Introverts and extroverts react differently to most situations, and factors. They have different focuses, outlooks on subjects, and goals. 2 opposite personalities. In this article, I will go over how they may deal with different things, in their own way. This includes their goals, hardships, pressure, and mental health problems.
Introvert
An introvert is someone who is quiet, and avoids attention. They do not seek fame, or stardom. Their goals do not include external things like money, rather enjoyment, satisfaction, and for themselves, or close ones. Introverts would prefer being alone, with the lack of pressure, and be left with their thoughts only.
Success
In terms of goals, an introvert would seek internal success, rather than external. Finding more success through enjoying what you are doing, and doing it for you, rather than any external factors. For example, an introvert playing football, will not care too deeply about winning the game, or being a highlight. Instead, he would find joy in just playing, and having a good time. This means they are not too competitive, and would rather blend in with what they are doing, rather than being the ones who stick out.
Pressure
Pressure, and attention is something that could affect an introvert negatively, as they often shy away from these things. This could be things like interviews, tests, or performing in front of an audience. This is essentially the opposite of what they would be accustomed to, and therefore increases the chance of them crumbling under the pressure.
An example of this could be a basketball player getting fouled. This will lead to him having a free throw, which brings all the attention onto him. Another example could be doing one scene in a theatre solo. For an introvert, who shies away from pressure, this would be a hard task to beat, as he has to stay in character, and perform directly in front of the audience, whilst taking all the pressure in.
Mental Health
In terms of mental health, introverts often spend some time day-dreaming, and being in their thoughts. This could mean 2 different things. Firstly, they can be able to control their thoughts, and feel at ease mentally. However, if they do not socialise enough, and spend too much time alone, it can lead to loneliness. This can then further lead to depression, and anxiety in public spaces.
Extrovert
An extrovert is someone who is confident in themselves, and does not shy away from social situations. Extroverts focus more on external things like money, fame, and success. They are completely opposed to introverts in most ways.
Success
External successes are the aim for most extroverts, as they desire things like fame, money and acknowledgement. This fuels their competitive nature, and makes them push themselves to try to be the best, in their fields. An example of this could be an athlete like Conor Mcgregor, who was one of the most competitive fighters, when he was coming up, and was fighting frequently. He became the biggest star the UFC has ever seen, and his stock rose significantly. Since he has gotten famous, and rich, he slowly moved away from fighting. He does not fight nearly as often as he used to, and now enjoys his wealth, and success.
Pressure
Pressure is something that an extrovert thrives in, as they love attention. Extroverts love the feeling of pressure as it attracts more attention onto them, and therefore could increase their motivation, and arousal in a situation. For example, an athlete like Usain Bolt often hypes up the crowd, before doing his run, in order to increase the pressure, and stakes into the race, between him, and the other runners. This also motivates him when he races. They love to be the centre of attention, and aim to be the best at what they do.
Mental Health
Mental health is something that can be disregarded by extroverts, as it does not seem to be a big thing for them. Their confidence in themselves, and success they have achieved may make something like mental problems, seem unimportant. However, that is a very big issue, and these things have happened to people before.
For example, Tyson Fury who was a very braggadocios boxer. He was a clear extrovert, who was known for his vibrant personality, just as much as his incredible boxing skills. After the biggest win of his career at that point against Wladmir Klitschko, he sunk into depression. This was due to him “running from his problems.” Eventually, it built up big enough to him pushing his family away, and even considering suicide. This shows that, despite having all the confidence in the world, mental health is something that can happen to everyone.
Conclusion
In conclusion we have seen how introverts and extroverts respond to different situations. They are the opposite from one another.
Introverts can be shy, and awkward in groups, but content in their own bubble, whereas extroverts love to be the centre of attention, and are more confident in themselves, and competitive.
Introverts prefer internal successes like happiness, and having a good time, whereas extroverts like to compete to be the best, and want to be seen by everyone else.
Extroverts respond very well to pressure, as it could make them perform, or do better in that circumstance. However, for an introvert, it could negatively affect them, causing them to freeze or fail when there is too much.
Finally, I went through how they may deal with mental health. An introvert who is alone too much could become lonely, and overtime it could worsen. An extrovert may keep brushing the severities of having mental health aside, or be in denial, and then suffer the repercussions from it after it has built up and worsened. The Tyson Fury example directly relates to this.
It is important to understand what type of person you are, as it helps discover what you want to do, and areas you could improve on. For instance, if you are an introvert, you should try to improve your communication skills. This is important because it increases confidence in yourself.