WEBVTT - PTG Classic: What's the Science Behind Introverts? 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:03.040 Guess what will? 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:04.040 What's that mango? 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:06.600 So you know how there are names of groups of animals, 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:08.879 like I think a group of crows is a murder 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.879 of crows, or if you have a group of rhinoceros, 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:14.760 it's called a crash, not a squad, which you know, 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:17.200 I guess Taylor Swift or my son would call them. 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:18.360 It's a crash. 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:21.639 Just one more similarity between Taylor Swift and your son. 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:24.320 You forgot a couple of my favorites though. I've always 0:00:24.360 --> 0:00:27.280 loved smack of jellyfish, and then of course a business 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:29.560 of ferrets, which I don't know why, but that's my favorite. 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:31.480 I think it is pretty great. So I found this 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.480 video online called how to Care for Your Introvert, which 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:36.559 claims that a pair of introverts is actually called an 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.159 awkward and a group of introverts is what you call 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:40.839 an angst. 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:43.040 Is this real? 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.600 Of course not, but the whole video is joking and fun, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.080 and it points out that introverts are rarely found together 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:51.720 in the wild. So these are mostly theoretical terms anyway. 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:55.040 But as you know, I'm definitely an introvert, and when 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:57.400 I was in high school I almost used to bristle 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.440 at this phrase like all great figures and history or 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.760 seen as charismatic and big characters. And I figured, you know, 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:05.880 I could be fun at a party, I have friends, 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:08.400 I do things, so I figured there was no way 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:10.759 I should be lumped in with the introverts. But then 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.720 in college I quickly realized I am such an introvert, 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:16.039 especially when I compare myself to my wife, who just 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.959 crams in so many things into her social calendar. Yeah, 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:21.920 it doesn't make any sense to me. But you know, 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.040 this whole thing has made me wonder what does being 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.280 an introvert really mean? Like do you have to be 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.600 strictly an introvert or an extrovert? Or is there a spectrum? 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:33.360 Do our brains actually behave differently? And is it okay 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:35.240 for me to hit the closed door button on an 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:37.120 elevator when someone's trying to catch a ride with me, 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.679 Because I would really love a scientific excuse to say 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:41.399 that's all right. 0:01:41.800 --> 0:02:00.840 Yeah, let's dive in. 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:08.000 Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.440 Will Pearson, and as always I'm joined by my good 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:12.880 friend mangesh Hot Ticketerter and on the other side of 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:16.320 the soundproof glass sporting yet another one of his classic 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:20.440 t shirts. This one just says Introvert Social Club. Why 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.240 go big when you can go home? This is one 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.000 of my favorites of his. But that's our friend and 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.760 producer Tristan McNeil, and I've got to say, for an 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.480 introverted guy, he definitely speaks volumes with his shirts. Mang, 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:33.200 wouldn't you agree? 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:34.280 Definitely? 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.840 Well, you know, one thing I realized while doing the 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.880 research for today's show is that introverts can be pretty 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:43.520 tough to pin down in terms of personality. And you know, 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:45.880 most of us hear the term, we immediately think of 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:51.200 traits like sensitivity or introspection or maybe quietness. I mean, 0:02:51.200 --> 0:02:53.880 but the truth is, none of those things are guaranteed 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.600 signs of introversion. And that's because introversion is definitely a 0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:00.639 spectrum rather than being this one set way of being. 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.239 So with that distinction in mind, I thought we could 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.400 use this episode as a way to kind of set 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:08.000 the record straight on what's probably one of the more 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:12.000 misunderstood aspects of human personality. So we're going to look 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.799 at the science behind introversion as well as how our 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:18.400 society tends to view introverted people and we'll also run 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:21.079 through some of the pros and cons to really see 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.120 how introverts stack up against their more outgoing counterparts. 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:26.880 And to kick things off, I thought we could talk 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:29.360 a little bit about what introversion is and also what 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:32.079 it isn't. So to start from the beginning, the terms 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.760 introvert and extrovert were first coined by Carl Jung way 0:03:35.760 --> 0:03:38.280 back in nineteen twenty one. He used them mainly as 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:41.400 a way to distinguish between two prevalent types of personality, 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:43.920 those who feel more connected to their inward thoughts and 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:47.200 feelings and those who focus primarily on the external world. 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.600 And really, that was it, like, There was no stigma, 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.200 no rank attached to one or another. You know. It 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.440 wasn't like my wife who tells me you introverts think 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.320 you're so special, right, These were just two different, equally 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:02.240 valid ways of experiencing and the world. Yeah, And in 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.920 the years since then, other researchers have expanded on Jung's ideas. 