[Source : Deniz S. Ones and Stephan Dilchert]
Our society tends to favor extroverted people.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the outgoing people are the ones that get the jobs, the leadership roles, and better grades. They also get the credit they deserve, if not more, while introverts may not be getting what they deserve, because people fail to acknowledge them due to their introvertedness.
According to the NERIS Analytics Limited, introverts are individuals that prefer solitary activities and get exhausted by social interaction. They also tend to be quite sensitive to external stimulation. Therefore, when introverts are not actively participating, it is not because they do not want to take part but simply because they like observing more than engaging.
The way people work – noticeably or unnoticeably – does not correlate to the amount of work done. However, because most people do not take the time to observe but take a short glance, extroverted people are better acknowledged for their work than introverts are. This occurs commonly in workplaces and even in schools.
“Schools in the United States emphasize participation a lot,” said Ethan Chou, a sophomore in Mission San Jose High School, in an interview with JSR. “I’ve seen many of my introverted friends struggle to earn participation points, because the school asks to prove themselves by engaging.”
Although putting participation as a contribution factor to the students’ grades can encourage more to study, measuring the amount of engagement can not represent their participation level.
However, this is not necessarily true and always the case. Country by country, the preference in personality types differ. While most countries, such as the United States, show preference for extroverts, countries such as South Korea and Japan show otherwise as they prefer introverts rather than extroverts.
“Teachers, sometimes even classmates, in South Korea favor those that are obedient and study independently,” said Geon Ok, a freshman in Kyung Hee University, in an interview with JSR. “They give you a look for not being able to figure it out alone and for stopping the teacher’s lecture.”
These countries do not grade students by how much they raise their hands but solely on their test grades, because of the thought that being more attentive would naturally bring good grades. The difference in preference stems from tradition as introvertedness is closely tied with obedience and maturity. The favoritism towards introverts then is not only limited to school, but to marriage as well. More Japanese and South Koreans favor quieter women, because they often follow the same correlation.
Feminist movements and movements that gear towards empowering women have changed this deep rooted tradition quite a bit and it seems as though even South Korea is becoming more westernized. Having an extroverted personality is now being looked at in a more positive light and more opinionated and independent women are becoming more and more accepted and sought after.
In the end however, because all cultures value different things, the favoritism in personality types will differ in each country. It is unknown whether or not extrovertedness will always reign supreme but for now, that seems to be the case.
Christy Yoon, Grade 10
Mission San Jose High School
