William Bergquist, Ph.D. and Suzanne Brennan Nathan, Psy.D.
In a previous essay, one of us (Brennan Nathan, 2019) portrayed the person who is deeply embedded in the web of interpersonal relationships. For this person, the primary core anchor in their life centers on connections with other people. In this essay, we wish to engage a more balanced perspective. What if someone does not choose connectivity (the eleventh career anchor) as their first preference—or even their sixth or seventh preference? What if interpersonal relationships are engaged in a rather indirect manner?
Carl Jung (1971) offered a term many years ago that is used to label this preference for something other than connectivity and this indirect engagement of interpersonal relationships. Jung’s term is Introversion. As a commonly used (and often incorrectly used) term in contemporary culture, Introversion is contrasted with a term used to label those people who are oriented toward connectivity. This term is Extraversion.
In this essay, we focus on how those who are called “introverts” and those who are called “Extraverts” differ in the way they interact with other people. We make use of a concept called the “Interpersonal Preference Spectrum” when drawing the distinction between extraverted and introverted approaches to interpersonal relationships. Before considering these differences, we pause to provide several different ways in which the terms introversion and extraversion have been used by not just the Jungians but also those aligned with the research and theory-building of Hans Eysenck (2006).
Introversion/Extraversion
A definitive definition provided by Carl Jung concerning Introversion and Extraversion is actually somewhat elusive. He is often hard to interpret for the layperson who is not familiar with his use of psychological terms (especially in translation).
Following is his introduction of these two terms in his book, Psychological Types (Jung, 1971, p. 330). He is identifying extraversion and introversion as attitudes regarding internal and external objects:
The introvert’s attitude is an abstracting one; at bottom he is always intent on withdrawing libido from the object, as though he had to prevent the object from gaining power over him. The extravert, on the contrary, has a positive relation to the object. He affirms its importance to such an extent that his subjective attitude is constantly related to and oriented by the object.
In essence, this means that the Introvert is focusing primarily on matters internal to themselves, while the extravert is focusing on external matters. The way an Extravert feels (attitude) is determined primarily by what happens out in their world. Conversely, the Introvert’s feelings (attitudes) are determined primarily by what is swirling around their head and heart at any one moment in time.
