You think you are an i person, but others say you are an e person: You may be an "a person"

Leonard Baier is a graphic designer in a small town in Germany. He always finds something to talk about, so if you want to find someone to hang out with, he's the perfect person to go to. If he goes to a bar alone, he can even make a few new friends. But at the same time, he also likes to be alone in his apartment, "close the door and enjoy some peace and quiet." For example, after spending some time with friends, he also likes to have some time without being disturbed.

Bell fits the category of ambiversion - he is neither a complete extroversion nor an introversion, or in other words, he is not what we often call an " e person " or an " i person ", but somewhere in between.

Generally speaking, we would think that i people get most of their energy from being alone, while e people get their energy from interacting with others; i people are more likely to feel pressured by others, while e people enjoy the company of others. But for Bell, these situations are not absolute. Sometimes he feels comfortable and relaxed when he is with others, but at other times, he will feel nervous about socializing.

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Bell is not alone. Jens Asendorf, a personality researcher at Humboldt University in Berlin, says that “90% of people are somewhere in between introversion and extroversion.” Those who are more extroverted may also occasionally prefer to be alone, while “everyone needs to socialize, and introverts will occasionally interact with others.”

In other words, most people are probably " a people ." But it's hard to clearly distinguish between "i people," "e people," and "a people," psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman said. "There's no clear definition that separates ambiverts from introverts and extroverts."

If you were to place people on a spectrum based on their traits, the vast majority would probably be somewhere in the middle, with very few at either end. In statistical terms, the spectrum of human personality follows a normal distribution. And there could be more to the spectrum than introversion, ambivalence, and extroversion. “You could create more subcategories, like mild extroversion and mild introversion,” Kaufman says.

Is the middle personality the best?

An "a person" may embody some of the characteristics of both an "e person" and an "i person": If it is a Friday night and Bell's friend suddenly visits and asks him out for a party, Bell will immediately put on his coat and get ready to go. But if no one comes to see him that night, Bell will not be bothered. Instead, he will watch a play or paint on such a quiet night and enjoy the happiness of being alone. Kaufman said: "People with ambiverts have a more flexible mentality, which is very useful in daily life."

“In general, there is no good or bad in any of these three personality types,” Kaufman says. Instead, each has unique strengths and weaknesses, depending on the situation. For example, while some studies have shown that extroverts are happier than introverts, some researchers have argued that this reflects a social bias that places a higher value on extrovert traits.

So what are the benefits of being ambiverted? There are only a few studies that have looked at this, including a 2013 study by Adam Grant, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. In that study, ambiverts in a company’s call center had higher average sales revenue than their extroverted or introverted colleagues. Grant observed that these ambiverts were more adaptable to different communication partners . They were enthusiastic and confident enough to be convincing—but not overly excited or confident. Instead, they listened to customers and put themselves in their shoes.

A 2016 study found that introverts and ambiverts in biology majors generally performed slightly better academically than extroverts. Ambiverts may combine traits from both extremes, the researchers wrote, able to focus on their studies like introverts but socialize with classmates like extroverts. Meanwhile, a 2023 study of 68 English majors in Vietnam found that 22 of the students who identified themselves as ambiverts showed a combination of extrovert and introvert traits. They used different study strategies depending on the situation, such as quickly scanning new information, asking questions to improve comprehension, or using memory aids such as color-coded notes.

Karl Moore, a researcher in the field of organizational structure at McGill University in Canada, wrote in Forbes magazine in 2012 that in addition to the academic field, in business environments, the combination of introversion and extroversion may help bring about the best decision-making. Extroverts are considered natural leaders who can inspire people to follow, but the disadvantage is that they often lack listening; introverted managers pay more attention to their employees and give them more room for development.

Common but overlooked

Despite all the praise for ambiverts, scientific research on them remains relatively scarce. For many years, the concept was ignored. The term was first coined by psychologist Edmund Smith Conklin in 1923, when he was trying to define introversion and extroversion. After that, the term was forgotten. It wasn't until decades later that British psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck reintroduced the concept in his personality model.

One reason for the lack of interest in the field may be that, by definition, ambiverts don’t usually have particularly striking or memorable personality traits . The term “ambivert” was coined to describe people who fall somewhere in between the two extremes, psychologist Ian Davidson of Concordia University in Canada explained in a 2017 paper.

By contrast, most current research has focused on distinct introverts or extroverts. Although much research has been done, few analyses have been done on people in the middle 50% of the spectrum. Kaufman laments this: “It’s good science to look at all the data, but many people prefer to look for simple answers to why people feel, think, and act the way they do.” In other words, focusing on the extremes can make some research processes easier.

But ignoring ambiverts can be problematic. People often misunderstand what extroversion and introversion actually mean, which requires a more nuanced understanding of the concepts. For example, many people assume that introversion equals shyness, dislike for others, or even social anxiety. “It has nothing to do with fear of socializing,” Asendorf says. Instead, as he points out in his book Psychology of Personality, introverts simply prefer to spend more time alone.

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Another danger is that if people don't understand the existence of ambiverts, they may simply categorize themselves and others as extreme introverts or extroverts. In doing so, they may become more convinced that their personalities are innate and rigid and unchanging. In the process, people lose sight of the complexity of human beings, which are "full of contradictory personality traits," Kaufman said.

In fact, personality isn’t static. In 2000, an analysis of 152 longitudinal studies found that our positioning on personality dimensions like introversion and extroversion may change as we age. Personality traits do tend to stabilize with age, but they’re not most stable until after age 50.

Whatever a person's personality type is, your best bet is to emphasize the positive aspects of their character. "As research shows us, if you want to be happy, you should first accept yourself ," Kaufman says.

Bell is an example of someone who is happy that he is neither an extreme "e-person" nor an extreme "i-person." At work, he can express his ideas fluently. Growing up with six siblings, he didn't have his own room until he was 11, so he was used to being surrounded by a lot of people. However, Bell still remembers how he struggled to find alone time for himself as a child. When the family was busy with other things, he would take his dog for walks. Today, when he wants some alone time, he still chooses to get close to nature. These short breaks are important to Bell, who feels stressed out by too many plans and meetings. "The most important thing is that I can live my life as I please," he said.

References

[1]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/extrovert-or-introvert-most-people-are-actually-ambiverts/

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Source: Global Science (ID: huanqiukexue)

Editor: Yang Yaping

Proofread by Xu Lai and Lin Lin