Enter extroversion, exit introversion?

Loud and clear

Roommates become inseparable; parties never seem to end; there are countless trips, mischiefs and treasured memories. College life does seem to radiate this bouncing, heart-throbbing energy everyone wishes to capture.

But amid this stimulation, are the introverts trying too hard to keep up with the pressure of this extroverted environment?

It’s no secret that society has always rewarded the extroverts and reinforced the idea that it is the most competitive, the most talkative and the most outgoing child that succeeds.

The qualities of extroverts are what is synonymous with a ‘leader’, as most successful leaders are known to be gregarious, engaging with different people; and introverts are perceived as anti-social, a social pathology of sorts.

This is, however, completely contradictory to the reality of today.

Introverts can be world-class successes, too. Just look at Warren Buffett, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi, Rosa Parks and others who are “a classic example of an introvert taking careful well-calibrated risks,” says Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of
Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.

This sadly remains ignored by the education system, more specifically in India, where the most outgoing person is more likely to be made the class representative, to have his or her doubts clarified by teachers and be appreciated by the society for being a strong ‘people’s person’.

In a classroom, whether in school or college, it isn’t rare to see the so-called quiet children often being overlooked by their teachers for posts such as the class leader or the head boy or girl.

The very voice of an introvert gets drowned amidst the voices of several loud children.

This causes devastating effects on these children, making them doubt their identity and worth.

What makes this emotional torture worse for introverts is the fact that the very grading system of schools and colleges is based on activities and programmes aimed at testing the outgoing characteristic of students.

Many argue that this ‘active learning classroom environment’ is needed in order to help the students and faculty get out of their comfort zones and be a team player.

Big corporates don’t see profit when they see students (their future workforce) do things quietly. Most organisations (various exceptions) require their future employee to be a ‘show-man’ for the people, and this need drives the education systems to inculcate a sense of extroversion into children from their early ages.

This importance on extroversion in classrooms can be challenging for introverts who perform better when they work independently and in a more subdued and a less-stimulated environment.

As Susan Cain put it in her famous TED Talk, introverts simply “feel at their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they’re in quieter, more low-key environments.”

Not all introverts are universally shy and afraid to speak up in the classrooms, or enjoy parties. But according to research on this topic over time, the famous psychologist Carl Jung has stated that introverts are the ones who work best on their own, in places where the stimulation isn’t too high.

Is the very identity and nature of an introvert, something they were born with, being snatched away by the society?

The qualities of one type of personality are glorified, while many positive qualities of an introvert, such as being observant, taking well-thought-out decisions, self-knowledge, patience etc seem to have no intrinsic value of their own in this extroversion-loving college as well as work life.

(The writer is a BBA student at Christ, Bengaluru)