Are you an introvert, extravert, or a little of both?

Courtesy+of+Pixabay.com

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Nivedhaa Naresh Kumar, Staff Writer

As the virtualization of nearly everything increases, the time on our hands may be increasingly present too. Some individuals have been investing this extra time in hobbies, while some see this as advantageous and catch more zzz’s. But, at the tip of the iceberg, resilient individuals are seen working on themselves and increasing self-awareness- the traits of insightfulness and introspection in bold.

During World War II, Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers created the MBTI assessment- in belief that if people understood each other better, there’d be less conflict. With more than 70 years of science-based, research-based insight, the MBTI assessment is now deemed a powerful tool for self-awareness and improvement.

“I’m an INTJ which stands for introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging. Some common traits related to INTJ’s is that they love perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do, planning far ahead and they keep their personal lives private. I resonate with all the traits associated with my type,” said Patricia Nowik, freshman.

The MBTI assessment uses a 4 letter key to link a specific personality type to an individual. The 4 letters are E/I – (Extraversion/Introversion), S/N – (Sensing/iNtuition), F/T (Feeling/Thinking), P/J (Perceiving/Judging). There are a total of 16 different personality types.

“Well, I’m an extrovert, more precisely an ESFP,” said Priya Srinivas, freshman. “I love people, my work ethic is more inclined towards spontaneous bursts of effort, and I enjoy living in the moment.”

The clash between deeming a person an introvert or an extrovert can be one heated argument, since extroverts and introverts vastly differ. Thankfully, in 1927, Kimball Young coined the term, “ambivert” defining “a person exhibiting features of an extrovert and an introvert.”

“I’m an extroverted introvert, or as I’d like to call it- an ambivert,” said Fenella Ibias, sophomore. “Sometimes people drain me, sometimes people energize me. It depends on the day and my mood.”

Ibias mentions her interests as an ambivert include watching introspective Youtube videos, occasionally talking to friends over the phone and going to the mall, and binging Netflix dramas.

“My interests include running outside, talking to my friends for hours, playing guitar and drawing,” said Srinivas. As an extrovert herself, she said that most extroverts engage in outgoing, physical activities.

Nowik could beg to differ. “I tend to be wary of ‘out-there,’ activities. Even though I play sports, my interests consist of reading books, solving puzzles and developing random skills at home.”

Who knows, learning your own personality type by taking the Myers-Briggs assessment could give you some insight as an individual and open up the possibility of self growth and actualization.