Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

Introversion

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

  • 233 Accesses

Synonyms

Avoidant; Introspective; Quiet; Reserved; Self-reflective; Shyness; Solitary

Definition

Considerable variation exists in how introversion is defined. Carl Jung originally defined introversion to refer to relatively stable characteristics of personality marked by a turning inward or self-reflective introspective focus of energy (Vinas 2014). Many modern personality psychologists view introversion/extraversion as a bipolar dimension, with introversion typically being viewed as the absence of the qualities of extraversion. Extraversion is conceptualized as being comprised as social effectiveness, stimulus seeking, and gregariousness, while introversion has generally been treated as the absence of these extraverted qualities and the presence of shyness and social avoidance (Wilt and Revelle 2009). However, others have stressed the positive qualities of self-reflection, inner directedness, and self-satisfaction that characterize introversion (Cain 2012).

Introduction

Jung was the...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allik, J. (2005). Personality dimensions across cultures. Journal of Personality Disorders, 19, 212–232.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, K. C., & Myers, I. B. (1998). Myers–Briggs type indicator. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, S. (2012). Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A., Watson, D., & Mineka, S. (1994). Temperament, personality, and the mood and anxiety disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 103–116.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • de Clercq, B., van Leeuwen, K., van den Noortgate, W., de Bolle, M., & de Fruyt, F. (2009). Childhood personality pathology: Dimensional stability and change. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 853–869. doi:10.1017/S0954579409000467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992a). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 653–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992b). NEO PI-R professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 322–331. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.322.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, B., Gillies, R. A., & Pelletier, A. L. (2015). Introversion and medical student education: Challenges for both students and educators. Teaching and Learning in Medicine: An International Journal, 27, 99–104. doi:10.1080/10401334.2014.979183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1957). The dynamics of anxiety and hysteria: An experimental application of modern learning theory to psychiatry. London: Routledge/Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1959). The “Maudsley Personality Inventory” as determinacy of neurotic tendency and extraversion. Zeitschrift fur Experimentelle und Angewandte Psychologie, 6, 167–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield: Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1992). Manual for the Eysenck personality Questionnaire–Revised. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J., & Wilson, G. (1991). The Eysenck personality profiler (1st ed.). Guildford: Psi-Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant, A. M. (2013). Rethinking the extraverted scales ideal: The ambivert advantage. Psychological Science, 24, 1024–1030. doi:10.1177/0956797612463706.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, J. A. (1973). Causal models of personality and how to test them. In J. R. Royce (Ed.), Multivariate analysis and psychological theory (pp. 409–463). London: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jung, C. G. (1923). Psychological types (trans: Baynes, H. G.). Harcourt, Brace. (Original work published 1921). Retrieved from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Jung/types.htm

  • Jung, C. G. (1929). The significance of constitution and heredity in psychology. In The structure and dynamics of the psyche: volume 8 of the collected works of C. G. Jung (pp. 107–113). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., & Snidman, N. (2004). The long shadow of temperament. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Little, B. R. (2010). Acting out of character in the immortal profession: Toward a free trait agreement. Academic Matters. Retrieved from http://www.academicmatters.ca/2010/04/acting-out-of-character-in-the-immortal-profession-toward-a-free-trait-agreement/

  • Matthews, G., & Gilliland, K. (1999). The personality theories of H. J. Eysenck and J. A. Gray: A comparative review. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 583–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McClowry, S. G., Rodriguez, E. T., & Koslowitz, E. T. (2008). Temperament-based intervention: Re-examining goodness of fit. European Journal of Developmental Science, 2, 120–135.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McCrae, R. R., et al. (2005). Universal features of personality traits from the observer’s perspective: Data from 50 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 547–561. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.547.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2005). An evolutionary approach to the extraversion continuum. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 363–373. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.12.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smillie, L. D. (2008). What is reinforcement sensitivity? Neuroscience paradigms for approach-avoidance process theories of personality. European Journal of Personality, 22, 359–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tackett, J. L., Slobodskaya, H. R., Mar, R. A., Deal, J., Halverson Jr., C. F., Baker, S. R., et al. (2012). The hierarchical structure of childhood personality in five countries: Continuity from early childhood to early adolescence. Journal of Personality, 80, 847–879. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00748.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trapmann, S., Hell, B., Hirn, J. W., & Schuler, H. (2007). Meta-analysis of the relationship between the big five and academic success at university. Journal of Psychology, 215, 132–151. doi:10.1027/0044-3409.215.2.132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vinas, F. (2014). Introspective persons. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality of life and well-being research (pp. 3381–3382). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wacker, J., & Smillie, L. D. (2015). Trait extraversion and dopamine function. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 225–238. doi:10.1111/spc3.12175.

  • Wilt, J., & Revelle, W. (2009). Extraversion. In M. Leary & R. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 27–45). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Bernard Davidson & Christopher Drescher

Authors
  1. Bernard Davidson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christopher Drescher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernard Davidson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Ashton Southard

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Davidson, B., Drescher, C. (2017). Introversion. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1236-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1236-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation