What definition of I and E do you find most useful?

[xNFJiminy]

I strongly suspect that there is something wrong with that theory because "natural brain activity" is too vague and general a description. What would make more sense to me would be if I heard that "Extroverts have less brain activity in ____ part of the brain."

There are different parts of the brain activated, but there is also a higher total amount of neural stimulation. I don't remember if the parts of the brain in which there were differences showed consistent differences or if they were named, so the general finding is the only one I'll state with some confidence.

 

[infinite]

Cool thread even if old! I don't know if anyone's still around from that time but the topic is still good so I'll add something.

Some tests and theories associate E with more sociability and I with less of it, whereas with other systems, E and I are made of completely different traits.

One neurologically inspired theory by Hans Eysenck relates E and I with person's preferred level of psychological arousal, associating higher preferred levels with E and lower with I. Person is said to feel greatest comfort level at their preferred level, and rapidly decreasing comfort at any higher level. Sociability is not given any special meaning in this E/I construct.

How much does extraversion equate as sociability to you?

I do prefer higher levels of arousal. But socially I'm not very extraverted. So the two don't go together.

I would say that it influences sociability, but not completely. Ease of psychological arousal would definitely play a role as well. I believe that the best test of Introversion/Extraversion would be whether you feel more relaxed and comfortable alone/with less than four good friends, or around lots of other people you may or may not know. This may not work for everyone, but it seems to be the best deciding factor I've come up with.

Why's that the best...? I really don't have a preference here btw, both situations (few people or lots of people) can be good or crap, depends.

I would also consider the following criteria:

Note how these don't have to always occur together, just as in my case.

Reactivity to stimuli. E's have a higher threshold/need for stimulation, I's are more aware of and affected by typical things.

I'm E here

But I can get by when here is little stimulation

Focus. E's prefer to focus on what their actions achieve/effect outwardly, towards others/reality, and I's prefer to focus on what their actions achieve/effect inwardly, towards their inner idea.

Again E > I here

Mental Energy. E's tend to feel mentally stimulated by being in the company of other people, and I's feel mentally stimulated by contemplating/dealing with something alone or with only a few other people.

I can be ok and feeling stimulated both ways.

Evenness of relationships. Extraverts tend to have more friends, but aren't usually much closer to a smaller number of them than to others. Introverts tend to have fewer friends, but have markedly defined, smaller inner circles of very close friends. (Extraverts also have inner circles, they just aren't as sharply defined.)

I have many acquaintances. My inner circle is sharply defined.

I've come to realize that Extraversion vs. Introversion are also tied to actual functions, with S and F being more extroverted and N and T being more introverted. When you think of modern definitions of introversion, S and F both tend to be outwardly directed, while N and T are internal.

I can see T as extraverted just fine.

I = gets energy from within.
E = gets energy from the environment.

While the most common source of energy for an extravert is people I don't think it has to be the only source. For example roller coasters or loud music or other exciting things can be stimulating for an extravert.

+1

An E gets energized at a party.
An I gets drained at a party.

For me it depends what kind of party.

Extraversion = having a relatively low level of natural brain activity

Introversion = having a relatively high level of natural brain activity

I believe neuroscience and other kinds of experiments currently support this model. Introverts respond more intensely not only psychologically, but physiologically to external stimuli. They salivate more to a drop of lemon juice on the tongue. They have lower pain thresholds. They need significantly higher amounts of sedative to become unconscious because there's more going on to be dulled down. The total amount of brain activity is greater, but the specific areas of the brain activated also differ somewhat, with resting extraverts having more activity in the parts associated with sensory awareness and introverts having more in the parts associated with problem solving.

Well, this is useful for understanding how the differences are best defined and explained, but perhaps less so for actual typing, unless you happen to own a brain scanner.

Yeah I've heard of this one. I'm very much extravert going by this.

E= dominant perception or judgment attitude (depending on P/J) is based on environmental standards and objective reality.

I= dominant perception or judgment attitude (depending on P/J) is driven by a usually idiosyncratic, personal "inner-force" following a subjective road map.

I have both...

 

[INTP]

I think the issue of E/I in jungs and eysencks work is actually more similar than people realize reading it on the surface.

Eysenck says that its about how much arousal is required from external world to keep the optimal amount of brain arousal. Meaning that Introverts have more arousal to begin with and are easily overwhelmed by too much stimuli from external world. And that extraverts have too little arousal to be comfortable without adding some extra stimuli from the external world.

Jung says that introverts focus on inner world and are led by subjective factors, which is the base amount of arousal that eysenck talks about. Also behavior is part of this big picture, because for introvert too much arousal from external world makes them more withdrawn or at least feel exhausted after too much socializing etc. and because of this, they are often less motivated and learned in social stuff. This behavior is an outcomes of this E/I thing, not the definition of it.
Similarly when jung talks about extraverts focusing on external world more and all that stuff, it is because they need that stimuli from external world more than introverts. This can cause them to be more social than introverts because its one way of gaining that stimuli.

 

[highlander]

I always liked this video.

(except I cringe every time she says "hey you")