extroversion and introversion
extroversion and introversion,
terms introduced into psychology by Carl JungJung, Carl Gustav, 1875–1961, Swiss psychiatrist, founder of analytical psychology. The son of a country pastor, he studied at Basel (1895–1900) and Zürich (M.D., 1902).
..... Click the link for more information. to identify opposite psychological types. Jung saw the activity of the extrovert directed toward the external world and that of the introvert inward upon himself or herself. This general activity or drive of the individual was called the libidolibido
[Lat.,=lust], psychoanalytic term used by Sigmund Freud to identify instinctive energy with the sex instinct. For Freud, libido is the generalized sexual energy of which conscious activity is the expression. C. G.
..... Click the link for more information. by Jung, who removed from the term the sexual character ascribed to it by Sigmund FreudFreud, Sigmund
, 1856–1939, Austrian psychiatrist, founder of psychoanalysis. Born in Moravia, he lived most of his life in Vienna, receiving his medical degree from the Univ. of Vienna in 1881.
His medical career began with an apprenticeship (1885–86) under J.
..... Click the link for more information. . The extrovert is characteristically the active person who is most content when surrounded by people; carried to the neurotic extreme such behavior appears to constitute an irrational flight into society, where the extrovert's feelings are acted out. The introvert, on the other hand, is normally a contemplative individual who enjoys solitude and the inner life of ideas and the imagination. The extreme introvert's fantasies give him or her libidinal satisfactions and tend to become more meaningful to him than objective reality. Severe introversion is characteristic of autismautism
, developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communication skills, social skills, and reasoning. Males are affected four times as often as females.
..... Click the link for more information. and some forms of schizophreniaschizophrenia
, group of severe mental disorders characterized by reality distortions resulting in unusual thought patterns and behaviors. Because there is often little or no logical relationship between the thoughts and feelings of a person with schizophrenia, the disorder has
..... Click the link for more information. . Jung did not suggest strict classification of individuals as extroverted or introverted, since each person has tendencies in both directions, although one direction generally predominates. Influenced by Jung, Hans EysenckEysenck, Hans Jurgen
, 1916–97, British psychologist. Best known for his theory of human personality, Eysenck suggested that personality is biologically determined and is arranged in a hierarchy consisting of types, traits, habitual responses, and specific responses.
..... Click the link for more information. conducted research on large samples of individuals, creating more objective classifications for extroversion and introversion.
Bibliography
See C. G. Jung, Psychological Types (tr. 1923, repr. 1970); H. Eysenck, ed., A Model for Personality (1981).