Note: This is a piece that I wrote for my Speech class. I quote heavily from the cited websites at the bottom. The reason why I didn't use quotation marks and citations within the text is because it's for a speech class, and thus wasn't necessary. I am sharing this information in my blog because I think it's useful information for both introverts and extroverts to have. It is by no means new information, but it's nice to have it collected in one place.
INTRODUCTION:
Attention Grabber: I am an introvert. It may not seem it, but I struggle in a society that seems to be built for extroverts. I never really liked going out and doing the same things as my extroverted friends, but when I was younger I could easily bounce back from the drain. It wasn't until a year ago, when I went to Las Vegas for my then brother-in-law's wedding, that I realized that, for introverts, being overstimulated is like dealing with a hangover. It wasn't until I started doing research for this speech that I discovered that there is a physiological reason why we introverts have a tendency to recluse ourselves.
Topic: Today I will explain to you what it's like for an introvert to live in an extrovert's world.
Preview of the Main Points: First, I will give you some insight into the introvert's brain, in context as opposed to the extrovert's brain. Second, I will explain how those differences in the introvert's brain affects how we perceive the world. Third, I will show that Western society is geared towards extroversion, and discuss how that affects the introvert.
**1st Transition: Before I show you what it's like to live in an extroverted world, you first need to understand the biology of the introvert's brain.
BODY:
First Point: There are physiological differences between introverts and extroverts.
1. The cerebral cortex is the outer covering of gray matter over the hemispheres. These include areas directly receiving sensory input. The association cortices are important in more complex cortical functions including memory, language, abstraction, creativity, judgement, emotion and attention. The neocortex are the more primitive areas are involved with olfaction and survival functions such as visceral and emotional reactions. The primary visual cortex projects to areas surrounding it, called the visual association areas, where signals are interpreted and form is recognized. There are additional aspects of visual function that are represented in other regions of adjacent cortex, which is necessary for color recognition and recognizing movement. There are auditory association areas surrounding the primary auditory cortex. These areas are involved in the interpretation of sound. In the dominant hemisphere the cortex surrounding the auditory cortex is required for understanding language.
2. According to German psychologist, Hans Eysenck, the behaviors of introverts and extroverts are due to differences in cortical arousal, which is the speed and amount of the brain's activity. Compared with extroverts, introverts have naturally high cortical arousal, and may process more information per second. Additionally, scientists obtained behavioral and psychophysiological measures as participants, consisting of 16 introverts and 16 extroverts, performed a visual go/no-go task. Although no extroversion-related differences in reaction time emerged, introverts showed faster premotor processing but slower central and peripheral motor processing--as indicated by latencies of the lateralized readiness potential (LRP) and electromyographic (EMG) data, respectively--than extroverts did.
3. Research has also shown that introverts have more activity than extroverts in brain regions associated with vigilance control. Vigilance is sustained concentration, defined by the ability to maintain concentrated attention over prolonged periods of time. During this time, the person attempts to detect the appearance of a particular target stimulus. Research has linked increases in mental workload and allocation of attentional resources with increased activity in the prefrontal cortex. As such, subcortical brain regions associated with arousal play as a critical role in performance of vigilance tasks.
4. The premotor cortex is immediately anterior to the motor cortex and has many of the same connections as the motor cortex. This region receives input from the sensory association cortex as well as feedback from the basal ganglia. Electrical stimulation of this area tends to produce more complex movements and a higher stimulus intensity than the simple movements. Introverts' premotor cortexes process external stimuli more quickly.
5. The reticular activating system ignites brain activity, which has a higher basal activity for introverts than for extroverts. Basal is the minimal level of activity. The reticular activating system emanates from the brainstem and projects upward to the cerebral cortex via the thalamus. The influence of this system can be described in behavioral terms, such as the ability to think and also the kind of thoughts we have, or it can be described in terms of brain wave activity. The reticular activating system can be described as the ignition system of the brain. It is the system, for example, that helps get your brain geared up to a higher level of activity so you can get out of bed and start your day.