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:08.760 Of course, there's no catch all definition for the term, 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:10.360 but there are at least a few things we can 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.280 say about introverts in general. For example, introverts tend to 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:16.359 be good listeners who think before they speak, they enjoy 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.520 time alone. They usually need less stimulation than extroverts when 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.120 it comes to entertainment, and while they typically tire of 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:24.640 small talk quickly, they can talk your ear off when 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:26.640 they're given the chance to dig into a topic they 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.599 really care about, you know. And I think this was 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:32.360 something that I've really thought about in the past week 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.400 or so as we've been working on this topic. And 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.159 that's the fact that no one is really one hundred 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.080 percent introverted or one hundred percent extroverted, other than my 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:43.599 ninety one year old mamma. I think she's pretty close 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.920 to one hundred percent extrovert. Such an extrovert, she's. 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.159 Definitely an extrovert. But but we're all really more of 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.520 a mix of both personality types. And I've actually realized 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:55.040 that about the two of us. If people were looking 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:56.880 at the two of us, most people would say, you're 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.800 an introvert and I'm an extrovert. But really, as we've 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:02.480 been doing the research, you kind of realize there is 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.120 this very real mix. It's just that most of us 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:06.920 lean harder one way than the. 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.760 Other, definitely, and that's why you'll find like a quiet 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.960 classmate or a coworker can actually be a really engaging 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.839 public speaker, and that's because of this big cultural and 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.920 misconception that all introverts are incredibly shy people who can 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:20.719 never get up in front of an audience without cracking 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.520 under the pressure. But in reality, introversion is a completely 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.560 different thing than shyness. So I'm not sure if you 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.520 remember that groundbreaking book on introverts. It was written by 0:05:30.640 --> 0:05:33.479 Susan Kine. It's called Quiet. It came out about Yeah, 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:35.800 it came out about five or six years ago, and 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.880 it's full of really insightful takes on introversion. And one 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.520 of the things Susan covers is that shyness and being 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.480 an introvert are driven by completely different forces. So listen 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.520 to how she explains it. Quote, Shyness is the fear 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:54.080 of social disapproval or humiliation, while introversion is a preference 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:58.680 for environments that are not over stimulating. Shyness is inherently painful, 0:05:59.120 --> 0:05:59.919 introversion is not. 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.320 I mean, I think that's such an interesting quote from that, 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:06.599 because those are definitely two words that I think people 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.720 have just assumed kind of meant the same thing. But 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:12.160 so think a little bit more about it. So shyness 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.840 is more of a reaction than a way of being, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.360 And so as a result, you could even have an 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:20.919 extrovert who might really enjoy being around crowds but actually 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.560 is deathly afraid of being in the spotlight themselves. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.840 Absolutely, and in the same way, it's possible to have 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:31.000 an introvert who's also shy. Since shyness is a learned behavior, 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:34.039 an introvert could develop a fear of social situations because 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:35.920 they've been made to feel like they don't measure up 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.920 to extroverts. So it could actually be this I guess, 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:40.520 the self fulfilling prophecy. 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.719 M hmm. Well, and there's that same kind of misconception 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.920 about social anxiety. I mean, a lot of people would 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:50.040 assume that that condition goes hand in hand with introversion, 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.120 but it doesn't necessarily. I mean, social anxiety is similar 0:06:54.200 --> 0:06:58.160 to shyness, and that it's largely learned behavior, but anxiety 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:01.160 also tends to run in family is without question a 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.320 very real genetic link there as well. It's just, you know, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.960 a more extreme form of self consciousness than either shyness 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:11.360 or introversion. And just trying to think of an example 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.240 of this, I mean, somebody with social anxiety might feel 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.600 totally incapable in a social situation. You know, maybe they 0:07:17.640 --> 0:07:20.680 tell themselves they don't have anything to contribute, or that 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.200 people will ignore or misunderstand them, so why bother even 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.679 saying anything. But I mean, that's generally not the case 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.560 with introverts. In fact, many of them are pretty adept 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:32.760 at kind of you know, you might say, turning on 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:34.640 their social skills when they need to. 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:37.120 All right, well, now that we know some of the 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.600 things that introversion is not, we should talk about what 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:41.880 it actually is. And like you allude to at the 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.400 top of the show, that's kind of easier said than done, 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.320 because most popular definitions fail to capture the range of 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.640 ways that introversion manifests in people like we tend to 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.200 view introversion as opposite to extroversion. So if an extroverts outspoken, 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:57.800 then an introvert is tight liped. This is kind of 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.640 a dumbing down of distinctions, and it's really nothing new. 