Being more inner-directed can help us as introverted people be especially creative, productive and “at home” in occupations and activities that fit our personality.
But trying to fit in with more extroverted jobs and people can be challenging and even self-limiting, disruptive or emotionally unhealthy.
The photo above is from the article 20 Creative Ways for Introverts to Make Money by Carolyn Sun, Entrepreneur magazine – which details “some job ideas for the thoughtful and independent introvert.”
Sun writes, “Introverts listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and prefer spending time with a tight-knit group of friends, colleagues and family over massive parties and constant networking.”
She adds that introverts “thrive in much different ways than extroverts do, but there’s no need to think of introversion as something that needs to be cured, expresses Susan Cain, author the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.
“While extroverts may gain energy from constant interaction, public attention and a love for gab, in the words of Cain, “There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”
*Note – The above is an affiliate link, and there may be others on this page to products or programs you might find helpful. The company pays me a commission, if you choose to make a purchase. There is no extra cost to you. See details in note below the end of this article.
In her popular TED Talk The Power of Introverts (viewed over 30 million times on TED.com and YouTube combined), Susan Cain notes that introversion is “different from being shy.
“Shyness is about fear of social judgment. Introversion is more about, how do you respond to stimulation, including social stimulation?
“So extroverts really crave large amounts of stimulation, whereas introverts feel at their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they’re in quieter, more low-key environments. Not all the time — these things aren’t absolute — but a lot of the time.”
She says “the key then to maximizing our talents is for us all to put ourselves in the zone of stimulation that is right for us.”
Introverts, extroverts and brain chemistry
Julie Bjelland, LMFT is a therapist who specializes in helping highly sensitive people – and has the trait herself.
She explains in an article on the Introvert, Dear site about brain differences:
“Part of the equation has to do with dopamine, a neurotransmitter that ‘helps control the brain’s pleasure and reward centers,’ explains Jenn Granneman, author of The Secret Lives of Introverts and founder of Introvert, Dear.
“Extroverts have ‘a more active dopamine reward system,’ so there’s a lot more positive reward for them in social experiences.”
In contrast, Bjelland notes, “introverts prefer the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, according to Dr. Marti Olsen Laney in her book The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World.
“Acetylcholine is linked to the parasympathetic side of the nervous system, which is nicknamed the ‘throttle down’ or ‘rest-and-digest’ side,” Laney writes.
Bjelland adds, “That’s why we introverts generally prefer quieter, calming activities that allow us to go within and reflect deeply.
“When introverts engage that parasympathetic side, we relax, our heart rate lowers, and our body gets ready to rest and go inward — all things we introverts look forward to, like a good book or a nice bubble bath.
“Extroverts favor the sympathetic side, which preps them to try new things and can make them more active externally.”
From her article A Therapist Shares the Secret to Better Alone Time.
The image is from my article Why can we feel overwhelmed and tired as a highly sensitive person? – which includes more quotes and a video with Bjelland.
Julie Bjelland is author of the books: “The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person” and “Brain Training For The Highly Sensitive Person” plus a related online course. Learn about them, and her many articles and other resources, on her site: Sensitive Empowerment.
The Highly Sensitive Person: Definition of the Trait
Julie Bjelland explains in one of her books:
“Back in the 1990s, psychologist Elaine Aron, a pioneer in researching this unique innate trait that at least 20 percent of the population had, named those with this trait the highly sensitive person (HSP), but in the scientific world, it is known as sensory processing sensitivity.
“It is NOT a disorder. This trait evolved as a survival strategy of the population and offered greater sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental and social stimuli.
“People with this trait had specially developed abilities that helped them be good at finding food, mates, and a safe place for the tribe to live.
“They have researched and found this trait in over a hundred species so far, and it is found equally across genders.
“70 percent of highly sensitive people (HSPs) are introverts.
“Aron presented a good way to summarize the HSP trait with the acronym DOES, which stands for depth of processing, overstimulation, emotionally responsive, and sensitivity to subtle stimuli.”
The above is an excerpt from the book, The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person.
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A number of creative people – even performers with very public lives – have commented about being introverted, shy or highly sensitive.
(As noted in various quotes on this page, those are different traits and experiences – but they can overlap and interact with each other for many of us.)
“I always try to be myself. Ever since I was an introverted kid, I’d get on stage and be able to break out of my shell.” Beyonce Knowles
“I’m actually very introverted. I’m very shy. I’m very emotional.” Fashion designer Tom Ford
Those are among many quotes in my article Introverted, Shy or Highly Sensitive in the Arts.
“I’m an introvert… I love being by myself, love being outdoors, love taking a long walk with my dogs and looking at the trees, flowers, the sky.” – Audrey Hepburn
More quotes attributed to her:
“I don’t want to be alone, I want to be left alone.”
“I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”
She is among many creative people listed by Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D., M.F.T. as “Famous Introverts.”
