Extrovert bias, the invisible discrimination

Do you ever feel that our society and culture, including schools and work places, celebrate and are designed for people who are highly sociable and drawn to spotlight? These people often find it easier to make friends, ace an interview, speak in public and excel in a meeting setting. Not to mention, their gregarious disposition often makes them perceived as smarter individuals who are better leaders and communicators.

Especially in the era of personal branding bolstered by social media, the ‘coolest’ professions also seem to be the ones that favour these traits, such as entrepreneurs and content creators.

It might be because, whether we realise it or not, our society does favour traits that are more overtly gregarious, self-assured and sociable. These traits are often understood as extroverted traits. Extrovert and introvert are terms that are commonly used, but let us set the definitions before we proceed.

According to Freyd (1924), an introvert is an individual in whom exists an exaggeration of the thought processes in relation to directly observable social behaviour, with an accompanying tendency to withdraw from social contacts. Meanwhile, an extrovert is an individual in whom exists a diminution of the thought processes in relation to directly observable social behaviour, with an accompanying tendency to make social contacts.

Zafira Shabrina, lecturer of Social Psychology at Gajah Mada University shares that introversion and extroversion were terms introduced by Carl Jung as a way to explain personalities of humans. “In general, people who tend to be more introverted orientate themselves on their own thoughts and feelings as opposed to the external world.” In other words, people who tend to be more introverted are happier with less external stimulations, while extroverts would function optimally with more external stimulations.

“If you notice, I used the phrase ‘tend to’ a lot, because introversion–extroversion is actually a continuum. Some perceive them as categories, but they are not. In every person there is a degree of extroversion–introversion, but the one that dominates is often the one that is easily observed,” she added. If both are balanced? Well, we have what is known as ambivert. And extroversion–introversion is not a constant thing. Zafiraexplained that there are research findings (i.e. McCrae et al, 2005; Terracciano et al., 2005; Whitman, 1929) that suggest that as people grow older, their level of extroversion tends to decrease.

Therefore, going back to our earlier discussion, an extrovert bias occurs when our society has a preference for people with extroverted personalities. We hear about privilege a lot these days, the kinds related to race, body type, social class and others. However, we do not see the phrase ‘check your extrovert privilege’ being thrown around, do we?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, privilege is ‘an advantage that only one person or group of people has’. As with anything else, the privileged often do not recognise the extent of their privilege because they have never experienced how it is to not have what they have always had. The position of privilege often has not been appreciated or reflected on as it should have. In the case of extrovert privilege, not many people have noticed it, but it can clearly be seen in the society we live in.

This particular privilege transcends race, gender, age and socio-economic status. Let us take the workplace setting for example. There are practices in the workplace that favour those who are extroverted and make it easier for them to thrive than for their introverted colleagues. Meetings and interviews, for instance, require a lot of talking and instant responses. Introverts typically like to think and reflect before speaking, whereas extroverts typically process their thoughts whilst speaking. As such, these activities are naturally more comfortable for extroverts, thus putting extroverts in a more privileged position.

For introverts, there is often an expectation that they need to adopt that way of being. The thinking and reflecting introverts do in interviews can be misconstrued for not knowing their stuff or for a lack of confidence. Introverts are often required to adapt to methods or ways that do not come naturally or feel uncomfortable for them. This, too, is an instance of the extrovert privilege.

Sometimes, it is about of finding jobs that suit our personality makeup. Introverts may excel more in jobs that offer the freedom to work alone as opposed to in group settings. Examples include editor, graphic designer, content manager, executive chef and software engineer.

Interestingly, some jobs that are usually framed as ‘extroverted jobs’ may be suitable for introverts. Politicians, for example, are a lot more introverted than people think, despite generally requiring charismatic, sociable dispositions. In politics, it is best not to show all of our cards too quickly, and introverts are more willing to stand back and listen and take extra time to come up with a conclusion.

An interesting take on why society in general seems to favour extroverted traits may be rooted in our long-standing bias toward Anglo-American culture – a culture that happens to highly value extroverted traits – as the majority of the studies conducted on this subject took place in the US.

Surely, there is a socio-cultural influence that determines the value a society puts on extroverted and introverted traits. The United States of America, for example, is a country that highly values extroverted traits. This can be most recently traced to the Industrial Revolution, which created rapid shifts from rural communities where people knew almost everyone they came into contact with, to urban cities where impressing strangers became necessary for survival. The American Dream, as they called it, could be achieved through first impressions, wit, charm and the ability to speak in front of and persuade large crowds (Fudjack, 2013).

Conversely, in countries such as Finland and India, introverted traits trump over extroverted traits. In Finland, being quiet, silent and introverted are viewed as highly positive and respectable personality traits. Similarly, the Indian people value deep, reflective thought, mindfulness, meditation, practices that require introspective thinking. India’s value of introversion stood the test of time and remains a key ingredient today (Fudjack, 2013).

In the realm of pop culture, introverted and extroverted characters are often juxtaposed to highlight the contrast between them. Among the most popular are Thor and Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, two brothers who cannot be more different and their forever intertwined lives. Thor is the charismatic, gregarious hero, while Loki is the quiet loner who is sly, cunning and the perfect anti-hero to Thor. Then there is Glindaand Elphaba from the Broadway musical ‘Wicked,’ who embody extroverted and introverted traits perfectly.

In a lot of these popular content, the introverts are often the villain (Loki) or misunderstood (Elphaba). Quite interesting, as there are a lot of introverts among us. Depending on the study you find, introverts make up one-third to one-half of the total population.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that introversion equates to shyness. “Shyness is about the fear of social judgment. So, if you’re going out on the ice and everybody’s watching you, you’re feeling an acutely, painfully heightened self-consciousness,” argued Susan Cain, author of a book titled Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. “And introversion is much more about the preference for environments where there’s just a little less going on. It’s more mellow. It’s more chill. And that’s where you feel that you’re most alive,” Cain explained further.

And the notion that society does not favour introverts isbeing challenged as well. Some of the wealthiest people in the world are introverts, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet. While they may very well be the exception and not the rule, they are proof that introverts can excel in a world built for extroverts.

Meanwhile, in June 2021, Marvel Studios released a television series titled “Loki” on Disney+, further propelling the character’s popularity that has steadily risen since the first Avengers movie. This is an introverted character that is very popular and warmly embraced by fans around the world. He is yet another (fictional) introvert making it in this extroverted world.

As such, maybe the world is not set against introverts after all. They just have to find their avenues to excel in a bit more complicated ways. Our part as a society is to make the world a friendlier place for all – extroverts, introverts and ambiverts alike.