Introvert Personality

Introvert, when used non-technically, usually means a shy, unsociable person. Psychiatrist Carl Jung defined
introversion as a turning of mental interests away from people and events of the outer world to the inner world of
one's own thoughts .
He believed that in a normal person, introversion is balanced by etroversion . !ut in an introvert, the tendency
toward introversion is greater than toward etroversion. Jung thought that if the tendency toward introversion
became etreme, it would dominate a person's unconscious mental life and create a conflict between the two
tendencies. "his conflict would result in a neurosis, which is a #ind of mental illness.
Motivation
Motivation commonly refers to anything that causes people to behave as they do. $ost people have a clear sense of
what it feels li#e to be motivated to do something. !ut scientists have found it difficult to define motivation. %hen
studying motivation, most psychologists and behavioural scientists focus on two specific aspects of motivated
behaviour--the arousal of behaviour and the direction of behaviour.
Arousal of behaviour involves whatever brings an organism to action. &rousal means being 'stirred up' or 'ready
for action.' It may result from stimuli inside or outside the body. Inside, or internal, stimuli include the sensation of
dryness that produces thirst and the stomach contractions that cause hunger pangs. (utside, or eternal, stimuli
include the heat that causes pain when a person touches a hot stove.
&n aroused organism's response to stimuli depends on habits and other ways of acting that it has learned. !ased on
such learning, the organism may act either aimlessly or highly purposefully in a particular situation.
)irection of behaviour is determined by several influences. "hese influences include an organism's habits, s#ills, and
basic capacities.
$otives themselves may also direct behaviour. *or eample, differing motives may direct the behaviour of two
football coaches when their teams face much stronger opponents. (ne coach's behaviour may be motivated by--that
is, directed toward--competition or winning. "hat coach may concentrate on see#ing an upset victory. However, the
behaviour of the other coach may be motivated by the players' feelings and may focus on #eeping the players from
being discouraged by the probable loss.
Physiological conditions can direct behaviour by ma#ing organisms sensitive to stimuli from the environment. *or
eample, many types of birds may become sensitive to available mates and also direct their behaviour toward nest
building when the birds' hormones reach a certain level.
Kinds of motives.
$ost behavioural scientists place all motives into one or more of three groups. "hese groups are +,- homeostatic
motives, +.- nonhomeostatic motives, and +/- learned, or social, motives.
Homeostatic motives include hunger, thirst, respiration, and ecretion. "hey wor# to #eep the body in a balanced
internal state. "he term homeostasis refers to the body's tendency to maintain such a balanced internal state. $any
homeostatic motives are set in motion either by bodily deficits or bodily ecesses. %hen the body needs water, for
eample, changes occur that cause thirst and motivate the person to see# something to drin#.
Nonhomeostatic motives include se, such activity as nest building, and curiosity about the environment. "hese
motives are aroused by occasional forces. In the absence of such forces, nonhomeostatic motives may be inactive. In
contrast, the needs for food, water, and air--homeostatic motives--have almost continuous influence.
Learned motives, or social motives, include curiosity, a desire for novelty, and the need for such things as
achievement, power, social affiliation, and approval. "hese motives seem to develop through eperience, especially
through social eperience, such as early eperience in the family or with friends during adolescence. 0earned
motives continue to evolve and influence behaviour throughout life. However, their eact origins are not clear. 1ome
babies have strong needs for social affiliation that may result from conditions during pregnancy and birth as well as,
perhaps, other factors.
"he three #inds of motives often overlap. *or eample, desire for new eperiences may be homeostatic as well as
learned. "his is because people differ as to the level of novel stimulation their homeostatic mechanisms see# to
maintain. &s a result, some people always seem to be loo#ing for something new while others seem too content with
the familiar.
Extrovert Personality
2trovert, when used nontechnically, means a sociable person who ma#es friends easily. In psychiatry, the word has
a somewhat different meaning. "he 1wiss psychiatrist Carl 3. Jung defined etroversion as turning the interests and
energies of the mind toward events, people, and things in the world about us. &s a result, etroverts are more
interested in what is going on around them than in their own thoughts and feelings.
In normal people, etroversion is counterbalanced by introversion, and a wholesome balance is maintained between
the two tendencies. !ut in an etrovert, the tendency toward etroversion is greater than the tendency toward
introversion.
Instinct
Instinct is behaviour that is inherited rather than learned. %e might say that a person who often fights has an
aggressive instinct. !ut the person may not have been born with a desire to fight--and, with a different home or
school bac#ground might never have developed that trait. 1cientists use the terms instinct and instinctive behaviour
only for activity that involves neither eperience nor learning. "o be truly instinctive, a behaviour trait must be
typical of almost all members of one or both sees of a species of animal.
"he mating behaviour of a fish called the three-spined stic#lebac# includes many eamples of instinct. "he male
stic#lebac# chooses a mating area and drives other fish from it. He then collects plants and forms them into a small
mound. He wriggles through the completed mound, creating a tunnel. "his tunnel, which is slightly shorter than the
fish, becomes his nest. $eanwhile, his normally dull-coloured body has changed colour. His belly becomes bright
red and his bac# bluish-white. He then starts to court females. %henever a female, her abdomen swollen with eggs,
enters his mating area, he swims toward her and performs a 4ig4agging 'dance.' He continues this dance until a
female follows him to his nest, where she lays her eggs. 1he then swims away, and the male fertili4es the eggs. He
stays near the nest to protect the eggs and, later, the young.
"he stic#lebac# does not learn his complicated mating ceremony. 5et all male stic#lebac#s perform basically the
same actions. "hey are born with the pattern built into their nervous system.
In some cases, individual animals of the same species vary the details of an instinctive behaviour pattern. Individual
goldfinches may use different proportions of various materials to build their nests. "hey may also carry the materials
in different ways. !ut most instinctive behaviour is relatively rigid. $embers of any species do not usually differ
greatly in carrying out the built-in pattern