From my article Audrey Hepburn: Introverted and Highly Sensitive.
Actor Jessica Chastain has made a number of comments that relate to high sensitivity, as well as being introverted and shy:
“I’m not the girl at the club on the table. I’m going to be the one in the corner, quiet and so I don’t call attention to myself.”
“I was the girl who cut school to go to the park, and the other kids would be smoking and drinking and I’d be reading Shakespeare.”
She also said, “I walk the dogs, I play the ukulele, I cook. I’m not a girl who goes to big parties – I’m shy.”
From my article Jessica Chastain and High Sensitivity.
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Sensitive – not shy
Psychologist Elaine Aron, in her book The Highly Sensitive Person, notes this term shy “has some very negative connotations. It does not have to; shy can also be equated with words such as discreet, self-controlled, thoughtful, and sensitive.”
She also notes: “Because HSPs (highly sensitive persons) prefer to look before entering new situations, they are often called ‘shy.’
“But shyness is learned, not innate.
“In fact, 30% of HSPs are extraverts, although the trait is often mislabeled as introversion. It has also been called inhibitedness, fearfulness, or neuroticism. Some HSPs behave in these ways, but it is not innate to do so and not the basic trait.”
Introverted by nature
Actor Emma Watson commented, “People say things to me like, ‘It’s really cool that you don’t go out and get drunk all the time and go to clubs,’ and I’m just like…
“I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature, it’s not like a conscious choice that I’m making necessarily. It’s genuinely who I am.”
See much more in article Introverted, Shy or Highly Sensitive in the Arts.
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The Big Five personality characteristics
In an article on introverts Laurie Helgoe Ph.D. notes that psychologists consider there are five clusters of cognitions, emotions, motivations, and behaviors that make up “personality” factors: Extraversion and introversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness.
She writes, “According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality test, introverts make up 50 percent of the U.S. population.
“The MBTI definition of introversion – a preference for solitude, reflection, internal exploration of ideas vs. active engagement and pursuit of rewards in the external/social world – correlates closely with the Big Five description.”
She adds that we may have a distorted idea of how people there are who tend toward one side or the other of the spectrum:
“There are a few extremely extraverted folk, and a few extreme introverts, while most of us share some extravert and some introvert traits.
“Although there is no precise dividing line, there are plenty of introverts around. It’s just that perceptual biases lead us all to overestimate the number of extraverts among us (they are noisier and hog the spotlight).”
From her article Revenge of the Introvert.
Laurie Helgoe is author of Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength.
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What Introversion Really Is – Audio interview with Scott Barry Kaufman – an edition of the Creative Introvert podcast hosted by Cat Rose.
She comments, “Today I have arguably the most controversial guest I’ve had on the show…
“I say controversial because of his take on introversion. And it’s not just any old take on introversion.
“Today’s guest is a lot more qualified than I am or many other professional online introverts are to talk about this stuff: Scott Barry Kaufman is is a psychologist at Columbia University exploring the depths of human potential…”
Cat Rose is author of book “The Creative Introvert: How to Build a Business You Love (On Your Terms).”
Cat Neligan / Cat Rose is creator of the course Online Marketing For Creative Introverts – see information below.
In a post for his Scientific American blog Beautiful Minds, humanistic psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman explains:
“Extraversion-introversion is one of the “Big Five” dimensions of personality, the other four being neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and intellect/imagination.
“The most common misunderstanding of the extraversion-introversion dimension is that introverts are more introspective than extroverts.
“In reality, introverts are not necessarily introspective and highly introspective people aren’t necessarily introverted.
“In a recent analysis, Jennifer Grimes, Jonathan Cheek, and Julie Norem found that measures of Jung’s conceptualization of “Thinking Introversion“– introspectiveness, fantasy proneness, and having a rich inner life — were not significantly correlated with Big Five scales of extraversion-introversion, including a need for positive stimulation and gregariousness.
“In fact, what many people ascribe to introversion really belongs in the intellect/imagination domain. Intellect/imagination represents a drive for cognitive engagement of inner mental experience, and encompasses a wide range of related (but partially separate) traits, including intellectual engagement, intellectual curiosity, intellectual depth, ingenuity, reflection, introspection, imagination, emotional richness, artistic engagement, and aesthetic interests.”
From his article Will the Real Introverts Please Stand Up?
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Four shades of introversion
Psychologist Jonathan Cheek distinguishes four qualities of introversion: social, thinking, anxious, and restrained – STAR.
Writer Melissa Dahl notes the research behind his STAR model shows “many introverts are a mix of all four types, rather than demonstrating one type over the others.”
See brief descriptions of each, and a quiz to find out your own type, in her article So Apparently There Are 4 Kinds of Introversion.
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Introverts and extroverts and ambiverts
Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung developed the terms “introvert” and “extrovert” described in his 1921 book “Psychological Types” to help explain personality differences.
