Hey! Are you an E or an I? What? Didn't get it? Or did you?? Well, if you did, welcome to the widely spread personality zone, and for those of you who didn't, these are the two main types of personality.. the Extrovert and the Introvert- the E and the I.
Why this means so much to me that I created a new blog post for it?? I have always had this issue of being too social or too anti (or selectively) social among people of both the kinds. I am sure many of you do, too. We're too quite, people start calling us introverted, and if we're the chatterboxes, then we'll be labeled as the extroverts. Talking about personality types always fascinates me and this topic has been chiming in my mind for quite some time...
I recently had a golden opportunity to visit the United States of America, for taking part in the SUSI Kansas Women's Leadership Institute (KWLI2014) at the University of Kansas, USA. Throughout the great journey of learning, fun, adventure, classes, activities, travelling and shopping... there was something that molded our attitudes, thoughts, actions and reactions...it was that war of the personality traits within each one of us! Why am I writing this in association with the KWLI?? Because that is the first time I actually understood what our behaviors were all about... that is where I learnt why we become "not ourselves" which actually is a part of us.. within us?? And.. most importantly.. what personality type I actually am...(though a lot is to be discovered yet)
It was this genius named Carl Jung who first spoke of the introversion and extraversion as human personality traits. He was of the view that every one is highly associated with one of these two traits and low on the other. So he must be either an introvert or an extrovert. One could easily identify an E or an I in a public gathering, (though you would find lesser I's in large social gatherings), through their way of interaction. E's are believed to be loud, enthusiastic, assertive, sometimes "dominating", often known as "full of energy". While the I's are perceived to be "shy" though there is a difference between being shyd and being "selectively social". It is stereotypical to say that an extrovert is always bossy or an introvert cannot be a salesperson. And it had been long believed, or misbelieved that only these two types exist.
It was this genius named Carl Jung who first spoke of the introversion and extraversion as human personality traits. He was of the view that every one is highly associated with one of these two traits and low on the other. So he must be either an introvert or an extrovert. One could easily identify an E or an I in a public gathering, (though you would find lesser I's in large social gatherings), through their way of interaction. E's are believed to be loud, enthusiastic, assertive, sometimes "dominating", often known as "full of energy". While the I's are perceived to be "shy" though there is a difference between being shyd and being "selectively social". It is stereotypical to say that an extrovert is always bossy or an introvert cannot be a salesperson. And it had been long believed, or misbelieved that only these two types exist.
But what about those chatterboxes who turn down all of a sudden?? Or what about those seldom chirping souls turning into juke boxes?? Well... here come the Myer-Briggs type indicator assessments, to solve this riddle...so now they have four dichotomies namely
1. Extravert-Introvert
2. Sensing- Intuition
3. Thinking-Feeling
4. Judging-Perceiving
These four account for the 16 different types of personalities....they are also classified as ENFP, INTP, ESFJ and so on...There are various factors that influence our personalities, like I experienced, and so does our multidimensional personality lets out another, buried dimension of our personality that no one, not even we ourselves, knew, and that takes everyone by surprise (even shock!).
Okay, so we were told to take the MBTI at the KWLI...We took an online personality test and then waited for the results... and to my surprise (or shock :p) it read as:
"Sorry but you do not fit into any one category of the personalities, which might be a good thing in itself." Yeah thanks for consoling....
And then we took another test, but what I found out there was even sillier.. (I call it so)... I turned out to be an ENFP and INFP...simultaneously...!
Now this was something ringing a bell...who am I? Who are all of us that do not fit into a "single" category of the MBTI 16 personalities??
That was my awakening point... I needed to know why this happened only with ME among the 25 women? So here's the answer...
"Sorry but you do not fit into any one category of the personalities, which might be a good thing in itself." Yeah thanks for consoling....
And then we took another test, but what I found out there was even sillier.. (I call it so)... I turned out to be an ENFP and INFP...simultaneously...!
Now this was something ringing a bell...who am I? Who are all of us that do not fit into a "single" category of the MBTI 16 personalities??
That was my awakening point... I needed to know why this happened only with ME among the 25 women? So here's the answer...
Have you been in a state of eternal happiness, where you have been screaming out loud with joy, making the best of your time chit-chatting, being adventurous, being naughty, being open, being enthusiastic, in short, full of life? And then crawl back into that shell of yours, where you do not want to socialize with all those good people around you, where you feel like talking to yourself and just "processing" (I borrowed this word from my KWLI sister), or where you want to be left alone, in the silent, deep dark vales of muse...? Has anyone lately told you... "Hey! You don't speak as much as you used to, what's up?" And you actually have no explanation because it is true and unreasonable...
