Don’t Use the Label if You Don’t Know What it Means!
Our friend and fellow introvert, Glen, left a comment on my previous post regarding things that have been written regarding the personality of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the US Army Major who killed 13 people and wounded 30 others during his attack at Fort Hood. This horrid tragedy has many facets and many faces, and I am not going to comment about what happened, why it happened or how it happened, any further.
Except to say that there are of course, some geniuses out there who have honed in on the fact that Maj. Hasan was a quiet type who kept to himself. You can fill in the rest of the blanks – and you know that the words introversion, introverted, and introvert are in there and they are used the same way that they always get used to describe someone who was reserved and quiet and who also did something heinous.
Now, granted, it does sound like the guy might have been an introvert (big deal). But it seems that people (not knowledgable people) are equating being introverted with being a psychotic person, once again.
But as Glen pointed out in his comment, “There is nothing wrong with introversion; it is not a symptom of mental illness. Psychotic people are psychotic. They might be introverted, but they do bad things because they are psychotic. Why is this so hard for people to understand? This kind of mindset where introversion is blamed for violent crimes is terribly bigoted. So disappointing…”
I couldn’t have said it better. So thanks, Glen.
I wish people would stop using a word they don’t flippin’ understand.
You know, I recently had a person who is highly, highly intelligent and who also has a Masters degree in Counseling tell me that her education really didn’t include much of anything about introversion or extroversion. She bought my book and actually thanked me for helping her learn something she didn’t know (which was really nice).
The point is – holy crap! If our highly educated people in the fields of psychology and mental health aren’t learning about this, then how can others who don’t even work in these fields use the label correctly. What’s wrong with this picture????????
We’re educating ourselves. You are, I am. That’s good! It would be really nice if the rest of the world would open their eyes a little.
I’m sorry that it took another tragic loss of life to bring this issue back up. When compared to the pain and distress that people who are directly involved in the horror of this event feel, my irritation at the word introvert being used incorrectly (or in a sort of inflammatory way) is tiny and small.
Thanks for reading.
Thank you for this post! Every time some lunatic goes and shoots up a place, I brace myself for the inevitable interview with the guy’s neighbor or coworker who tells us, “He kept to himself…” It’s enough to make me wonder if my own neighbors expect to have that same interview with the media someday.
(Just kiddin’ – I’m a peaceful cat lady). But the media and other ignorant people really spread the falsehood that there is something about being quiet and reserved that in itself leads to or at least indicates mental illness.
Lee Ann, the person who has a master’s in counseling is right in that there isn’t much talked about re introversion and extraversion. I have a BS in psychology and was considering a Master’s in psychology, and Jung’s concepts of introversion/extraversion are considered theories of personality, not established scientific (aka “proved”) fact – and there really is no such thing as “proved” or “fact” in psychology. Anyone in the mental health field has to be trained in tests like the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) to get this kind of information, but it’s not general to the field by any means. It’s rather like being a migraineur (which I am)-I have to educate myself as well as many of my past physicians, my coworkers and managers at work, and even my friends on what it’s like to have migraines, and I think the same is true of introversion – unless one is lucky enough to be in an introvert-dominated field, such as information/computer technology.
I am introverted, and my therapist has respect for this. We have talked about appropriate jobs I may like, and other issues with interacting with people. So I am lucky I found a person in mental health who does not see introversion as any sort of failing.
Sue, I’m also lucky enough to have a counselor who is familiar with MBTI and understands introverts. She herself is an extravert but has 3 daughters who are all introverts, so she has life experience as well as professional knowledge and experience.
She helps me deal with job stresses, especially the “mandatory fun” (aka office parties) and meetings where there are huge numbers of people. We are also looking at alternative jobs for introverts, although I’m pretty well suited to the one I’m in; still, I’m a strong Perceiver, and there is no such thing as too many choices or possibilities! 
I understand that when someone’s committed a crime like this, we want to make them look even more like the big bad wolf than they already are, but come on. Why do they have to use the terms “quiet” and “solitary”? It’s getting old real fast.
This memory surfaced a while ago. I was actually called anti-social when I was little by a boy. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant, and he told me it was an adjective to describe someone quiet. When I looked it up, while the term is used to describe someone quiet, it was also a mental disorder. So actually, I was called a psychopath without realizing it. Damn…
Excellent post. This really strikes a chord for anyone who is an introvert! And yes, according to the media, people who keep to themselves = mass murders.
I was also lucky to have a therapist who helped me realize that being an introvert was neither good nor bad. My mother had “accused” me of being an introvert my entire life. How freeing it was to learn what that term really meant and who I really was.
This website is a breath of fresh air. I can finally have a place where I can call home. It’s nice to know there a lots of other folks just like me.
Ron
There is so much prejudice out there about being a quiet person. All my life I have been called ‘quiet’ and asked the questions ‘Why are you so quiet?’ and ‘Why aren’t you saying very much?’ It is so stressful. All my family are quiet too. Currently I am trying to find employment (I have a background in data-entry) and have been turned down for job after job and always the reason given is that I appeared nervous, lacking in confidence or that I showed insufficient interest in the job.
I was very pleased to discover this website – now I know I am not all alone in a world full of extroverts like I previously thought
I could agree no more… people use words without knowing the meaning and trying to explain them each time is tiring… worse, when you explain they say “well, for me it sis not like that” and keep using it that way…. bah…
I wonder about the typical accepted 75% extroverted and 25% introverted. Is there any scientific evedence to back this up? The reason I wonder is because Meloncholies are introverted, but are also on the emotional roller coster. In moments of best work, they can be as outgoing as a Sanguine (although they cannot maintain it for long). Meloncholics can also, especially in matters they are extreamly passonate about, can experience anger like a Choloric. Are Meloncholics being counted as extroverts? I have never tested as an extrovert, but my own mother thinks of me as an extrovert because she is confusing Phlegmatics (the super introverts) and shyness with introversion. I am a Meloncholy,I am not very shy, and I am an introvert.
Hi,I love your blog, no only I am a student who study degree of psychology currently,but also I am proud to be introvert person, I like this blog, because I can learn more from you
thanks you for your sharing^
Yes, I have heard the term “Introverted” used incorrectly. A few years ago, I put down a book called, “Exuberance: The Passion for Life” because it is so biased toward extroversion and I believe the author actually makes negative comments about introversion.
I’m searching for a part-time job right now. If I see the term, “seeking energetic individuals” one more time I’m going to hurl. Is this the new buzzword for the year – “energetic?” I’m seeing it everywhere now.
Other terms I keep seeing in my job searches:
-Multi-tasker
-high-energy
-outgoing
-extroverted
-fast-paced work environment
Introverts have a lot of energy too, it’s just not not externally focused. That doesn’t mean we can’t contribute to the work environment. I wish employers wouldn’t so quickly jump to the assumption that outwardly high-energy people are the best prospects for employment. To me, they seem unfocused and manic, but in our society they are the desired workers. We have so many gifts to share, they just aren’t obvious from the beginning. I think it takes time for introverts to demonstrate their value. In this high demand, results driven, quick fix society, we have some challenges to meet.
One of the things I’ve learned over time is that those kinds of jobs are usually in things like sales, retail, etc., and they’re high energy demand but low pay – in other words IMHO, not really a good environment even for some extraverts! They’re often the “front desk” or “frontline” folks. We introverts do better in behind-the-scenes situations for the most part where we can produce quickly (that’s true in what I do for a living, medical transcription) because we work alone and can “drive” ourselves.
Joana, so true. Since I was laid off last year I have been underemployed and it’s been difficult because the type of work I had before is virtually non-existent. It was more behind the scenes, creative work. Now, I’m just trying to make ends meet and have been trying these retail front-end jobs because they are so available. But, alas, I don’t quite fit in well with this kind of work. I think i’m going to start my own business.
Kristen, heaven help us “creative type” introverts. I’m another, and even in introvert-friendly work, I’m finding that the big powers-that-be want to keep taking the creative side of work out and make it more and more like being on a factory line, automated, no thought or forced ways of doing things (perhaps inefficient, because those that design systems don’t do the actual work – a big pet peeve of mine). It’s like companies like sucking the joy out of things.
To add to the introverts and workforce thing, I’m the manager of an engineering project at school. It involves having to push myself out of my comfort zone and making quick decisions. It’s overwhelming and I think I’ve went way above my head when I accepted the offer. I’m more of a behind the scenes leader like you all said. I like to work alone and make things happen in a quiet manner.
One of the things that helped me was this book called The Introverted Leader by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler. I only read excerpts of it, but there’s some really good tips in there on how to manage teams and the extroverted workforce in general. I’d say give that a try.
I am a soon-to-be college graduate -(will be next month). I signed up for a personality course this semester with the hopes that it would help me understand myself better. Yeah right.
I skimed through the book and introverts were only discussed on one page and only in their relation to extraverts, while extraverts were mentioned everywhere in the book. There was a sentence in a paragraph in the text that said something to the effect of:
“This book will focus primairily on extraverts, because they are easier to understand.”
The name of the book is “Personality Theory”, and it said nothing about the works of Myers-Briggs. But to top everything off, one day at the end of class the professor wanted us to do an assignment on how we would market a drug for people “high in introversion” for high anxiety levels in public speaking. I know just as many extraverts that get nervous about public speaking. I am “high in introversion”, and I made an “A” in speech communications- without the aid of a drug. Introversion has nothing to do with fear. People need to know that.
I dropped the course. Luckily, I didn’t need it. I wanted to express how upset I was with the professor, but I decided that I had better things to do and nothing that I could say would change the world.
I understand what you’re saying, but even if you can’t change the world, you might be able to change a small part of it, and that’s a start. (Coming from an introvert who’s been married for almost 25 years to an extrovert who still doesn’t get it, I guess my advice is worth what you pay for it – haha)
David, I graduated with a BS in psychology 30 years ago, and I’m really grieved to hear that the texts and courses in collegiate undergrad psychology and personality theory haven’t come an ounce along since I was an undergrad. Back then, it was like, “what’s an introvert?” Now we’re being, in effect, denigrated! Beam me up, Scotty!