I think we tend to overplay our differences, and underestimate just how similar we all really are deep down in our basic needs, strivings, and frustrations. Our common humanity. Emerging research shows that even though we each show distinct patterns of thoughts, motivations, and behaviors that make us different from each other, we actually display the whole spectrum of behaviors in our everyday life. Everybody sometimes gets tired from too many social interactions, sometimes acts like a jerk, sometimes is lazy, etc. Just some of us are consistently more so on a regular basis than others.
In a brand new study, two Finnish researchers looked at one of the most prominent descriptions about introverts: that they need to be alone and recharge after too many social interactions. While this is undoubtedly true, does this really differentiate introverts from extraverts? Incredibly this idea has never actually been tested scientifically until now.
They found that the more people were acting extraverted and conscientious, the more they reported being in a positive mood and feeling lower levels of fatigue in the moment, but after 3 hours they reported higher levels of fatigue. The level of fatigue depended on the number of people met during the last hour, the intensity of the social interactions, and how much they had a specific goal in mind when they were studying or working. Interestingly, these effects were found for both introverts and extraverts.
Nevertheless, there are real differences between introverts and extraverts that shouldn't be ignored. For one, introverts really do prefer solitude and quiet time more, on average, than extraverts. Also, the latest science of introversion suggests that extraverts are more driven to engage in social interactions that particularly increase social status or social attention. Extraversion seems to be fueled by dopamine, particularly through the reward circuits of the brain that cause us to get excited by the possibility of "appetitive rewards" in the environment, such as money, power, sex, and social status.
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Source material from Scientific American
