- The Introverted Path
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- introversion ≠ shyness
Welcome to The Introverted Path!
Happy Thursday — hope everyone’s 2024 is off to a fantastic start!
We just got 6 inches of snow in Kansas City. I always think the first big snowfall of winter has something magical about it ❄️
Buuuuuut looking at the forecast over the next week, temperatures are supposed to get below 0.
So I am sure that magic will fade pretty fast.
Today, I will be talking about the difference between being an introvert and being shy.
Hopefully after reading today’s newsletter you will be able to explain the difference to your friends and family.
In today’s email:
Introverts vs shy people
Links to other content I enjoyed this week
Let’s dive in 🤙
Being an introvert is not the same as being shy
Recently I was talking to someone about my newsletter.
As I was explaining what I write about, it was clear they didn’t have a good understanding of what an introvert was.
This isn’t that surprising…most people equate being an introvert with being shy.
But there are subtle differences.
Introverts typically have a preference for quiet and solitude.
They will attend a social event and feel comfortable, but may have a desire for something more low key.
Someone who is shy on the other hand, feels uncomfortable at social events due to a fear of how they will be perceived.
They may be in their own heads thinking “What should I say? If I say that, what will that person think of me? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything at all.”
It is a fear of how others will perceive them that holds a shy person back.
They want to be involved in conversations, but their anxiety keeps them from doing it.
I came across a great example by Dr. Bernardo Carducci in the American Psychological Association’s podcast.
He illustrates the difference between shyness and introversion with the following example:
“So at a party, a social situation, you’ll see a shy person and an introvert standing up against the wall. The big difference is that the introvert prefers to be there. They prefer to be away — slightly withdrawn from social situation — . . . Shy people are standing against that wall because they feel they have to. They don’t know what else to do. They don’t want to be there. They feel that they have to be there. Shy people have more in common with extroversion than they do with introversion . . . They’ll go to parties, they’ll go to clubs, they’ll go to bars. The problem is they show up, they don’t know what to do, they get frustrated and they leave.”
Hopefully that helps illustrate the differences between introversion and shyness.
So now the next time a family member or friend asks you to explain the difference…you are equipped to do it 😃
Links that I enjoyed this week 💥
That’s it for today - hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter!
Best,
BG