Introvert, Extrovert or Ambivert

So I have recently been questioning just which one I am.  Introvert, Extrovert or Ambivert.  Now if you have known me as an adult you would probably say that I’m an Extrovert.  I am a social butterfly, always ready to talk to strangers, will go out and sit at a bar all by myself for dinner, and over all I just love meeting new and different people.  Now, if you knew me as a child you may say I was an Introvert.  I was pretty shy and quiet.  Although I was a talker, I was a big scaredy cat.  In kindergarten, I would go to the nurse’s office on a regular basis, sick to my stomach, but  I came to realize later it was just nerves.  I was the kid who would go to sleep over a friend’s for the night and once it was time to go to bed, I suddenly fell ill and needed mom to come pick me up.  I know if you didn’t know me then, you would never believe it.  Actually, I’m still this way.  If something bothers me or I’m afraid, I will get sick to my stomach.  I’m still somewhat of a scaredy cat.

So then I got to thinking, maybe I’m both.  Maybe I’m an ambivert.  So thanks to google I found this article on the Huffington Post telling me Yes, It’s Possible To Be Both An Introvert And An Extravert.  So I thought I would check it out.  According to this article it says, “Being an introvert or extravert isn’t just a question of how friendly or social you are. According to the “arousal model,” it’s more a matter of how stimulated you are, particularly in the neuron-dense neocortex of the brain, which acts as the center for higher mental functions such as spatial reasoning, conscious thought, language and sensory perception.”  I started thinking about this.  I do like to be social, however, big crowds like concerts, sports events and loud places do often drain me.  I need a good balance of social and quiet.  I need to recharge from time to time.  So I read a little further to discover the article then describes this “Ambiverts, by definition, are right in between the two when it comes to arousal — either because they go back and forth between being over and under the optimal level of arousal, or because they’re usually in the middle at a comfortable level of arousal — so they’re generally comfortable with a balance of both calmer and more stimulating experiences.”  Which totally makes sense.  Upon googling some more info I found one of those online quizes to tell me exactly which one I am.  The results are in and it says…I’m an introvert.  You can check them out here:  quiz results.

After all this research, I still haven’t quite decided which one is correct, although it is very interesting.  I guess I really don’t have to label myself as anything and I don’t have to fit every characteristic of any of them.  So, which one are you?  If you would like, take try the quiz here: Quiz

Sources/Links:

Huffington Post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/24/both-introvert-and-extravert-ambivert_n_6177854.html

http://www.quietrev.com/the-introvert-test/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=scaredy-cat

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

Photo Credit:  Nigel Fubara of Zoo Media