Understanding the Idea of the Extrovert Ideal

Observations from an introvert in a world that enjoys the company of extroverts.

Photo by Danny Howe on Unsplash

Some people are more social than others almost to the point of being anyone’s hype man.

And then there are the quiet ones or the introverted ones.

You hardly hear someone tell an extroverted person, “Hey, maybe you should go into your shell a little more often.” or “Maybe you should be quiet more often.” Unless the person is a walking siren and the person wants to be noticed everywhere they go, such a thing doesn’t exist.

It’s usually the introverted ones that told to change their personality. To be a badass is to be bold, and happiness is equivalent by the size of your social circle. The bigger the better.

Depending on what study you look at, one third to one half of the Americans are introverts. You are probably wondering how so? Aren’t Americans in general loudmouths? Maybe but it is probably because introverts make great actors.

Actors? Yes, they pretend to be extroverts. These closet introverts wear a mask every day to pass as extroverts in the most extroverted of environments like a party or at a work happy hour. Once they return home, they can remove their mask and lounge on the couch with their pets…