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.800 But thankfully there's been a lot more research on the subject, 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.320 and that includes the work of a psychology professor at 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:10.080 Wellesley College named Jonathan Cheek. So a few years back, 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:12.720 he surveyed a group of five hundred adults, and he 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:16.120 asked them everything from how often they daydream, how important 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.960 they consider solitude for their well being, all sorts of 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:22.320 questions like this, and then Cheek used their responses to 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.560 help develop what he called the star chart. But you 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.160 know you don't have to worry about this, well, I 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:29.520 know you've got a version of astrology. This has nothing 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:34.120 to do with where mercury is rising and star. It's 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:36.959 actually a breakdown of what Cheek considers the four types 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:41.120 of introversion. So it's social thinking, anxious, and restraint. 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.120 Even better, so we've got an acronym, and you know 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:47.120 I love a good acronym, So I now I feel 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:48.720 like you deserve the chance to kind of give us 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.040 a rundown of what falls in each of those those 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:52.000 four categories. 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.760 Sure, so the S is social introversion, and this is 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:57.600 probably what a lot of people would think of when 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.880 they're asked to describe introverts, right, Like, it's basically a 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:05.280 preference for small groups over large ones, for more solitary activities, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.000 you know, think about things like reading a book or 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:11.760 watching a movie. Thinking introversion, which is the tea that's 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:14.240 a little different Introverts with this type don't mind like 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:18.680 big social events or these highly stimulating environments, and that's 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.200 mainly because they're really connected to their interior world. 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:22.760 You know. 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:26.240 All that commotion around them is really drowned out by 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.280 all the introspection that they go through in self reflection 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:30.560 that occupies their minds. 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:32.920 Yeah, so these are people. I mean, it kind of 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:34.600 makes me think of the phrase where we talk about 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.200 people being in their own little world. 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.320 I guess, yeah, exactly. And the example I read try 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.160 to lay it out in Harry Potter terms, which is 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.520 of course very much appreciated. And in that case, the 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.920 socially awkward level would be a social introvert, while a 0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:51.040 thinking introvert would be someone more like Luna Lovegood, you know, 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:52.680 who's sort of dreamily creative. 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.600 Right, that makes sense. I feel like everything makes more 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:58.079 sense when you can explain it in Harry Potter terms. 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.960 So definitely we'll try to do that with all future episodes. 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.040 But all right, so that's the S and the T. 0:10:03.360 --> 0:10:04.560 So how about the A and the R. 0:10:05.520 --> 0:10:08.840 Right, So next up is anxious introversion. As you might 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.000 guess from the name, this refers to introverts who have 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.760 also some form of social anxiety, and it's characterized by 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:17.679 a tendency to kind of overthink things and also to 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.880 dwell on your mistakes or perceived mistakes for well after 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:25.120 the fact. I mean, it really is, it can be crippling. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.960 And lastly, there's the R and star, which refers to 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:32.280 restrained or reserved, and these are people who take a 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.760 little while to get going. So instead of diving straight 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:38.000 into a conversation, a restrained introvert might you know, hear 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.000 what everyone has to say, really take their time to 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.720 absorb and think on it and then offer their own thoughts. 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.679 So pretty much they're the think first, act later people 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:46.200 in the world. 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:48.960 Okay, that makes sense, And I feel like this four 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:51.960 way system definitely covers more ground than just the one 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.840 blanket term. But I have to also think that, you know, 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.760 there's an awful lot of overlap between the different types, 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:01.119 Like I can imagine somebody being a part thinking introvert 0:11:01.200 --> 0:11:04.480 and part restrained introvert or some other combination of. 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.800 These four definitely, and when she came up with this model, 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.440 he really wanted to expand the definition of introvert, not 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.760 just replace it with these four strict types. So according 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.520 to him, plenty of introverts. There are actually a mix 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:16.360 of all four types. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:18.720 All right, well, I'd say we have a pretty good 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.360 grasp on what goes into being an introvert. So why 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.480 don't we switch gears a little bit and talk about 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.360 the science of introversion. Because it isn't by chance that 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.679 introverts and extroverts think differently. I mean their brains are 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.480 actually different. For example, if you look at brain scans 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.520 of the two different types of brains, you'd see a 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:39.640 thicker prefrontal cortex in introverts when you compare them to extroverts. 