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I have a theory that introversion and extraversion don't really exist as personality traits, and that we build up preferences out of existing culture about how
by vinceguidry 9y ago
I have a theory that introversion and extraversion don't really exist as personality traits, and that we build up preferences out of existing culture about how much social interaction we want in our daily lives.
If the culture changes, then so will our preferences.
I can easily imagine a world in which I'm gregarious and fun all the time. Making that world happen on the other hand...
- have_faith 9y ago> I can easily imagine a world in which I'm gregarious and fun all the time Must be an overactive imagination.
- vinceguidry 9y agoThink "8 year old boy in the 1800s." Castles, dragons, kings, jousting. My mind just doesn't know how to quit.
- Abitingal 9y ago> I have a theory that introversion and extraversion don't really exist as personality traits, and that we build up preferences out of existing culture about how much social interaction we want in our daily lives. I am under the impression that there is quite a bit of diversity when it comes to introversion/ extroversion. While I was not the one to go out partying and neither was my friends, I always thought that it was more due to which social circles I was with rather than a bigger trend.
- apohn 9y agoI'd recommend searching for "Introversion and extroversion brain differences" and similar topics in your favorite search engine. There's evidence that there are physical differences in the brain. Hopefully somebody with a background in medicine or neuroscience can provide a more comprehensive answer.
- dougmwne 9y agoAnd if someone has neuroscience background, maybe they can tell us if that difference is present from birth or if these changes to the brain are environmental based on our social experiences.
- noelwelsh 9y agoHaving seen how much more sociable the Spanish are compared to the English I'm inclined to agree there is a significant cultural component here. This could be just genetic, but I believe it isn't. A very quick search suggests this is something that academia is considering and has not answered definitively.
- arethuza 9y agoAlmost certainly purely cultural - look at the huge difference in reputations between how friendly places like Glasgow and Edinburgh are even though they are actually ~75km apart.
- toasterlovin 9y agoMy experience has been that people sort themselves into different cities according to their preferences, so there could very well be a genetic component as well.
- narag 9y agoHaving seen how much more sociable the Spanish are compared to the English I can atest that there are many Spanish introverts. In a very open society you must make an extra effort to fit, but that doesn't change such a traits. My father used to push me very hard to go out and meet people. Annoying at the time, but I'm happy he did.
- dougmwne 9y agoI think we are incredibly adaptable and applying a label to ourselves can easily be self-fulfilling. New environment, new you.
- c8d3f7b49897918 9y agoExtraversion/Introversion is one of the big five personality traits and is ~50% heritable: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Heritability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#He... That's not to say introversion/extraversion wouldn't manifest differently in different contexts, but the trait does exist (as much as any personality trait does) and appears to have a large genetic component to it.
- temp-dude-87844 9y agoIsn't "~50% heritable" a different way of stating that the results are indistinguishable from a coin flip? That doesn't sound too hereditary.
- extra88 9y agoNo, because it's not a binary choice. There are degrees to which people are open to new experiences or extraverted.
- c8d3f7b49897918 9y agoNo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability
- nils-m-holm 9y agoI'd rather interpret it as "50% are fixed (nature) and the other 50% are a coin flip (nurture).
- an3waccount 9y agoNo? Lets say we intro-/extroversion is either heritable (with prob .5) or random(with prob .5). If both of your parents are introverted you have a 50% chance of inheriting the introversion of your parents or a 50% chance at a coinflip, which gives us 75% for introversion and 25% for extraversion.
- aaron-santos 9y agoI took it to mean a covariance of 0.5.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- JoeDaDude 9y agoIn Susan Cain's book about introversion "The Quiet Revolution", she speculated that introversion could become a cultural norm, pointing towards Asian nations as an example.