**2nd Transition: Now that you understand how the introvert's brain takes in information, I will explain how these differences cascade in an extroverted setting.
Second Point: Those physiological differences affect how introverts and extroverts experience social situations.
1. Because introverts process more information per second, if you put introverts into an environment with a lot of stimulation, such as a loud restaurant, they will become overwhelmed or overloaded, causing a sort of shut down to stop the influx of information. Because of this fact, introverts tend to avoid such active environments. Extroverts, on the other hand, are only minimally aroused, so they seek out highly stimulating environments to augment their arousal levels.
2. Increased vigilance from introverts means that introverts have heightened awareness of actions around them, thus increasing the overwhelming sensations. More recent studies indicate that vigilance is hard work, requiring the allocation of significant cognitive resources, and inducing significant levels of stress. Since an introvert is naturally taking in an overwhelming amount of sensory data coupled with an increased amount of vigilance, compared to extroverts, that overload becomes significantly more stressful.
3. The ability to process stimuli faster in the premotor cortex means that that overwhelming information that is being heightened is processed quickly. While it's true that the premotor cortex is linked to the motor cortex, and is used largely as a means to react to instruction and planning of action, it is easy to see how a overwhelming environment that is heightened by increased vigilance that causes stress would be a burden at the part of the brain that wants to act.
4. This higher basal activity for the reticular activating system means that introverts are naturally more stimulated than extroverts. Simply put, introverts naturally have a higher idle engine than extroverts. Coupled with an engine that wants to react quickly to an overwhelming amount of sensory data that is enhanced by increased vigilance which is causing a lot of stress, it's no wonder that introverts prefer a quiet night in than a bright, flashing, loud, and intrusive club.
**3rd Transition: Knowing what it's like is only a small part of the picture.
Third Point: There is a natural bias towards extroverts, which creates problems for introverts
1. Researchers estimate that extroverts make up 50%-74% of the population. There is no definitive data to support any percentage, and any number would be an estimation at best. It was originally postulated that extroverts outnumbered introverts 3:1, but it wan't until recently that number has been challenged.
2. Western culture, especially American culture, is biased towards extroverted ideals, which an extroverted ideal dominates and introversion is viewed as inferior or even pathological. As a whole, it is the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. Western societies ideal praises oratory strength and favors the man of action over the man of contemplation. In a culture that is biased against them, introverts are pressured to at like extroverts instead of embracing their serious, often quiet, and reflective style.
3. Since social environments are geared toward extroverts, they are overwhelming to introverts. Western culture is built towards extroverted ideals. This has bled into all facets of life, to include places of entertainment and relaxation. Bars are a great example of this simple fact, which often play imposingly loud music and have all sorts of games and distractions, all accompanied by bright lights. Music at concerts are played at deafening levels, which all too often come with an even wider assortment of flashing lights, lasers, and set pieces. These things that draw extroverts like a moth to a flame, because they require the extra external stimulation that introverts get at rest, are painful for introverts who must endure them to enjoy any piece of Western civilization.
**4th Transition: Now that we have a better understanding what it's like to live as an introvert in an extrovert's world, let's review what we have discussed so far.
CONCLUSION:
Review: Today I shared with you the biology of an introvert's brain, how an introvert's brain processes sensory inputs, and a world that is seemingly overwhelmingly extroverted for introverts.
Ending: Now that you have a better understanding of what it's like to be an introvert, you have a better understanding of the living hell that the Las Vegas game floor was for me. I was only on the floor when I absolutely had to be, but when I was, the flashing lights, loud sounds, and pervasive hum of conversation was simply unbearable. If I had gone when I was younger, and had the energy to withstand such a sensory onslaught, I might have enjoyed myself, even a little, but the older you get the longer it takes to recoup from attacks on the body and the brain, and the more you want to avoid things that hurt you.
Citations:
