A New Type of Extrovert
Making Sense of Incoming Psychological Research
Society is made up of different kinds of people, where some of us require large reservoirs of energy from others and almost feed off of it. Others may need some decent alone time to calibrate that same level of energy just to keep going.
The first one thrives and grows in the company of others, but the second one finds emotional reserves depleted rather easily despite most precautions. It’s the same social situation, but with two different emotional responses.
As you can imagine, recent world events have allowed people to spend lots of time alone, and more reliant on virtual relationships, whether it is an online chat on programs like Zoom or Skype or even a quick text message on apps like WhatsApp or Messenger.
Along the way, you’ve likely met people who fulfilled the stereotypical personification of either introversion and extroversion, whether it is that one person who stays in their bedroom all day versus the wild party animal who disregards authority all the time.
However, the reality is that most of us embody elements of both sides, straddling the border between the two worlds, depending on our specific circumstances. This, my friends, is called being an ambivert.
Most of us fall into this ambiguous territory, where sometimes we are okay being in the presence of others, but also need some alone time every now and then to make sense of a serious decision. I promise you that this is okay — as peoples’ personalities fit along a spectrum.
The “Other-Contingent” Extrovert
According to a research study performed at Michigan State University, a new variety of extroversion was discovered, called the “other-contingent extrovert”.
Basically, this type of extrovert has most of the stereotypical fixings, like being positive, radiant, sociable, and outgoing, but only displays their true prowess around those they feel comfortable around and around those who are equally friendly.
This means that this type of extrovert has the ability to downplay and elevate their level of extroversion, depending on the situation, unlike their other extroverted counterparts.
I mean, it does make a lot of sense. Perhaps you met someone who you originally thought to be shy. However, as time went on and you got to know one another, perhaps you found this person to be increasingly extroverted. It seems that they were much more comfortable around you, and you’ve responded back in kind, fostering a greater level of extroversion you didn’t think was possible.
Examining the Study Further
Harking back to the study, scientists examined 83 undergraduate students in a 3-week-long experiment, where a series of personality measures were performed, including measures that accounted for extroversion.
Through email correspondence, participants were contacted twice a day across the three weeks to report and reflect on the characteristics and feelings they had with others.
Then, the participants had to rate the level of friendliness, engagement, and sociability of those individuals they communicated with, using a Likert scale. They also had to rate the level of friendliness, engagement, and sociability of themselves across those same interactions.
Overall, the researchers noted that the friendliness of others heightened personal extroversion levels, but some participants were particularly aware of others’ friendliness.
These clusters of special extroverts were considered the “other-contingent” extroverts, and it seems that their version of extroversion was almost contingent on the dynamic responses of others.
In the future, perhaps there will be more forms of extroversion and introversion mapped out, especially since more and more people are no longer fitting the stereotypical mold of either group.
As Carl Jung once said,
There is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in the lunatic asylum.
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