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