Have you experienced the urge to go on the stage and rock everyone in the audience with your melodious voice, and then there's another you hiding in your room, or behind a friend, so that you are not pointed out or noticed in a crowd? Have you been through the phase when you want to be out with your dearest ones, working on new projects every day and want the world to know all about you... and all of a sudden you need a lot of personal space? Do you speak too much that no one else has the space to talk after you, and then your voice goes mute because now you want to listen more...? Or let's get to a more "close -to-life" example, have you always been craving to upload some stuff on a social media webdsite for the world to know.. and all of a sudden you begin to feel that perhaps going that public might not be a wise idea... just becasue you can't handle the digital audience? Well, I did too...
Ambiverts are not-very-well-researched-about mythical beings. They are, technically, those with an automatic personality generator. It may push the E personality out at one time and the I type in another. It has been studied by Adam Grant of The Wharton School in 2013 that those with the extreme forms find it more difficult to mold according to the situation than the ambiverts. (Contributor: David DiSalvo, Source: Forbes 2013). The study also reveals that there are few people who live only on the two extremes of the personalities; where most of them have an inclination towards the lesser dominant personality trait too.
Ambiverts are not-very-well-researched-about mythical beings. They are, technically, those with an automatic personality generator. It may push the E personality out at one time and the I type in another. It has been studied by Adam Grant of The Wharton School in 2013 that those with the extreme forms find it more difficult to mold according to the situation than the ambiverts. (Contributor: David DiSalvo, Source: Forbes 2013). The study also reveals that there are few people who live only on the two extremes of the personalities; where most of them have an inclination towards the lesser dominant personality trait too.
The ambiverts have to face various dilemmas while being among their peers, relatives, colleagues or other social gatherings. They might seem "weird" to some and "unique" to others (well these are synonymous, with two diverse contexts)
Ambiverts might seem too talkative to an introvert and a little quite for an extrovert. Or they might become any one of them when the circumstances demand from them...sometimes, they might be labeled as being on one extreme. They might be urged by the peers to speak up, or told to shut up! (Yeah it's hard to be an ambivert right! ):D
Ambiverts might seem too talkative to an introvert and a little quite for an extrovert. Or they might become any one of them when the circumstances demand from them...sometimes, they might be labeled as being on one extreme. They might be urged by the peers to speak up, or told to shut up! (Yeah it's hard to be an ambivert right! ):D
Ambiversion is also said to be the middle stage of The Big Five personality traits i.e. openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism... is that you too..? "All in one? How is that possible??" This is another dilemma of an ambivert, how to be on just one side of the personality. We see that there are people who can actually stick to their E or I version everywhere, but it should not be forgotten that the human mind is complex and cannot be completely fixed to one side. Still, those of us who are ambiverts, rather multiverts, need to learn to find our required type of personality in the related environment. It often happens that the expression of the personality trait might differ pertaining to the situation we are in and the way we are socio-culturally required to behave and act. That is where an ambivert might get trapped, that is where I, you and many like us get seized.. :p
So here I'd like to thank the KWLI 2014 for conducting the MBTI because of which I came to peep a little bit inside me...And thus got to know about the "third dimension" of personalities, to which I belong .
So here I'd like to thank the KWLI 2014 for conducting the MBTI because of which I came to peep a little bit inside me...And thus got to know about the "third dimension" of personalities, to which I belong .
Apart from the dilemmas, the ambiverts have a lot to enjoy, like the variety of life, the COLORS of the personality rather than being either black or white...this, while exhibiting the extreme personality traits, is not possible.But the thing is, as the E's and the I's are proud to be them, we A's should start being proud of ourselves, we formed an entirely different personality trait, which is equally a good and a bad thing :p Also, like others, the ambiverts should enjoy the freedom of being and expressing themselves, and not always get bound by the chains of the societal expectations .
So now that I have found out WHAT personality type I am, I feel that I have a greater choice of locking myself in my room or playing in the rain with my best friends...it's because I am an Ambivert!
So now that I have found out WHAT personality type I am, I feel that I have a greater choice of locking myself in my room or playing in the rain with my best friends...it's because I am an Ambivert!