Writer Caroline Beaton notes he “conceived of introverts as drawing energy from being alone, while extroverts draw it from their surroundings and relationships.”
But Jung also described a third group as “the most numerous.”
In a Wall Street Journal interview, psychologist Adam Grant estimated this group – ambiverts – make up between a half and two-thirds of the population.
From article The Majority of People Are Not Introverts or Extroverts by Caroline Beaton, Psychology Today.
Adam Grant is author of Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World.
A Wikipedia page notes “An ambivert is moderately comfortable with groups and social interaction, but also relishes time alone, away from a crowd. In simpler words, an ambivert is a person whose behaviour changes according to the situation they are in.”
From Extraversion and introversion.
Extrovert Introvert Ambivert T-Shirt from Amazon.
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Online Courses for Introverts
The course marketplaces Udemy and CreativeLive have a number of courses to help introverts succeed and thrive.
Here are some examples:
Online Marketing For Creative Introverts
“Learn how to use your innate introvert superpowers to market your creative business effectively”
Created by Cat Neligan / Cat Rose – who “helps creative introverts show their work and get the exposure they deserve. She does this through the League of Creative Introverts online community, as well as one-to-one coaching and her podcast, the Creative Introvert.”
What you’ll learn:
- Get publicity and press coverage from large publications, radio shows and podcasts to reach a broad audience
- Top social media marketing strategies to grow your business on YOUR terms
- Identify your unique, introvert strengths (and blindspots)
- Discover the best way to find your true fans or ideal audience
- How to grow your social media following in a way that suits your personality and preferences
- Create an effective online marketing strategy for the next 90 days
“This course is specifically designed for introverts who are self-employed, have online businesses or want to develop their hobby into a profitable business.
“I know how tough it is to spread the word and talk about what you do. Most creative introverts I know just want to DO the work – rather than spend their time and energy marketing it.
“In addition, most marketing advice out there is designed by and for extroverts – which doesn’t take into account:
1) Your unique, innate introvert strengths
2) The problems and challenges introverts face
3) The most effective way to use introversion to your advantage
… And that’s why this course exists.
“I’ve spent 5 years learning what to do (and not to do) in marketing online and offline, using the introvert traits that come naturally to me – and this course will show you how to do the same.”
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“Learn how to use introversion as a strength and key advantage in the corporate workplace.” – Instructed by Jan Terkelsen, Brett Jarman.
Course Description
“The Introverted Intuition course is about how to identify and take advantage of your personality preference for introversion in the corporate workplace.”
- Do you feel drained after interacting with people all day at work?
- Do you often say to yourself “ I need time to think” when people around you are telling you to “think on your feet”?
- Have you been given feedback that you need to speak up more at meetings?
- Are you often mistaken for being shy when you are just being yourself?
- Do you get a little discouraged when the best part of you is seen as a problem or something that has to be “managed”?
- Do you need time to reflect on issues before changing your mind?
- Do you frequently hear that even though you are present and listening, others see you as remote or hard to know?
- Do you downplay your strengths with the result that your abilities are often underestimated?
- Do you prefer to stay in the background?
- Do you find too much interaction stressful and seek out silence and solitude?
“If so, this Introverted Intuition course is for you, you blessed, gifted, quiet introvert you.”
Learn more about the course: The Introvert’s Edge
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Don’t Get Pushed Around: An Introvert’s Guide to Getting What You Need at Work
“When it comes to getting ahead in the world of work, it seems that those who are bold, confident and willing to speak their minds are the ones who get the choicest projects and the loftiest promotions.
“But what if you’re an introvert? What if you hate being the center of attention, get nervous before presentations, and avoid contact with your colleagues and superiors? Are you destined to remain on the lowest rungs of the corporate ladder?
“According to Ilise Benun, an author and teacher known as the Marketing Mentor, the answer is an emphatic “No!”
“Ilise has created a treasure trove of tools and techniques to help the shyest and quietest among us succeed in the workplace…to embrace your introversion while also learning the skills you need to advance your career and become a leader at work.”
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Show Up Like a Boss: 10 Days To Big Confidence
“It’s common for people, particularly introverts, to feel like they aren’t being fully seen or heard at work. They might even experience being bullied, made fun of or singled out to do the most demeaning office chores.
“If you want to be taken more seriously at work, increase your confidence and feel better about yourself, this course is for you. We’ll take a methodical, business approach to confidence building, helping you develop that skillset in a simple, straightforward, implementable way.”
Teacher Beate Chelette is “The Growth Architect and a results-oriented woman leader with an entrepreneurial spirit and a proven track record in creating, launching and growing companies and brands.”
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More resources
Highly Sensitive and Living With Social Anxiety.
Is work a challenge for you as a highly sensitive person?
Programs for Introverts and Highly Sensitive People.
Introverted and Creative – one of my Pinterest boards.
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