It is More Preferable to be an Extrovert Than an Introvert in Modern Western Society

I hope it will be intellectually stimulating and a learning experience for the both of us. “Extraversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved and solitary behavior. ”[1] Society is a concept which human beings, through their very social nature, put into a reality. Society is where humans come together through their goal of achieving a life where they can pursue their grandest desires, and live in a world where their suffering is as minimal as possible. However before this can be achieved the key part is that in order to achieve such a society we must first achieve what society in definition entails, which would be a coming together as individuals in order to achieve something greater than what the individual can do alone. Social interaction is therefore necessary to put this into effect. Now social interaction is not something outside the introverted mindset. Introversion simply means that one is a more inward, and self-focused person. Society though is a very outward and “people-focused” plane of living. In Western society, it is a near necessity to be able to interact with others. In a society where people must interact to achieve powerful societal roles, it is only logical to believe that extroverts have the upper hand here. This is especially true since in a large society you must have a very outward and attentive stance on what is going on around you, which is contradicting with the inward, self-focused personality of introverts. One scientific study showed that introverts react more sensitively to external stimuli whereas extroverts are generally underwhelmed by external stimuli and require a more stimulating environment. One experiment showed that introverts are at a disadvantage in a work place where there is a lot of background noise and many things around trying to grab attention whereas extroverts were perfectly fine in such an environment. In contrast, another experiment showed that extroverts were widely under stimulated when placed in a white room whereas introverts felt at ease in such a space. [9] Does society mimic a noisy workplace constantly trying to grab your attention, or does it mimic a white room full of silence? Modern Society Has A Bias Towards Extroverts “The core element of extraversion is a tendency to behave in ways that attract, hold, and enjoy social attention, and not reward sensitivity. ”[2] Susan Cain argues that modern society undervalues introverts and has a cultural bias towards extroverts. An example of this bias is in the education system, which tends to have bias towards extroverts even if not on purpose. “In a way education by its nature favours the extrovert because you are taking kids and putting them into a big classroom, which is automatically going to be a high-stimulation environment. ”[3] She takes it further when comparing the nature of modern society to that of the nature of introverts and extroverts. “ Western society is based on Greco-Roman ideals of the person that can speak well, a rhetorical ideal. We have always been to some extent a society that favours action over contemplation. But this really reached a pitch when we moved from an agricultural society into the world of big business. And that's when it really became the case that to stand out and succeed in a company, with people that you had never met before, the quality of being very magnetic, very charismatic in a job interview suddenly became very important. ” Western Society is a very fast paced and highly social atmosphere that kids are put into from a very young age by the education system. Just by the nature of modern society, extroverts seem to thrive in this kind of atmosphere. This would be due to how extroverts are actually energized by a fast paced social environment. [4]Introverts on the other hand, are actually at a disadvantage in this sense because such an atmosphere is tiring, and forces them to “reenergize” via alone time. In addition to all of this, you have to remember that it never ends if you want to go along the route of societal power. This is especially true in a society that has such high focus on the big business industry which requires businessmen to have huge social interaction with others, businessmen to constantly find new exciting ideas in order to draw people, and even for the potential workers who must make themselves appealing to their interviewers. In accordance with the social attention theory, humans who are extroverted are more likely to hold the attention of others than introverts. In addition, this attention promotes further extroversion therefore promoting further attention ect. ect. [5] Extroversion is an unending cycle of advantage in a society that constantly demands new, exciting, charismatic, outgoing, highly social behavior from others in order to be very successful. The “Ideal Self” “Our culture values and rewards the qualities of extroverts. America was built on rugged individualism and the importance of citizens speaking their minds. We value action, speed, competition, and drive. ”[6] Although subjective, many people see the ideal person as an outgoing, happy, charismatic person who is comfortable in the spotlight. In Modern Western Society, the ideal person seems to be the one who takes risks, takes things quickly, is competitive with others yet knows how to work together with others to achieve something greater than what they can do alone. Although both introverts and extroverts can fulfill at least some of these things, extroverts are psychologically built for these qualities. “The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He or she favours quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong, works well in teams and socialises in groups. ”[7] The Introvert’s own needs are neglected in a society where the extroverts are the talkers and the introverts are the listeners. Everyone assumes that the way to live is how I had just described when in reality there are people whose personality dictates that they live a different lifestyle than the dominant extroverts, who outnumber introverts about three to one. [8] Extroverts outnumbering Introverts tends to mean that extroverts social “roll over” introverts. This seems to have been the cause for why little attention is given to the introvert lifestyle and a lot more is given to that fact that people think everyone should live under the “extrovert ideal. ” The Power Roles of Society Politics, teaching, and social media which are basically the “power roles” in society are all careers which are directly suitable for the extroverted mindset. Politicians require constant interaction with those around him and especially the outside world. Campaigning is drastically in favor of extroverts seeing that it puts the politicians directly in the spotlight, while requiring them to not only socially interact with a huge number of people, but to also be charismatic in doing so. Teaching is a position that is great for extroverts since it requires the teacher to be able to connect and interact with the students, focus attention on each individual student, keep every student on as equal a level as possible, and even help them with personal problems when it calls for it. Social media although it doesn’t necessarily require social interaction, it does require a very keen eye on the outside world, and require that the outside world to be given much attention. Even business people require a keen view on the outside world and that requires social interaction also. All of these roles are some of the most important careers that society has to offer and they are all appropriately suited for the extroverted mindset. I do not deny whatsoever that there have been introverted people that have been successful in fulfilling these roles. I simply argue that these roles are best suited for the extrovert. Conclusion Society has ignored introverts and their lifestyle and has given extroverts distinct advantages. These advantages include the being well fit for the power roles of society, fitting into the biased image of the ideal person, and being given more attention throughout life due to their outgoing nature. Thank you for reading. I await your response. Sources [1]Thompson, Edmund R. (2008). "Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers". Personality and Individual Differences 45 (6): 542–8. [2]Ashton, Michael C. ; Lee, Kibeom; Paunonen, Sampo V. (2002). "What is the central feature of extraversion? Social attention versus reward sensitivity". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (3): 245–52. [3] . http://www.theguardian.com... [4] . http://en.wikipedia.org... [5] Helgoe, Laurie (2008). "Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength". Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc. [6]. http://www.google.com... [7] . http://www.dailymail.co.uk... [8]. http://www.google.com... [9] . http://www.celebritytypes.com...