Comments on: Does Life Make You an Introvert, or Is It in Your Genes?

By: Ace Amy

Ace Amy — Thu, 07 Dec 2017 19:03:00 +0000

Sources??? Please?

By: Gwen Howard

Gwen Howard — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 23:49:00 +0000

I’m an introvert and until just a few years ago I thought something was wrong with me because too much social activity wore me out and made me reclusive. I Googled information on my symptoms and to my relief found a wealth of information on introversion which not only put a name to the characteristics but assured me that I wasn’t just weird or crazy as some have called me. After reading your article I realized that I have a narrow tipping point which was developed because I spent a lot of time alone growing up. Although I had 2 brothers they were extroverts and never around. Both my parents worked so I was often on my own as a young child and teenager. Thank you for sharing this information.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 19:06:00 +0000

So basically, it depends a lot on whether one gets support and understanding from friends and family.

Of course I don’t remember my personality when I was four months old, but at a young age I was a goofball, always making up stories — noted on a Christmas card by my dad when I was 3 years old — but later in life when I was teased and laughed at at school, and didn’t get support from my parents, well, that’s when I started to think something was wrong with me.

50 years later, still trying to accept myself as I am.

By: Liz Thirose

Liz Thirose — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 05:50:00 +0000

Thanks for this very interesting text. I was looking for something that might help my mum understand. She’s always complaining about me being “like that”, and how did I become it. I guess she thinks she and my dad did something wrong, and it seems to be beyond her understanding that it’s just the way I am; that I am happy when I’m alone or do things alone (she’s the total opposite and thrives on social contact). I might just translate (we’re German) and give that text to her, maybe that’ll help her a bit.
As for the question at the end– I believe my range is wide, in theory. I can cope with quite a lot of social interaction for a short time, but it drains me. I have had positive experiences with adults when I was a kid; however, my experiences with kids my age were mostly negative (I was bullied most of my school years and had two or three friends, tops, that whole time).
So even today – being 30 now – I prefer interacting with people older than me, if I have to interact with anyone at all. I often notice myself being very cautious around people my age or younger, which in turn is even more draining. Generally, however, I prefer to just be alone, with myself and my hobbies. I like being with my partner, but even that can be exhausting at times; and after work, where I sit in a huge office with over 30 people I usually only feel good, if not “alive” again the moment I close my apartment’s door behind me and shut the world out.

By: samir64

samir64 — Thu, 03 Nov 2016 11:32:36 +0000

This range of introversion concept is quite interesting and true. I think I have a range too but its not much wide either, if not much narrow. What I’m even more interested in knowing is if I can push myself out of this range if I want to. Upbringing is an experience in the real world. What if I change my experiences by changing my environment? will it do any good in pushing myself out of introversion range? will it hurt me, if I did?

By: Matie Leaves

Matie Leaves — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 01:06:50 +0000

I was always an introvert (INFP), but until I was four I loved to go on adventures by myself. We lived in a small town while my father was away during WWll, and I used to take off and walk downtown by myself or try to climb the local “mountain.” Then we moved to the capitol city and the first kids I met told me they were going to hang me and that was that. No more peeps for me! So I guess that a pretty narrow set point. But I knew that, already, if not the term.

By: Andre Sólo

Andre Sólo — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 19:35:36 +0000

In reply to Megan.

Megan, imagine the set points as a range of how much social time you enjoy/need. For example, let’s say we could rank everyone’s social needs on a scale of 1 to 100, where 1 means you are a total hermit and 100 means you enjoy talking to people 24/7.

On that hypothetical scale, the idea is that one introvert might have their bottom “set point” at 10, and their top “set point” at 30. As long as they can get 10 to 30 points of social time per day, they are happy. If they get less than 10 they feel lonely, but more than 30 makes them feel exhausted.

A different introvert might need at least 20 points, but can deal with up to 45 points happily. This is the important thing about set points – different introverts have very different ranges, and some of us a “more” introverted than others.

An extrovert, on the other hand, might need at least 60 points of social time per day but can take up to 95 without getting exhausted.

That’s the way I picture it.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 17:22:25 +0000

Interesting article! I don’t quite understand the science behind the “set points”. This is the first I’ve read about that, so I’ll have to look into it more.

I think INFJs and ISFJs appear more social because of our Extroverted Feeling function, as well. I can spend days without talking to anyone and be perfectly content, but when I’m in a group I might appear more social compared to an ISTJ, for example, because I want to make other people feel comfortable and can tell that when I’m quieter, people (in general) feel less comfortable around me.

It seems almost like the idea of set points has less to do with introversion and extroversion, but how outgoing or quiet/shy someone may appear? I may be a social introvert, but still feel just as drained as the quiet introvert at the party.

By: Entirely Creative

Entirely Creative — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 20:37:38 +0000

This is interesting for me because for alot of my life I was more of an Ambivert (specifically up to adolescence) with my parents both being quite Extroverted but later on I began to become more and more Introverted which shows that genetics isn’t everything!

By: Rhona

Rhona — Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:42:04 +0000

It is an interesting article. I wonder if, because I love to connect with people and hear their stories (INFP) I tend to hang about at the top of my set point, and sometimes go over it, getting ‘burnt out’ suddenly and without warning. Because people think of me as social they are surprised when my brain switches off and I disengage. I find it quite annoying not to be able to predict it.