source：lifehackerbyThorinKlosowski 欲翻译的小伙伴，可评论领稿，并把已完成的译文贴在评论处或发在自己的心理圈内。请领稿的小伙伴，尽量在一个星期内完成翻译，谢谢！！ Overthelastfewyears，we’veheardalotaboutthecriticaldifferencesbetweenintrovertsandextroverts。Weallheavedacollectivesighaswereadpersonalitydescriptions，thinking，that’sme！Butlikemanypersonalitystereotypes，thesearen’tveryusefulforunderstandingourselves。 Theideaofintroversionandextroversionhasbeenahottopicforyearsnow。Thewaymostmediaframeit，you’dthinkthere’sanongoingwargoingonbetweenthetwogroups。You’llfindcountlessessaysabouthowintrovertscanbeleaders，speakers，andmoredespiteaworldthat’sworkingagainstthem。Thesamegoesforextroverts。Yet，allthisselfidentificationdoesn’tgetusanywhere。Ittrapsusinstereotypesandmakesusfeellikeweneedtobehaveinacertainway，wheninfactfewofusfallintotheextremebinaryofintroversionandextroversion。Whenyouselfidentifywithonepersonalitytype，you’reatriskofignoringyourbodyandbrain’sactualneeds，andthat’snotusefulforanyone。 TheRealDifferenceBetweenIntrovertsandExtroverts Therearealotofmisunderstandingsaboutwhatintroversionandextroversionactuallymean。Tomanypeople，beinganextrovertmeansyou’reoutgoing，andbeinganintrovertmeansyou’reshy。Ormaybeyouseeintrovertsashomebodieswhileextrovertsareoutchattingitupwithstrangersonthestreet。Maybeyouthinkintrovertsaresensitivewhileextrovertshaveathickskin。Noneofthosestereotypesarecorrect，solet’ssettherecordstraightbeforewegetfurtherintotheweeds。 IntroversionandextroversionareaspectsofpersonalitycoinedbyCarlJungintheearly20thcentury。Sincethen，they’reoftenincludedaspartsofpersonalityscalesliketheMyersBriggsTypeIndicator。Shynessandbeingoutgoingdon’it’smoreaboutwherewegetourenergyfrom。Infact，thedifferencesareprettysimple： Introvertsgetexhaustedbysocialinteractionandneedsolitudetorecharge。 Extrovertsgetanxiouswhenleftaloneandgetenergyfromsocialinteraction。 That’sit。There’snothingaboutshyness，beingahomebody，orhowadventurousyouare。Bothtypescanbesocial，bothcancreative，bothcanbeleaders，andsoon。 Countlessstudiesshowdifferencesbetweenextrovertsandintrovertsrelatingtoclothingchoice，sexualbehavior，andmore。Theproblemisthesestudiesshowacorrelationbetweenbraindifferenceswithintroversionandextroversion，butdon’tshowthatthebraindifferencescauseintroversionorextroversion。Westilldon’tknowexactlyhowthatworks。Fornow，ourfriendsoveratio9haveagreatbreakdownofmanyofthesestudiesifyou’reinterested。 PeopleDon’tUsuallyFitIntoanIntrovertExtrovertBinary 1： Weloveputtingourselvesintocategories。Ifwecanbeidentifiedwithalabel，wecanrallybehindthatlabel。Asaresult，countlesslisticlesandpersonalityquizzesexisttopegusintrovertsorextroverts。Theproblemis，mostofusfallsomewhereinthemiddle，displayingbehaviorsofboth。Jungcallspeoplewhodon’tfitintoeitherextremeambiverts。 Itshouldn’tcomeasasurprisetoanyonethatabinaryscaleofhumanbehaviorisn’tcompletelyaccurate。Thisisn’tavideogame，whereweclearlyfallintothecategoryofgoodcharacterorevilcharacter。Introversionandextroversionarepartofascale。Justlikepoliticalaffiliations，mostofusdon’tfancyourselvesoneextremeortheother。 Asyoucanlikelyguessfromthename，ambivertstendtodriftbetweenintroversionandextroversiondependingoncontext。Forexample，youmightfeellikeyoudrawenergyfromtimespentwithonespecificgroupoffriends，whileanotherdrainsyou。