Correlation between Introversion and iNtuition

[dayguard]

Is there a correlation between introversion and intuition? I am on the extreme end on both introversion and intuition scale. And I know that this will not do me good if I fail to be extroverted and sensing when I need to.

So, I've been experimenting to get myself to be more out there when I am around people. I wanna force myself out of the head.

So, what I've been trying to do is coax myself out of my head. I try to redirect my attention to be more out there in the world. I try to do this by rubbing my hands together hoping to alter my state of mind to be more 'sensing' and wishfully thinking that extroversion will go hand in hand.

Perhaps just my illogical logic at work... I'll try anything at this point. Ur views?

[qwerty]

ok so what helped me... Taking on a job that was completely opposite of myself. I take it that you do not notice people around you. I was similar.
So I found a job (security) that forced me to watch people and see how they react to stimuli. By taking notice of the world around you, you will begin to see patterns in behavior and see when you should interject and when to remain quiet.

So don't goto my extremes but just make it an active part of your day to pay attention to the people around you. If you work in the city then arrive 30mins before work and sit on the side of the road and just watch people walking to work (don't follow them ;)), you're observing them and patterns in how they think. Then when you wish to be extroverted then you mimic the patterns you see around you.

Or perhaps you should be comfortable with yourself, I have a hunch that people may not like the idea of changing yourself completely to 'fit-in'

[dayguard]

I have only learnt to be comfortable with myself quite recently and this is due when I was somewhat forced to take lead of a dying cultural club in school. Changing is very much in motion. U are rite on about not wanting to change completely. I am looking to at least learn to meet people half way when i need to.

So, i'm looking more into the strategies of changing. My primary concern. To feel more at the moment.

Back to my question, when a person is in touch with sensing.... does it somehow make you more extroverted?

I'll try observing people more. Thanks for the tip.

[qwerty]

Back to my question, when a person is in touch with sensing.... does it somehow make you more extroverted?


I believe so. So you look at the correlations between I and N:

Introverted is gathering energy from within yourself and viewing the world by how it relates to you. From wikipedia (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life"

Intuition is about seeing a problem or event inside your head (sort of post processing it) and linking events around it.

Extroversion is the opposite of introversion and you gain energy by people around you, hence an extrovert see the world in terms of how they relate to it. From wikipedia Extraversion is "the act, state, or habit of being predominantly concerned with and obtaining gratification from what is outside the self"

And Sensing is the opposite of intuition where by the observer witnesses an event and notices the subtle details.

So sensing people generally notice when events unfold and relate that to themselves. And Introverts notice and build events in their heads and unfold them in anticipation.
(This is how I see it anyway, prove me wrong).

It seems from my definitions that introverts are somehow interlinked to intuition and extroverts are linked to sensing. If that makes sense and answers the question you were asking.

[Danellian]

If introversion and intuition are linked, how do you explain the existence of introverted sensing types and extraverted intuitive types? Cannot we see patterns in the world and focus on the details of inner experience?

[Splittet]

I think there is maybe a very low correlation, but something to ignore.

[Danellian]

Splittet, I agree with you. Introversion and intuition may be somewhat similar, but they are not the same thing, and similarity does not always entail compatability. Besides, the statistically low number of introverted intuitives comparted to the other functional combinations shows there is not such a link between them.

[INTJoe]

As per wiki:

11.2% of Americans are IN
39.6% of Americans are IS

and a whopping
15.5% of Americans are EN
33.8% of Americans are ES

So if you look at the ratio, there are more IS's (compared to all I's), and more EN's (as compared to all E's).

That is surprising to me. I, too, would have thought the Introverted-Intuitives went together like Extraverted Sensors.

[Danellian]

That's just what I've read before, that the majority of people are IS, and the minority are IN. I suppose there are evolutionary reasons for this, since ISs are the best at holding society together via traditions and fixed ways of doing things. We also need the minority to go against the grain and show the rest of us how we can move forward and progress.

