As mentioned in the introduction to type post, the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is a personality typology based on C.G. Jung’s work of personality theory, a tool that facilitates a self understanding of how we each function and judge things based on our individual perceptions of the world.

Here, we’ll explore where you prefer to get your energy, one of the four main components of type. This is the energetic state in which you find yourself after having spent any amount of time within a social group of people or alone in a solitary state. While you may get your energy from both of these activities, overall, extroverts (represented by an E) prefer to get energy from spending time with others while introverts (represented by an I) prefer to get energy from spending time alone.

 

 

Extroverts:

*direct their attention outward to the external world of people and things.

*thrive in social life. Like a battery being charged, extroverts will feel animated, awakened and refreshed after being socially immersed. They will come to life and feel more and more charged the longer they are in connection with others.

*need to dialogue with others and receive feedback to come to terms with and get answers to their inquires, ideas and issues. They will often process and come to an understanding of things by talking out loud and performing a sort of “head dump” to “see” what’s inside of them, then working with the information externally.

*tend to make decisions relatively quickly, their neurological processing “highway” being shorter than their Introvert counterparts.

*are sensitive to external rewards. As such, when given an external reward, a boost of the feel-good chemical dopamine is released and they become motivated and continue to turn to their external environment unlike Introverts who are rewarded internally.

*will act first and process later.

 

 

Introverts:

*direct their attention inward to the internal world of ideas. Socially, introverts prefer depth to breadth and seek to have an intimate circle of a few selected people they can experience more intimate relationships with.

*have increased brain activity while processing information. This is reflected in the length of the processing, which is longer, more detailed and complex.

*have a high cortical arousal level; they take in more information at a higher speed than extroverts, thus they become overwhelmed by too much stimulation. This is why they seek out ways to moderate the over-flux of information. By taking time alone to charge their batteries, they are able to mediate the flow.

*like extroverts, also love people. However, they need to take frequent breaks from the sometimes overwhelming energy drain of the outer world, and they prefer quiet, solitary reflection with time to process the voluminous information taken in.

*use internal thought and imagery and will oftentimes become skilled at enjoying the idea of something better than the thing itself.

*will oftentimes be detained in their internal world–needing something from the external world that is internally important to them–to pull them out into action from their internal reverie.

*tend to think before they act.

 

 

Which seems more like you?

Next time, we’ll look at how you prefer to take in information (sensing or intuition).

 

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~Pamela Thompson
Team Host Lead
Jung Society of Utah