Thesedays，despitewhatlisticleswouldhaveyoubelieve，psychologistsviewintroversionandextroversionasaspectrumwherewealltendtoamblebetweenthetwoextremes。 Thatisn’ttosaypeopledon’tleanmoretowardintroversionorextroversion，ofcourse。Wedo。Butpersonalityscienceisn’texact。Thereareanumberofdifferentfactorsthatinformourpersonalities。Frombrainstructuretopersonalhistory，weneedamyriadofspectrumstounderstandapersonasawhole。Knowingwhichintrovertorextroverttraitsyouhaveispartofamuchlargerpuzzle，anditdoesn’thelpyoupredictyourbehaviorwithouttherestofthosepieces。 PersonalityTypeIsn’taDisorderoranExcuse Youdon’tfixintroversionorextroversion。Apersonalitytypeisnotaconditionoradisorderforyoutoremedy。Introversionisoftenequatedwithnegativeslikeshyness，anxiety，ornarcissism。Extrovertsareoftencalledshallow，badlisteners，andoverlyenergetic。Forthemostpart，noneofthesetraitshaveanythingtodowithintroversionandextroversion。 Forexample，it’sacommonassumptionthatintrovertshatepeopleandthatmakesitokay。Thatisn’tintroversion，it’sjustbeinganasshole。Extrovertscanhatepeopletoo。Introvertscanalsoenjoytalkingtopeopleandcanhavegreatsocialskills，justasextrovertsarecapableofenjoyingabeerbythemselvesatabar。 Furthermore，whenyouselfidentifywithanextremebinary，youtendtousethatpersonalitytypeasanexcuse，oreventoignoreyourownneeds。Forexample，everyoneneedstimealone，butifyouselfidentifyasanextrovert，youmightfeelguiltyaboutusingthatexcusetostayhomeSaturdaynight。Conversely，ifyouselfidentifyasanintrovert，youmightpassonsocialoutingsbecauseyouthinkyouneedthatalonetime，wheninfactsometimeoutwithfriendswoulddoyougood。I’mjustasguiltyofthisasanyoneelse。 Introversionandextroversionaren’tdisordersthatneedfixing，butthey’realsonotcrutchestoleanon。Ifyoufancyyourselfonewayoranother，makesureyougainsomeusefulinsightfromthatanduseitmovingforward。Youdon’thavetochangeyourbehavior，butwhenyouunderstandyouractualneedsinthatmoment，you’rebetteroff。 It’sNotBettertoBeIntrovertedorExtroverted Weallwanttobeapartofthewinninggroup，anddependingonwhichwayyouthinkyoulean，you’regoingtothinkthat’syou。There’salotofbackpattingontheinternetthatclaimsthatbothintrovertsandextroverts（andheck，evenambiverts）arethebestateverything。ThesearegreatforFacebookwhereyoucantriumphantlysaythatyouarethebestandeveryoneelseistheworst，butit’snotusefulinanyotherway。 Introvertsarenotbetterthanextroverts，orviceversa。Forexample，there’sanongoingstereotypethatintrovertsaremorelevelheaded，creative，intelligent，andrefined。Ifyoufancyyourselfmoreextroverted，you’reprobablyprettyannoyedwiththesetypesofclaims。Don’tworry：there’snorealevidenceanyaretrueorthatthey’recausedbyyourpersonalitytype。 Thatsaid，therearecommunicationstrugglesbetweenpeoplewholeanmoretowardintroversionorextroversion，butneitherisbetterorworsethantheother。Wealldifferfromeachotherincountlesswaysanditdoesn’tjustcomedowntoanextroversionintroversionspectrum。Dealingwithpeopleistoughsometimes，soweputlabelsoneachothertomakeitseemalittleeasier。 Youcanbeanextrovertwholikestodaydreamandreflectdeeplyonidea。Youcanbeanintrovertwholovestalkingtopeople。Youcanbeanassertive，loudtalkingintrovert。Youcanbeasensitive，sociallyawkwardextrovert。Weneedtoshedtheoutdatedandselfdiagnosednotionsofbinarypersonalitybecauseit’snotusefulforunderstandingwhowereallyare。
