Carl Jung's Interpretation Of Introversion

“Why are you so quiet?”, “You should get out more”, “You can talk?” As these questions repeatedly bleed into the ears of those who choose solitude over socializing, silence over noise, the world keeps talking. In a society full of social standards, we strive for the idea of perfection. Being so encaptured with this idea, we sometimes forget that perfection, being merely subjective, is a fictitious idea implemented in our minds in order for society to thrive off of our arduous efforts to achieve it. One of such ideals society often tells us to strive for is the perfect personality: one who is sociable, friendly, and charismatic, or to put in one word, extroverted. The American society cradles extraversion but dismisses those who are introverted.

What exactly is the definition of introversion? Although there have been various interpretations of Carl Jung’s first research into introversion, most people have come to a general consensus that it is a personality type characterized by the preoccupation in one’s inner self. Arnold Henjum, professor at the University of Minnesota, commented on how an introvert focuses more on the thoughts and feelings of the moment rather than the “object” of the encounter (Henjum 40). When one first hears the word introvert, the first associations made are usually shy, quiet, and antisocial. While those can be traits of an introvert, it should not be assumed that it is that simple. Introverts, as opposed to extroverts, gain their energy from themselves through

Studies on the heritability of personality characteristics have shown that genetics may play a part in the temperament of a child which builds the base of the personality of an individual as they develop. A study by Sandra Scarr, psychology professor with a PhD from Harvard, conducted an experiment testing the biological basis of introversion and extroversion by assessing the personalities of 61 pairs of twin girls through interviews, tests, and games. Twins were used in this study since identical twins contain the same exact genes and fraternal twins share an average of 50% of their genes. By observing how closely the twins resembled one another compared to the variances, she determined the interclass correlation. Through the experiment, high correlation was found which led to the conclusion that there is a moderate to high genetic contribution to social introversion-extroversion. (Scarr 825-826). Though this may have been proven, it does not necessarily mean that whether you are introverted or extraverted is wholly based on the genes that you