Difference between Introversion & Shyness
People always misunderstand the basic concept of Introversion & Shyness . Introversion is a basic personality style characterized by a focus on the inner feelings rather than on external sources of information. Shyness is the discomfort of social interactions.
Well, Introvert is a person who enjoys his own company ,and doesn’t need a lot of people around. Introverts choose to be alone. But a shy person on the other hand , doesn’t intentionally want to be alone but is afraid to interact with people. They feel uncomfortable with social interactions.
Introverts can choose to socialize but they often just don’t want to. In other words, an introvert may skip a party or go out and read a book ,but it’s not because they are afraid of socializing; they just don’t want to deal with people. A shy person may actually want to deal with people but experience so much anxiety that they don’t go out or go but don’t talk to anyone out of fear.
People who are introverted make deep and long lasting connections. They have limited people in their life and they are very important. On the other hand, shy people lose many opportunities to grow a connection because they fail to open up even to the closest of buddies.
Introverts love meaningful conversations in a small group but shy people feel uncomfortable with expressing themselves through speaking.
An introvert person can be talkative in a small group but remain silent in a big crowd, but a shy person has much in his/her mind but they remain quiet most of the time.
Why do introverts often get labelled as shy?
It’s probably because extroverts are considering what would cause themselves to be quiet. Because they are extroverts, they want to socialise with other people. So, if they were to be quiet around others, it would be because they were feeling shy. Therefore, if they see someone else being quiet, they assume they must be shy.
To help figure out which group you most closely match, I’ve created a table that describes how a person leaning toward each category might respond to some typical social/interaction scenarios.
Have a look below and see if any of the patterns sound right for you.
| Shy extrovert | Confident introvert | Confident extrovert | Shy introvert |
| These people will feel the need to be around others but will tend to be quiet and reserved in those situations. | These people will have a preference for being alone, but when they are around other people they will confidently engage with them. | These are the types of people who won’t shut up. They are gregarious, talkative, and loudly assertive around others. If you’re a confident introvert, you can probably handle them in small doses, but wouldn’t choose to spend lots of time with them. | These people are likely to appear extremely quiet and reserved. Not only do they have a fear of being around other people, but they are also happy on their own anyway, so they have less of a drive to “fix” their shyness than a shy extrovert does. |
Which type are you? I’m sure you can identify with one of the personality types mentioned here. I would love to hear your own personal take on this.
Don’t forget to love yourself. Happy reading! 🙂
