Poll:Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert

[Keim]

Am reading a great book called Quiet. It is all about the many strengths of introverts. It has caused me to wonder if this board leans one direction or the other.

Please post on what advantages you feel your intro/extroversion has given you in pursuing FIRE.

I will hazard a guess that we have an abnormally high percentage of introverts.

 

[Keim]

I think my introversion has given me the advantage of being better able to make and stick with long term plans. Also, less likely to be spooked by market swings.

 

[Midpack]

Maybe you checked this out already...Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community - View Poll Results. 88% introverts altogether based on Briggs-Myers...

 

[aim-high]

I'm an extrovert, DW is the introvert. Extrovert has helped me earn a good income, DW introvert has kept me from blowing it all.

 

[aim-high]

Maybe you checked this out already...Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community - View Poll Results. 88% introverts altogether based on Briggs-Myers...

Wow! ISTJ and INTJ. That's some serious introversion / thinking / judging going on here. It's way outside the normal distribution. (Normally only 6% and 2%, respectively.) It looks like an ER type has been identified.

I'm an ENTP / ENFP (depending on the day.)

Sorry, couldn't resist the dance, it's built into my type.

 

[timo2]

Introvert with Tourette's. I'm real quiet until I blurt out whole (often erroneous or inappropriate) sentences that make me seem more outgoing than I really am.

 

[REWahoo]

Maybe you checked this out already...Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community - View Poll Results. 88% introverts altogether based on Briggs-Myers...

That poll indicates more than 80% of the responders had personality types beginning with I (introverted). My guess is so few E (extroverted) types responded because they were too busy selling annuities, entering karaoke contests or campaigning for office...

 

[Texas Proud]

Maybe you checked this out already...Early Retirement & Financial Independence Community - View Poll Results. 88% introverts altogether based on Briggs-Myers...

Decided to check it out... here is the breakdown... by number and then percent....


E 20 12.3%
I 142 87.7%

N 93 57.4%
S 69 42.6%

F 22 13.6%
T 140 86.4%

J 121 74.7%
P 41 25.3%

 

[Koolau]

Been a while since I ran across my M-B file, but I recall being (more or less) off the scale I. Most friends don't buy it as I can be the life of the party (without lubrication). However, that's only in a group I am supremely comfortable with. By nature, I'm more of a wallflower. Still, in the right circumstances, I can come out of my shell and seem very different. I really like extroverts and I envy them in many ways. Still, I have found them to be less reliable as a friend, though much more fun at parties, etc. Just observation and not intended as criticism. (We are who we are.) YMMV

 

[aim-high]

Can someone help a brother out? I'm the only E in this poll so far.

 

[Marita40]

I think the saying, "extroverts are energized by people; introverts are drained by people" is true. By that standard I am more an introvert than an extrovert. For example, I like a good party but am usually ready to leave after only an hour or so. . .

 

[W2R]

I am an introvert (extremely INTJ) who had to learn extroverted behaviors for work. I don't like acting that way, but I can. I use that capability whenever it is advantageous to me.

I don't need it nearly as much now that I am retired. Just walking in the door for a party is a minor form of torture for me, so when possible I beg off. When it is not possible, I just deal with it and leaving is a big relief.

 

[HFWR]

It's way outside the normal...

And your point is?

For example, I like a good party but am usually ready to leave after only an hour or so. . .

My limit these days is about two hours, whether party, concert, movie. Would be slightly longer if venues had a Laz-E-Boy section...

 

[timo2]

Can someone help a brother out? I'm the only E in this poll so far.

I have extrovert friends

 

[aim-high]

And your point is?

My point was made right after the comment . . .

It's way outside the normal distribution. (Normally only 6% and 2%, respectively.) It looks like an ER type has been identified.

If there were no correlation one would expect the distribution of a sample this size to approximate a normal distribution of MBTIs. Given that those two types have an outsized representation, it's not a stretch to draw the conclusion that those two types are more likely to aim for ER, or at least more likely to be interested in ER and post their type on a forum.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I have noticed that our extrovert neighbors seem to spend more on cars, home upgrades, clothes, publicized donations, i.e. - things to impress other people.

But all that money isn't going towards FI and future income generation. It is probably easier to save money if you don't give a rat's a** what other people think.

 

[rbmrtn]

It looks like an ER type has been identified.

I think its been done before. See John Greaneys site ( sort of the prototype ER )

Is There a Retire Early Personality Type?

 

[HFWR]

And your point is?

My point was made right after the comment...

That was an attempt at humor... Having been here for a while, "normal" here is not normal in the "real world".

 

[FIREd]

DW and I are both introverts. DW can force herself to look somewhat extroverted when absolutely necessary (for work mostly), but I can't. Our introversion was a motivating force on our FIRE quest, as FI gives us the freedom to be as introverted as we want to be.

 

[Letj]

DW and I are both introverts. DW can force herself to look somewhat extroverted when absolutely necessary (for work mostly), but I can't. Our introversion was a motivating force on our FIRE quest, as FI gives us the freedom to be as introverted as we want to be.

How does that affect communication at home? If you have children, are they introverted? I would imagine that growing up with two introverted parents could lead to introversion in the children.

 

[Nemo2]

I used to be in sales for a telco......recall receiving an internal company call, (we weren't able to differentiate then), and having the caller, from another department, say "It's always great to call you, you're always so upbeat"............I replied "I'm working".

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Back to the original post, regarding the book Quiet, be sure to watch the author's TED Talk entitled, "The Power of Introverts." Just outstanding. Funny, entertaining, educational, and so on target with the way I feel sometimes. Especially the trend to open workplaces. I just love my little box, and I hate that they are tending to tear down those little walls that separate me from my co-w*rkers.

 

[gozer]

As I remember from the test they gave us at work, I am a flaming INTJ. Results repeated three times over 15 years. Nothing was borderline.

My wife (same company) was the same, though her N was more wishy washy than mine. And I fake E better than she does when I have to.

 

[sengsational]

INTP, but my DW claims that some E comes out with a beer or two, hehe. The MB literature even says that under relaxed conditions is your default type, but under stress things can be significantly different. So under VERY relaxed conditions, I'd say might also be different!

 

[teejayevans]

I'm going to guess not many of us had retirement parties either...
Be interesting to know if the small number of Extroverts are strong extroverts.
TJ