While visiting friends for the Superbowl this year I found a random magazine lying around. Not being a super fan of football, I was easily distracted by this very short magazine personality quiz. The results of the quiz revealed that I was an introvert.
As a long-time, outgoing, social, friendly, talkative person I've long thought of myself as an extrovert. But sometimes it's easier to "see" other people for what *they* are than to analyze yourself. So I made my friend take the quiz too. The quiz had her accurately pegged as an extrovert.
So I asked her to provide feedback regarding her responses....
...and, behold, we were indeed opposites.
I always thought we were "the same." Now, it is revealed that we are...exact/total/complete opposites on how we felt most comfortable interacting in the world!!
Imagine that!
Even other people say we "act alike" or "and look alike" and "have similar energy." But, when she and I compared notes on our comfort level in social settings, our preferred method of solving an issue, or our most effective coping mechanisms...it was clear that we were NOT the same.
So this motivated me to dig deeper and investigate further.
What I discovered from Wikipedia is:
Extraversion is "the act, state, or habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self"
Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life"
This realization made me re-think everything I thought about personalities and...about my own self.
And once I moved beyond my own self...I started considering those around me (and my potential mis-understanding of their personality).
So, the entire family underwent personality profile quizzes so we could all better understand each other (and everyone else). See links in side-bar for more info.