0:11:40.120 --> 0:11:42.320 And since that part of the brain is connected with 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.520 things like deep thought and planning, that bigger cortex might 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:51.440 actually explain why introverts tend to be less impulsive than extroverts. Now, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:55.360 instead of processing new information directly, these introverts first run 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:59.200 it through the neural pathway that deals with planning and 0:11:59.280 --> 0:12:02.079 long term MIMI. And so this is why introverts might 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:05.439 actually take longer to make a decision or former response, 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:10.160 because they're comparing old and new experiences and even weighing 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.760 the potential outcomes while they moul things over, and so 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.640 this can slow the thinking process down a pretty good 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.960 bit actually, But it also results in these carefully thought 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:23.600 out responses and choices, and that's not something that you 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:25.920 always get with extroverts. 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.280 Which is interesting. You know, I hadn't heard about that 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.319 bigger cortex this thing, but now I feel like I'm 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.760 going to brag to everyone about how large my cortex 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:33.200 probably is. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.240 I knew that that was coming. I know you're gonna 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:36.720 be bragging about this NonStop. 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:41.080 So Actually, the differences between introverted and extroverted brains that 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:44.720 I've always heard about is the way we respond to dopamine. Yeah, 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:46.880 and you know we've talked about this before. Dopamine is 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.560 one of the neurotransmitters that's closely tied to our sensation 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.560 of pleasure, especially when it comes to seeking rewards or 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:56.320 taking risks, and dopamine has similar effects on introverts and 0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:59.559 extroverts alike. When it hits your brain, you feel more alert, 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:02.840 you might be more talkative, more motivated to take chances, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.880 and in fact, introverts and extroverts even have the same 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.920 amount of dopamine in their bodies. The difference is that 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:12.080 dopamine triggers the reward network much more strongly in the 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.280 brains of extroverts. So take something like earning a promotion 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.320 at work that would likely generate excitement in both kinds 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:21.560 of people, right, but the extrovert would feel that excitement 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.320 to a much greater degree than the introvert, which I. 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.600 Don't know, when you think about it, feels like kind 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:28.920 of a raw deal for the introverse. If it feels 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.520 like they're getting jipped on the whole dopamine thing, I guess. 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.160 Well, don't feel too bad just yet, because there's actually 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:38.920 another transmitter, as a newer transmitter called acetylchline, and it's 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.640 also associated with pleasure, but this one is the go 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:45.679 to choice for introverts looking to unwind, and unlike dopamine, 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.319 acetyl coline generates these happy feelings for more inward focused activities, 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:53.960 so like thinking deeply about something or concentrating on one 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.000 thing for an extended period. And the chemical is tied 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:00.320 to the parasympathetic side of the nervous system, which is 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.360 nicknamed the throttle down or the rest and digest side. 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.440 So if Netflix and Chill is actually your past time 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.240 a choice, you can thank a seedtle colin for that. 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:14.160 All right, Well, since we're getting into the comparisons between 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.360 introverts and extroverts. I feel like we should go through 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.040 our list of pros and cons and see how the 0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:22.680 two ways of being kind of stack up against one another. 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.440 Yeah, it sounds fun to me. But first, let's take 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:26.120 a quick break. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.040 If you're listening to part Time Genius and we're talking 0:14:44.040 --> 0:14:48.360 about the not so subtle differences between introverts and extroverts, 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:51.440 All right, mego. So the first introvert advantage that I 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:53.640 want to talk about is their nack for being able 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.560 to read people. Because when it comes to judging how 0:14:56.640 --> 0:15:00.240 another person will think, or feel or act, we show 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.720 that introverts make better inferences than you know, extroverts, and 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.920 that's almost every single time. And we do know this 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.560 thanks to a study from a team of psychologists at Yale, 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:13.200 because they were asking more than one thousand participants about 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:17.440 how the average person would react in different social situations. So, 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.280 for example, this one comes straight from the test, and 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:24.920 here's the question. It's quote, people are usually overly confident 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:28.440 in the accuracy of their judgments true or false. 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.480 I mean, I have to say true on that, but 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.640 I also feel like I might be being overconfident in you. 0:15:36.200 --> 0:15:38.920 Of course, but actually you got the correct answer on 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.560 this one. But anyway, after the survey, the researchers rounded 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:45.400 up the highest scoring participants and then they ran a 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.160 series of psychological tests, and they did this to determine 0:15:49.160 --> 0:15:53.040 which personality traits these people had in common. Now, it's 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.840 not surprising that the respondents who made the most accurate 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.760 judgments were more likely to be intelligent and interested in 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.520 problem solving than those who scored poorly. But the more 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.840 surprising finding was that these same people were also more introverted. 