Personality consists of a stable set of preferences and tendencies through which we approach the world. Personality traits form at an early age and are fixed by early adulthood. Many important things about you change over the course of your lifetime, but your personality isn’t one of them.

The continuum between introversion and extroversion captures one of the most important personality traits. An introvert is someone who likes to be by themselves. Being shy is being afraid of what others think of you. The opposite of introversion is extroversion. Extroverts like being with people. In between an introvert and an extrovert is an ambivert.

Think of introversion and extroversion as a spectrum, with ambiversion lying somewhere in the middle:

[image description: an arrow pointing in to opposite directions. On the left side of the arrow is the word introvert. On the right side of the arrow is the word extrovert.  In the middle of the two arrows is the word ambivert]

Phrases you could use to say you are an extrovert –

• I’m really outgoing – Someone who is socially confident
• I’m a gregarious person – Gregarious means you are sociable and you love being around people. Someone who love discussing ideas openly.
• I’m a social butterfly – This means you are friendly and love being socially active and are easily approachable.
• I’m very friendly – You could be friends with anyone, anytime.

Phrases you could use to say you are an introvert –

• I’m kind of reserved – This means you are a very private person; you share things with limited people.
• I like to spend time with close friends – You restrict yourself from making many friends and are very choosy about making friends.
• I usually listen more than I speak – You generally like to listen carefully and won’t share your opinion or ideas openly and socially.

Phrases you could use to say you are an ambivert

• I alter my personality based on the situation – You are able to adjust with extroverts and introverts based on the situations.
• When a topic of interest comes up, I’m more than happy to talk about it – If it’s your subject of conversation you would display the qualities of an extrovert and vice-versa.
• Spending too much time with other people can be exhausting – You like spending time with people but can’t hold on to it for long, you are social but not a social butterfly.

You’re not a better or a worse individual regardless of your personality type. You are just a different kind of individual. We need all kinds of people.  Hopefully this lesson helps you to think about sense of identity a little differently, and how we are similar in many different ways.

Sources:

Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbradberry/2016/04/26/9-signs-that-youre-an-ambivert/#68fba52d3145

Science of People: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/what-is-an-ambivert-quiz/