Introversion and intuition are just not the same thing. Introspection is a trait that belongs more to the intutive than to the introvert. Extraversion is about where we get our energy, not how we prefer to take in information. The similarity is superficial.

This being said, I'm still a bit fascinated by the differences between Si and Se. It seems to me that the two create an largely different type of individual. When I first studied the MBTI, I thought S was pretty much the same in SJs and SPs. But now I understand that Se is more concerned with the big picture and more open to experience than Ni! And Si is the least of these things!

All this goes to show you have to look at the interactions of the functions within a give type to determine how they play out, not just the letters in isolation. It's not really about the letters, it's about the functions. So, when we talk about traits like introversion and intuition, we should keep in mind that we are talking about letters, not functions, so we can only apply them in a very general sense to actual behavior.

[dayguard]

Thanks for the stats.

Let me twist my original question a little.
1) Will an INTJ be more extraverted if he can harness his sensing side?
2) If yes, how do you, from experience, harness your sensing side?

This should be more interesting I hope. Even if the introvertion/intuition correlation does not stand with the majority, the relation of the 2 may come from the way our brains are wired.

Being INTJs, I suspect that we are wired in such a way that, in order to use our intuition we become more introverted. And possibly, altering that intuition mode would trigger extraversion to come more naturally.

Also, it would be interesting if there is statistics as to how much of an I and S ISxx are how much of an E and N ENxx are. For me, both my I and N weighs heavily to the extremes.

[INTJoe]

Let me twist my original question a little.
1) Will an INTJ be more extraverted if he can harness his sensing side?
2) If yes, how do you, from experience, harness your sensing side?


This is actually an experiment I'm currently running. I believe that N's do sense stuff just as S's do, but we compartmentalize things that are of no importance, and only acknowledge what is important/useful.

What I've noticed of S's, is that they are more "shallow" than N's, in that, they are very good at noticing details on the surface, and will comment on them, but don't put much thought in beyond that. By that time, they've sensed something else that grabbed their attention.

So, I notice that I sense things, but won't make a fuss of them because to me they are shallow/pointless/useless/uninteresting/etc...and so I won't speak about it, which leads people to think I'm quiet, stand-off-ish, or even worse...unattentive or stupid.

So I've been trying to point out stuff that really is meaningless to me, because I think 65% of people are Sensors, so I figure if I point out obvious, useless crap, they might actually strike up a conversation about it, and I will appear extroverted. Even if the conversation is about something shallow, I don't think I'll mind, as I'll be getting off to the experiment I've concocted. lol.

So far, I've seen a little improvement, but don't have enough data to say if it "works" yet.

If anyone is confused as to what I'm talking about, an example of this would be like me walking into a crowded room with a basketball game on TV that I might care nothing about and me just saying "So what's the score?", and acting like I'm generally curious, even if it's shallow and doesn't matter.

[Danellian]

I think an INTJ who develops their sensing side might simultaneously devlep their extraverted side, not because of any univeral link between the two, but because these traits are linked within the INTJ who uses Se over Si. So, for an INTJ to develop their sensing side, I think the would be developing Se. Although Se is also used in an auxiliary fashion by ISFP and ISTP, who are obviously introverts.

When I use my own Se, and try to develop it, or when it comes out in a compensatory form, I'd say I generally become more excitable and stimulus-hungry. But I don't necesserily become more sociable.

[daego]

As per wiki:

11.2% of Americans are IN
39.6% of Americans are IS

and a whopping
15.5% of Americans are EN
33.8% of Americans are ES

So if you look at the ratio, there are more IS's (compared to all I's), and more EN's (as compared to all E's).



Yes but... 11vs15% and 39vs33% i.e. there is no statistical significance to these differences (the inaccuracy of the MBTI test is likely more significant in explaining these differences)

[INTJoe]

Of the I's, 22.05% are IN.

Of the E's, 31.44% are EN.

And these are based on their rough 50/50 splits of E vs. I.