated
this phenomenon by giving Ritalin -- the ADHD drug
that stimulates dopamine production in the brain -- to introverted and
extroverted college students. They found that extroverts were more likely to
associate the feeling of euphoria achieved by the rush of dopamine with the
environment they were in. Introverts, by contrast, did not connect the feeling
of reward to their surroundings. The study "suggests that introverts have
a fundamental difference in how strongly they process rewards from their
environment, with the brains of introverts weighing internal cues more strongly
than external motivational and reward cues," explained LiveScience's Tia
Ghose.
20. You look at the big picture.
When describing the way that
introverts think, Jung explained that they're more interested in ideas and the
big picture rather than facts and details. Of course, many introverts excel in
detail-oriented tasks -- but they often have a mind for more abstract concepts
as well.
"Introverts do really enjoy
abstract discussion," says Dembling.
21. You’ve been told to “come out of
your shell.”
Many introverted children come to
believe that there's something "wrong" with them if they're naturally
less outspoken and assertive than their peers. Introverted adults often say
that as children, they were told to come out of their shells or participate more in class.
22. You’re a writer.
Introverts are often better at communicating
in writing than in person, and many are drawn
to the solitary, creative profession of writing. Most introverts -- like "Harry
Potter" author J.K. Rowling
-- say that they feel most creatively charged when they have time to be alone
with their thoughts.
23. You alternate between phases of
work and solitude, and periods of social activity
Introverts can move around their
introverted “set point” which determines how they need to balance solitude with
social activity. But when they move too much -- possibly by over-exerting
themselves with too much socializing and busyness -- they get stressed and need
to come back to themselves, according Olsen Laney. This may manifest as going
through periods of heightened social activity, and then balancing it out with a
period of inwardness and solitude.
"There's a recovery point that
seems to be correlated with how much interaction you've done," says Dembling. "We all have our own private cycles."
I may not be all these characteristics,like I do not have low blood pressure,but I associate with most of them.What a nice feeling when we understand ourselves and understand other people as well.