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.400 And as one of the studies authors explains, quote, it 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:14.240 could be that the introverted people are spending more time 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.840 observing human nature than those who are busy interacting with others, 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.040 or they are more accurate in introspection because they have 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.000 fewer motivational biases. They don't view the world through rose 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.280 colored glasses as jovial and extroverted people do. 0:16:29.720 --> 0:16:31.720 Well, I mean that does track with what we were 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:33.760 saying about introverts and how they have a tendency to 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.000 think carefully and be more observant of their surroundings. 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.400 That's true, but I don't want to get accused of 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.120 serious bias here, so I should point out that there 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.240 was a drawback to the introverts perception powers in this 0:16:46.360 --> 0:16:51.000 same study, because along with that intelligence and curiosity, those 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:55.160 highest scoring participants also reported being more lonely and maybe 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.440 having lower self esteem than their more extroverted counterparts. So 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.440 it's not really an across the board win for either 0:17:01.480 --> 0:17:02.320 one of these groups. 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:05.520 Yeah, and those kind of trade offs kind of pop 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.000 up a lot when you compare introverts and extroverts, And 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:11.040 I mean, it makes sense from an evolutionary perspective that 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:14.080 both types of people would excel and also lag in 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:17.280 different ways. You know, if one way of being was 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.880 decidedly better than the other, it feels like we still 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.760 wouldn't have both types of people in the world. And 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:24.600 if you think about how these different traits might have 0:17:24.640 --> 0:17:26.960 emerged in the first place, it's easy to see their 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:32.040 respective evolutionary advantages. Like if you took like prehistoric introverts, 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.639 they likely would have stuck close to the cave and 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:37.679 avoided predators, which would have increased their chances of not 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.440 being eaten. And on the other hand, like the extroverted 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:43.360 cavemen would have wandered far and wide and they would 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:45.399 have had the instincts to look for new types of 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:48.359 food and shelter and all of that when shelter was 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:49.080 in short supply. 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.280 And that's a good point. I'd not really thought about 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.720 that way. But I mean, what would you make of 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:56.959 the idea that introverts tend to be more melancholic? I mean, 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:00.720 I know, I've heard before that extroverts are happier people 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:04.199 overall when they're measured against introverts, and that study, for 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:06.520 Meal does seem to lend some credence to that theory. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.399 So I'm curious what your thoughts are on that. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:11.520 Yeah. So I've actually seen those studies before too, and 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.920 they're usually center on that dopamine reaction that we talked 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.760 about earlier. And the truth is, happiness levels are pretty 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.040 evenly matched between introverts and extroverts when it comes I 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.840 guess to like inwardly focused activities, you know, watching TV, 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.240 listening to music, reading a book. But the real disparity 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.240 arises when you look at happiness levels during social activities 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.960 and the ones where some kind of reward is at stake, 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.199 and in those cases, extroverts really have the advantage. But 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.760 you know, according to Susan Kine, this is more about 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.080 how we define happiness than it is about who's objectively happier. 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:46.879 For example, in Western culture is like our own, we 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:49.760 have a habit of viewing happiness as an active state. 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:55.040 It's sort of this explosive enthusiasm and excitement and giddiness. 0:18:55.080 --> 0:18:57.840 And you know that's not the case for Eastern cultures, 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.440 where happiness is seen as something more passive of its 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:04.680 contentment and peacefulness and almost this feeling of being present 0:19:04.760 --> 0:19:07.600 and focused in the moment. So Kin actually has a 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.919 quote on this. She says, when introverts talk about the 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:13.480 things that they most love to do, it's very often 0:19:13.520 --> 0:19:17.880 activities like reading, hiking, cycling, being with their spouses, being 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:20.639 with their children. It's a quieter type of contentment that 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:24.000 often fuels introverts and that we don't pay proper attention to. 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.320 But speaking of proper attention, you know that might be 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.720 another reason that extroverts report such higher levels of happiness, 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.080 because they're less introspective, and because of that, they also 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:36.919 tend to overlook drawbacks and great experiences on a curve. So, 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:39.560 for example, an extrovert might say that they had a 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.000 great time at a party and not even mention things 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:43.960 like there wasn't enough food to go around, or that 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.080 the sound system kept going out. But I guess I 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:47.679 feel like you're. 0:19:47.600 --> 0:19:49.720 Using specific examples from things. 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:51.880 These are things that happened at a party a one too. 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.000 But yeah, you know, an introvert would likely notice all 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.960 these little details and you know, have a better sy 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:03.960 of how it impacted everyone's overall experience. But you know, 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:06.160 in the end, it could be that the introverts are 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:09.040 more inclined to give this less rosy and potentially more 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:11.400 accurate assessment of how happy they really are. 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:14.919