I just play an extrovert on TV
Posted: Thursday, February 16, 2012
by Lama Mama
The first time I really had a good reason to think of my "orientation" (extrovert/introvert) was when my high school's guidance department thought it would be loads of fun to have the entire junior class take the Myers Briggs Personality Assessment. This was supposed to give us "guidance" (presumably how they justified it to the school board) in selecting a future career.
The folks that designed the test clearly had a very distinct idea of what they wanted to accomplish (and some very expensive degrees backing them up) but I remember being a little nonplussed by some of the questions. For instance, the scoring system had a heckuva time deciding whether I was "Sensing" or "Intuitive." That might be somewhat related to the fact many of the yes/no questions elicited a "huh?" response and, being the good student and trained test-taker that I was, I just picked one at random.
Never leave any question blank, right?
The test, however, was very firm in its conclusion that I was an introvert. And the pre-packaged description of my "personality type" sounded right on the money:
Introverted Thinking personality types have a finely nuanced ability to analyse situations, find root causes and foresee consequences. They distrust action taken too quickly without the necessary investigation. They are usually levelheaded, objective, impersonal yet intensely involved in problem solving. They are fiercely independent, seeking input and comments from a chosen few. When reporting to others, they need to establish credibility first: their own and that of the person they are reporting to. If the gap in knowledge and expertise is too great and their own proficiency dismissed, belittled or ignored, they will lose interest and motivation.
The "recommended careers" that came out of this brain-picking, however, made NO sense. The guidance counselor very helpfully suggested I evaluate a possible career in police work, computer programming, dentistry, the corrections system, construction or driver/pilot of some form of transportation. She also said ISTP people tend to do well under the structure of the military.
"With the ability to stay calm under pressure, they excel in any job which requires immediate action." I also noted "hitman" was on the list. Hey, you've gotta have goals, right?
Years later, when I joined the college newspaper, it became clear to me precisely how full of shit the Myers Briggs was. They may have understood personality-type categories, but they had NO clue what makes people tick. Both photographers and journalists were identified as being overwhelmingly extrovert-types, with a small minority (probably the people to took pictures of landscapes and the folks who pen adademic reviews) on introverts.
The newspaper staff may have been loud, obnoxious, disrespectful of authority, nosy and pushy, but absolutely everyone in the newsroom was, by nature, a cave-dweller. The dominant personality trait required to go into journalism is a burning need to pry into other people's business while maintaining objective distance at all times. It's kind of a "we come from Mars to study you humans" kind of mentality. And photographers? I have NEVER met an extroverted photographer. There's a reason they spend all their time with a huge piece of equipment in front of their faces and it isn't because they love casual chit-chat.
The career paths suggested for me would have driven me batty. Police work requires a strong stomach (which I have) and a high tolerance for human suffering and drama (which I don't). Computer work requires an obsession with detail and a preference for immobility that I neither have nor have the ability to fake.
I also don't take orders well, which cuts out pretty much everything else on the list except dentistry. And all I have to say about that is: dentistry? Really?
There are plenty of people and plenty of professions you naturally assume to be extroverted when, in reality, the deeply-rooted-need-for-social-interaction is part of the "game face" employed in certain situations. Everyone I know would call me extroverted. I'm social, chatty, confident, assertive, self-confident, etc., etc.
My husband knows differently. When I come home, I don't want to head right back out the door for a night on the town. Some evenings, I don't even want to answer the phone. I just want to curl up with a good book, a good movie or a good piece of cake and pretend the outside world doesn't even exist. That's how I unwind. That's the introversion very few people see and hardly anyone expects.
Most people, I think, fall somewhere in the gray area between E and I types. Even my compulsively social friend, who goes out five nights a week (to bars, to concerts, to comedy shows, to classes in broadsword combat ...) often spends Saturday and/or Sunday permanently affixed to her couch, completely engrossed in World of Warcraft or seasons 1 through 4 of Sex and the City.
She's a total extrovert ... except when she's not. I think we need to invent a new term for all the people on the spectrum between co-dependent and agoraphobic.
What about omnivert? That sounds good. From this point foward, I shall refer to myself as an omnivert ... and everyone can just try to figure that one out on their own.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hi Lama Mama.
Wow! No one has commented on this yet? Really?
Witty, well written and fun to read.
I like the idea of omnivert ...what you need to be when you need to be it. But I can't quite class myself there. Basically, I'm an introvert with a few extroverted tendencies. That many of my friends see me as an extrovert ... confident, capable and all that ... is a constant source of mystery to me.
When I was in high school, we had a different kind of "preference" test and I found the recommended professions just a ludicrous as you did yours. Oh well.
Thanks for the fun.
Hugs,
Dianne
Love this, Lama Mama! I would be considered an extrovert by most everyone until (like your friend) I'm NOT. When, I'm not, I'm really not!
As I mature, I'm beginning to see most all of the "designations" given to us by our "experts" as at worst, inaccurate and at best, incomplete. I believe all human traits are actually on a spectrum.
Glad to have you on WryteStuff!
Yes, some of those tests.... I took interest and aptitude ones - I should have been a tractor mechanic (my highest scores were in mechanical and outdoors - my second highest did hit it - biological and interpersonal relationships and I was an RN for many years.) I realize the tests I took are coming at things from a different perspective than Myers Briggs. I totally love reading but do not consider myself introverted.... I enjoyed your humor and insights in this piece...and love the omnivert!
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