Extroverted vs Introverted Behaviour: Why society needs both to survive

As our understanding of human behaviour grows, it’s become apparent that society is a duality of extroverted and introverted behaviour.

The terms “extrovert” and “introvert” are never truly accurate to one’s inner character, and is often a reflection of a responsive behaviour within a specific social construct rather than an absolute personality trait. Each individual is unique and will exert what they feel is the “right” way to behave in any given scenario, often taking into account their own goals which have manifested through a continued understanding of their environments and of themselves.

As such, the way in which a person behaves in a certain situation is bound to change over time, as current understandings develop and motivations change, sparking new thought patterns and different behaviours. It is therefore expected that an introvert would begin to demonstrate more extroverted behaviour over time within certain scenarios that call for it, as the individual’s understanding of the need to show more expression will begin to grow.

A classic example is an introverted child in elementary school, who is inevitably going to be forced to show some kind of outward expression, such as for group projects, show-and-tell or even mingling with other children in the playground. Even if the child is primarily introverted in most situations, they will learn to exercise their “extroverted muscles,” so to speak, and will then be able to apply it at will when the situation calls for it, much like an arsenal at the ready.

Likewise, a primarily extroverted person may find irritation in scenarios that require silence, deep-focus or active listening, all of which require one to summon the minds power and visualise rather than act. In such situations, the converse becomes true, and we can expect that the extrovert will begin to strengthen their introverted behaviours and use them when called upon, as they start to understand the importance of demonstrating this behaviour in certain scenarios, for the sake of their own survival as well as society’s.

A common example of this is an extroverted child sitting a listening test in school, requiring that they listen and process all the information being played on the radio tape in order to answer the following questions and pass the test. This is not a test that could be triumphed through blind extroverted action, and requires a conscientious effort of inner understanding in order to deliver the correct actions in a concise manner.

The overall message here is that society needs extroverts and introverts to survive, or at least, the respective behaviours associated with each of these terms. As for social situations, it is largely up to us as the people to understand the different behaviours being expressed, and not to be too critical of others who demonstrate different, or even opposite behaviours to us, so long as no one is being harmed.

By understanding the need for extroverted and introverted behaviours to keep society functioning optimally, we can begin to understand how social gatherings can also benefit from a mix of these behaviours. As introverts learn to talk more and listen less, and extroverts learn to listen more and talk less, we can start recognising that there is always improvements to be made within ourselves no matter where we stand, as we continue to learn from each other’s behaviour and apply ourselves towards self-perfection.