What the difference actually is
Think of it as a battery. For an extrovert, being around people and activity tends to charge the battery, and long stretches alone drain it. For an introvert, it works the other way: social time drains the battery, and quiet time charges it back up.
This is why the same party can feel completely different to two people who both enjoyed it. The extrovert goes home buzzing and texts friends about the next one. The introvert goes home happy, then wants a slow morning with nobody to talk to.
Introverts often also prefer to think before they speak, while extroverts often think by speaking, working out what they mean as they say it. In a meeting, the extrovert talks early and the introvert sends a careful email afterwards.
Signs you lean introvert or extrovert
| Situation | Leans introvert | Leans extrovert |
|---|---|---|
| After a busy day with people | Needs quiet time to recover | Wants to keep going |
| Working through a problem | Thinks it through alone first | Talks it through with someone |
| Friendships | A few close friends, long talks | A wide circle, many contacts |
| A phone call out of nowhere | Would rather get a message | Happy to pick up |
| A free Saturday | A book, a walk, a small plan | Seeing people, going out |
| Noise and busy places | Tiring after a while | Energising |
If you recognise yourself on both sides, you are probably near the middle. That is common and not a sign that you answered wrong. Our free introvert test goes further and shows which kind of introversion you have.
Not shyness, not social anxiety
These three get mixed up all the time, and the mix-up matters:
- Introversion is a preference for less stimulation. It is a normal personality trait and needs no fixing.
- Shyness is nervousness about being judged, especially with new people. Extroverts can be shy too.
- Social anxiety is strong, lasting fear of social situations that gets in the way of daily life. It is a treatable condition, and the anxiety screening test is a reasonable first check if this sounds like you.
Feeling overwhelmed by noise, bright light or other people's moods is also a separate trait from introversion. Psychologists call it high sensitivity. Elaine and Arthur Aron's first studies (1997) found it was related to introversion but partly independent of it, so some highly sensitive people are outgoing. The highly sensitive person test measures it on its own.
Ambiverts: the large middle
Introversion and extraversion are two ends of one scale. Scores in large samples bunch in the middle, not at the ends, so many people are neither strongly one nor the other. These people are often called ambiverts.
Being in the middle can be an advantage. In a study of 340 call-centre sales staff, organisational psychologist Adam Grant found that ambiverts brought in more revenue than either clear introverts or clear extroverts. His explanation: ambiverts switch more naturally between talking and listening, so they push enough to close a sale without pushing so hard that customers back away.
Where the words come from
Carl Jung introduced the terms in Psychological Types(1921). For Jung, extraverts turn their attention mainly outward, toward people and things, while introverts turn it mainly inward, toward thoughts and impressions. He spelled it “extravert”. “Extrovert” is the everyday spelling. Both are fine.
Of all the type letters, this one has the strongest backing in modern research. When McCrae and Costa compared the four letters with the Big Five traits in 1989 (468 adults), I/E lined up closely with Big Five extraversion. It is the one letter that clearly matches a trait psychologists measure in almost every study. The Big Five test gives you an exact score on it. Combined with how strongly you react emotionally, this scale also underlies the old four temperaments.
Introverts and extroverts at work
Neither does better at work in general. What matters is fit. Open-plan offices, back-to-back meetings and “think out loud” brainstorms suit extroverts. Deep-focus work, written proposals and one-to-one conversations suit introverts.
Small changes help both: send the agenda before a meeting so introverts can prepare, and leave time for open discussion so extroverts can think aloud. If you are an introvert with trouble focusing, it is worth knowing that ADHD and introversion can look alike from the outside.
The 8 introverted and 8 extraverted types
Introverted types (start with I)
Extraverted types (start with E)
Our free 16-type test scores this scale with 15 questions and shows you a percentage, so you can see whether you are a clear introvert, a clear extrovert, or close to the middle.
Common questions
How do I tell if I am an introvert or an extrovert?
Look at what happens after a long, busy social day you enjoyed. If you feel full of energy and want more, you lean extrovert. If you enjoyed it but now need quiet time to recover, you lean introvert. Other clues: whether you think best by talking or by thinking first, and whether a free evening alone sounds restful or dull. Most people lean one way without being at the far end.
What is an ambivert?
An ambivert is someone near the middle of the introvert–extrovert scale. They enjoy company and solitude in roughly equal measure and can switch between talking and listening easily. Introversion and extraversion are a scale, not two boxes, so many people are ambiverts. In one study of 340 sales staff, ambiverts brought in more revenue than either strong introverts or strong extroverts (Grant, 2013).
Is introversion the same as shyness?
No. Shyness is fear or discomfort about how others will judge you. Introversion is a preference for less stimulation. A confident introvert can give a speech and enjoy it, then want a quiet evening. A shy extrovert can want company badly but feel nervous getting it.
Is it extrovert or extravert?
Both spellings are correct. Carl Jung, who introduced the terms in Psychological Types (1921), wrote “extravert”, and psychologists still use that spelling. “Extrovert” is the common everyday spelling. They mean the same thing.
Can an introvert become an extrovert?
People can learn extrovert skills, like small talk, public speaking and networking, and many introverts become very good at them. What tends to stay the same is the energy cost: a skilled introvert still usually needs recovery time afterwards. Research on personality also shows small, gradual changes across adult life, so where you sit on the scale is fairly stable but not fixed.
Sources: Jung, C. G. (1921). Psychological Types. Myers, I. B., McCaulley, M. H., Quenk, N. L., & Hammer, A. L. (1998). MBTI Manual (3rd ed.), US national sample. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1989). Journal of Personality, 57(1), 17–40. Grant, A. M. (2013). Rethinking the extraverted sales ideal: The ambivert advantage. Psychological Science, 24(6), 1024–1030. Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (1997). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(2), 345–368.