The Relationship Between Extraversion and Time Perception: a Correlational Study

Extraverts are oriented primarily toward the outer world; thus they tend to focus their perception and judgment on people and objects. Introverts are oriented primarily toward the inner world; thus they tend to focus their perception and judgment upon concepts and ideas.

In her article Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic? author Susan Cain addresses many of the preconceived notions society has against introverted people. Cain argues that society tends to favor the outgoing and extroverted and shames those who prefer to be alone rather than socialize. The author utilizes certain writing strategies as a way to change her audience’s original views surrounding introversion. Cain’s use of comparing and contrasting, specific examples, and strong transitions that bridge various ideas to each other make her argument, that introverts are essential to society, much more persuasive.

Susan Cain’s “Power of Introverts” talk was all about the importance of people who are considered introvertly inclined in our society. In her talk, she described first how her family influenced her in being an introvert. Reading is her family’s social activity and that one can roam around through his or her own imagination. She also discussed about her memorable summer camp story where she has discovered the way extrovert people live and tried to shift in this kind of life. With all these changes in her life she never left her introverted life and espoused the ideas that when it comes to creativity and leadership, the society needs introverts and the things where they excel most. She explained that introversion is how one responds to stimulation including social stimulation which is different from a person being shy – the fear of social judgment.

The article “Introversion: The Often Forgotten Factor Impacting the Gifted” by Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig begins by giving examples of how an introvert may behave. The authors continue by explaining that introversion is in not an issue, but a personality type which differs from that of the “normal,” more outgoing and friendly personality type, extroversion. Introverts and extroverts are different personality types, most people fall into one of the two categories. Typically, an introvert’s main focus is in the internal world of thoughts, while an extrovert's main focus is on the external world of people and events. Introverts tend to enjoy alone time, working on their own, and are usually quiet, and extroverts are typically social, enjoy

Several of the key findings from the research survey can be summarized into the following points;

Eysenck (1967) proposed that introverts have a higher level of activity in particular areas of the brain as opposed to extravert (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). Basically, Eysenck theorised that low levels of arousal, due to the blocking of certain nervous stimulation, results in the need for higher levels of stimulation (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). In contrast, the need for lower levels of stimulation is caused by an abnormally reduced flow of certain nervous stimulations (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). These levels of nervous stimulation were labelled as the resting arousal level (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). Eysenck concluded that extroverts have a low arousal level, therefore, requiring greater stimulation while introverts have a high arousal level, which in contrast requires less stimulation (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). These arousal levels are known as a baseline level (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). In addition, Eysenck stated that there is an optimal level of arousal required for different tasks (Larsen & Buss, 2002; Buss, 1995). In this view introverts and extroverts require different levels of stimulation to carryout tasks as they have different baseline levels

Due to an extraverts suboptimal-arousal they tend to seek intense social experiences such as parties or risky behaviors, while introverts who are more easily over-aroused try to reduce their exposure to stimulating experiences such as parties and do something more controlled such as reading a book (Cervone & Pervin, 2013). This theory indicates that to compensate for the extraverts lowered arousal they tend to seek out interaction with others, while introverts tend to withdraw from such activities (for example parties) (Cervone & Pervin, 2013). A good example of a risky behavior that the book gives is that extraverts are more sexually active than introverts in both the amount of sexual activity and the number of sexual partners (Cervone & Pervin,

According to The Personality Page (2015), “Extraverts like to talk to others, listen to what someone is saying, cook dinner, or make a cup of coffee, and work on a car” (The Personality Page, 2015). Extroverts are thought of as those who are outgoing, the life of a conversation, and who speak up in groups. Naturally, when extroverts are given a task they will react on quickly and seek to complete the task as soon as possible. Introverts tend to take time to think about the situation and come up with the best solution prior to acting. According to Cherry (2014), “list of five of the key traits common to extrovert are: you love to talk, socializing helps you feel energized and inspired, you like to solve problems by discussing them, people often describe you as friendly and approachable, and you are very open and people find it easy to get to know you” (Cherry, 2014).

It is important for an introvert to save some personal time to recharge and process the experience (Dejolde, 2015).

Overview of results: I scored in the High bracket on Extraversion compared to the general population. My raters and I had some disagreement on my level of E as the self-other difference was between .26 and .50. Further, my raters also had some disagreements with each other regarding my level of E as their SD was between .41 and .80.

I noticed that in our society, those traits portrayed by introverts are not "welcomed." Starting at a young age, children are encouraged and taught to work in groups and to speak up. According to research, the ideal student nowadays is someone who is outgoing, talkative and assertive (Cain, 2012, p. 7). At workplaces, employers look for efficient, ambitious, and gregarious employees who can give compelling presentation to seal the deal with investors. It is evident that we favor extroverts over introverts.

he book presents a history of how Western culture transformed from a culture of character to a culture of personality in which an "extrovert ideal" dominates and introversion is viewed as inferior or even pathological. Adopting scientific definitions of introversion and extroversion as preferences for different levels of stimulation, Quiet outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each temperament, emphasizing the myth of the extrovert ideal that has dominated in the West since the early twentieth century. Asserting that temperament is a core element of human identity, Cain cites research in biology, psychology, neuroscience and evolution to demonstrate that introversion is both common and normal, noting that many of humankind's most creative

Studies have shown that there is a difference between an introvert's brain and an extrovert's brain. During the thought process, an introvert's brain

Moderate preference of extraversion over introversion (25%) was one of my results that really shocked me. An extravert is described as, “They are talkers, often thinking out loud, interrupting people at meetings, or bursting into a co-worker’s office to ask an opinion, and then not really listening to it.” I would not think that describes me. When I ask someone’s opinion I really do take to heart what they tell me. For example, my father gives me advice all the time. My siblings get annoyed with his advice and brush it off. In any situations or problems that I face I try to apply my father’s advice.

(Jung, 1927) Through research by Carl Jung, Gordon Allport, and Hans Eysenck contributors to either the neopsychoanalytical or trait perspective, it was discovered that introversion had a lot more to just those three characteristics. Introversion is seen in many ways, depending on the situation which is shown through many case studies. Although introversion had their disadvantages and/or limitations, the advantages that come along are much more important. Discovering that introversion is also based on genetics, environmental factors, individualization and libido was very interesting. Personally believing that this is a trait no one tends to focus on due to their lack of participation, once discovering why they act the way they do help to understand how to better get to know these individuals. Introversion should be seen as an everyday trait that people possess and should not be judged for being "withdrawn" due to their lack of contribution. Introversion is very intriguing therefore more research should be done, in order to find more