If you look up the word “introvert” on Google, you will get this exact definition:
“A shy, reticent person”, reticent meaning not revealing one’s thoughts or feelings readily. This is just the basic definition of “introvert”.
The psychological definition of this word is “a person predominantly (mainly) concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things”.
Google is a search engine we rely on to help us find information about anything that we are curious about, and yet even they stereotype simple such as introverts.
Let’s look at some big stereotypes of introverts:
- They are anti-social
- They hate people
- They are depressed
- They are self-centered
- They are different in all aspects
- They are too reserved to pay attention to other people
- They can’t stand it when people complain
- They don’t get along with other people
- They need to be alone to recharge
The list can go on and on, but this is to only name a few.
We give too many stereotypes to people who we consider introvert. We consider them shy, loners, people who avoid social events and interactions as much as possible. But that doesn’t mean they are any of those stereotypes. They could be shy when in a crowd, but be the life of the party with friends. They could sit in the back and not raise their hand in class, but have many friends and laugh with classmates in the halls. They could not talk to anyone in public and stick to themselves, but they’re on their way to go hang out with friends.
Just because they avoid social situations and don’t talk to anyone, doesn’t mean they are considered introverted. Do they tend to stick to themselves? Yes, they do. Frankly, they like being alone. However, that doesn’t mean they are always alone. Introverts take their alone time to recharge and collect themselves after one hell of a day.
Remember when I said they like being alone? Yeah, this gets wrapped up with the “depression” stereotype.
Just because someone likes being alone a lot of the time, we automatically assume they are depressed. Depression is a complex concept we sometimes have a hard time understanding.
But this is about introverts and depression.
Just because someone likes being alone, doesn’t necessarily mean they are depressed. You see extroverts, the opposite of introverts, with depression but you would never know because they are social and they like being around people.
Extroverts have just as many stereotypes as introverts, but introverts are more focused on the negative while extroverts are more focused on the positive, so we don’t see a lot of problems with stereotypes in extroverts since they “promote” positivity. Since introverts are “promoting negativity”, we can’t help but give them a harder time.
Being an introvert myself, I can vouch that the stereotypes are just stereotypes. Am I anti-social? I use to be until I got to college. Am I depressed? Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s because I am an introvert. Am I self-centered? Not even a little. I always put others in front of myself and I always think about everyone else first. Can I not stand it when people complain? I mean, I am going to MCLA to become a therapist, so I’m pretty sure that statement alone answers that question. I love helping people, I love it so much I want to make a career out of it. Do I not get along with other people? I surely do. Do I need to be alone to recharge? For me, this is a yes. I personally find social events, big or small, overwhelming and I need to take some time to myself to be alone. This doesn’t mean this is true for everyone else.
The point of this article is to debunk all those stereotypes about introverts. People treat them like they are” sensitive” and “fragile”. In reality, they are just as strong as any other person and they are just as normal as everyone else.