Table of Contents
C.A Meier, the author of Personality – The Individuation Process, was a Jungian psychiatrist – in this book, he writes about Jung’s work into personality types and the process of individuation, including thorough explanations and origins of ideas like the anima, animus, the shadow, and persona.
Features of Introverts vs Extroverts
The Introvert
The introvert’s natural reaction to stimuli is flight, because they are overwhelmed by stimuli internally – the introverted mind is already processing too much. For the same reason, the introvert tends to miss the right opportunities. This is connected to the fact that this attitude is vindictive, which is why introverts are afraid of their emotions, and jealous and envious of the extrovert, who seems to have a much easier time of it.
The introvert secretly yearns for extroversion. Another feature of the introvert is the slowness to form his own opinion, even if it there is a strong need for this. However, because of these qualities, the introvert has more awareness of his motives and is very self-critical, which often gives rise to inferiority complexes.
The introvert is self-absorbed, and therefore he seems reserved – he overvalues what he wants (object) – whether person or thing – and this leads to sabotaging his quest to attain it.
The Extrovert
The extrovert, on the other hand, is thick skinned, and influences do not get to him very much. Stimuli have little effect on him, and there is an inner coldness as a result. He keeps a safe distance from the object.
The extrovert does not feel obliged to have his own opinion – this need is replaced by large amount of stimuli he perceives, which seem like an externally given opinion. His emotions are taken for granted, and he never understands his motives.
This explains why he is not self-critical and tends to be pompous and arrogant. His inadequate relationship to the object makes him underestimate it and this pushes him to flee into the outside world. While the introvert shuts himself up with his dominating complex, the extrovert blocks it out energetically. In the show, Two and a Half Men, Charlie plays the extrovert who blocks his emotions out and constantly searches for and achieves his object (the girl), while Alan, his neurotic, introverted younger brother is haunted by his own complexes and often seems dissatisfied and suffocated.
The reality is that both suffer from their condition, but manifest this in different ways.
The extrovert gravitates towards general philosophies that seek to objectively and rationally explain everything, thus Freud’s ideas appeal to them, whereas the introvert is attracted more to Adler, since there is more subjectivity involved.
Projection
The introvert projects his opposite onto the extrovert, he judges the extrovert for doing the things that he refuses to do out of self-criticism. Alan often berates Charlie for his selfish, unexamined behavior. The introvert naively sees extroversion as negative. But the introvert can sometimes be extroverted (his unconscious breaks through every now and then), and when this happens, they turn out to be inferior and often ridiculous.
The introvert who manifests extroverted behavior (the inferior function) will overestimate the object and become too fascinated and carried away by it. This leads to bad relationships, questionable things, and unworthy people. He behaves in an unusual way, and misplaces his trust, and thus exposes himself. He falls into sentimental relationships and puts unreasonably high expectations on the object – jealous love in this case is not uncommon. Alas the introvert is led astray and disappointed by his high ideals of friendship and love.
The extrovert will not understand the introvert – he will project his thick skin onto the latter, and will interpret the introvert’s behavior as cold, arrogant, egoistic, and self-interested. But when these qualities appear to him, what emerges is doubts about the community, resistance, fear of the collective, depressive psychosis, loneliness, meanness, small-mindedness, pedantry, tyranny and nihilism.
The inferior function is thus destructive to both types.
Usually extroverts are overestimated while introverts are underestimated. Jung said that it was common for the introvert or extrovert to switch at some point in life, usually mid-life.
But when this breakthrough occurs, there are bad repercussions, instead of legitimate change, there is radical transformation. The original attitude is completely overthrown, and what was valid before is no longer tolerated.
The introvert tends to preserve the ego, and is often criticized for this, for being “subjective” especially by the extrovert. But this misunderstanding can create serious conflict. It must be acknowledged that the subject is just as important as the object. The extrovert who fanatically sides with what is objective is prejudiced. And it is legitimate for the introvert to think of his psychological reaction more important than the raw data of sensation.
Yet this leads to a devaluation of the object, for the introverted ego attempts to secure itself against the object with every possible and impossible type of freedom, independence, lack of commitment and superiority
Personality: The Individuation Process. C.A. Meier
This leads to a power complex, but in a compensatory (and inferior) way. The thirst for power leads to the need to be loved, which gives more power to the object that is apparently loving. This makes one feel a strong need to secure himself against it, which leads to more isolation, and thus a vicious circle emerges. This phenomenon was especially studied by Adler.
When this happens, the relationship to the object is dealt with by the unconscious, and thus takes an infantile primitive form. The object now appears magical and awe-inspiring.
The introverted thinker is more interested in new views than in new facts, with facts better suited as illustrations. Extroverted thinking leads from object to subject while introverted thinking leads from subject to subject. The introverted thinker has no faith in society and is easily discouraged. He forms an idea just for its own sake, but then tends to idealize it and subordinate everything to it, yet he does not put this ideal into practice. And even if he does, it is only in relation to himself. This makes the introverted thinking type alienated from the world. He also seems to be self-destructive in his severe self-criticism
And yet, as he remains with the subject, he will never turn into a do-gooder, although, he secretly longs to be one. This often gives his thinking an original or even whimsical note. A classical example of this type is I. Kant, whose introversion manifested itself in the fact that he never felt the need to leave Koenigsberg. A. Schopenhauer also falls into this category, and this emerged particularly in his oddness. The following quotations will show that this is also the case with the transcendental idealist R.W. Emerson (Boston 1803-1882)
Personality: The Individuation Process. C.A. Meier
Four introverted and four extroverted types are discussed.