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Are Introverts Low Energy In General? Are Extroverts High Energy?

NotOfTwo

small potatoes
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Jan 30, 2010
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I have been accused recently of being extroverted because of my high physical energy level. I don't think that the two correlate. I am very active alone. I do not consider it bad that I could be mistaken for an extrovert but I do believe that I am introverted. I thought I would ask y'all what you think.

Are you I or E?

What is your energy level?

Any thoughts on the topic?

Danke
 

King sns

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I can see how that would work. I'm a lazy low energy extrovert. Less likely to go partake in activities because I need a lot of rest time- could translate to introvert almost.
 

NotOfTwo

small potatoes
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I can see how that would work. I'm a lazy low energy extrovert. Less likely to go partake in activities because I need a lot of rest time- could translate to introvert almost.

Interesting, but would you like to join and just are limited?
 

King sns

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Interesting, but would you like to join and just are limited?

Yeah. Limited reserve. Need to add that I'm not super low energy, just on the lower side.
 

CuriousFeeling

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I'm the full steam ahead type of person when it comes to getting work done. Most of my high energy is under the surface though. It's weird, I have a lot of pent up enthusiasm... just a matter of if I feel comfortable revealing it.
 

NotOfTwo

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I have a few extroverted friends who don't have a lot of physical endurance. I guess that is why I question the idea. I like to fight the pigeonhole whenever possible.

math-pigeon.jpg
 

NotOfTwo

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I'm the full steam ahead type of person when it comes to getting work done. Most of my high energy is under the surface though. It's weird, I have a lot of pent up enthusiasm... just a matter of if I feel comfortable revealing it.

Yes, I relate greatly to this...
 

EJCC

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A lot of extroverts (myself included) aren't low energy but are pretty consistent in energy level, 24/7. Most of the time I socialize in a pretty chill way and can maintain that chill socializing for days and days on end. I'm one of those people that likes to have a group of at least two friends around most of the time -- but I'm always comfortable enough with those friends that I don't feel like I have to cater to their needs all the time, which is what would really exhaust me. If I felt like those friends would be okay with me going off and doing my own thing for a bit without needing to take care of them, then I could be around them for weeks, even.

Other extroverts I know tend to be very polar, energy-wise -- i.e. extremely hyper and then completely burned out -- and just maintain that cycle. I know an ENxP and an ENFJ who do that, and almost all the ESFJs I know do that. Sometimes it happens to me, but I just don't get all that wound up very often, mostly because the type of socializing that exhausts me is the fake kind, and I do my best to avoid that. (I'm guessing other ExTJs are like that too.)

Edit: Oh I see, you were talking about physical energy. I don't think that has anything to do with type.
 

NotOfTwo

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A lot of extroverts (myself included) aren't low energy but are pretty consistent in energy level, 24/7. Most of the time I socialize in a pretty chill way and can maintain that chill socializing for days and days on end.

Other extroverts I know tend to be very polar, energy-wise -- i.e. extremely hyper and then completely burned out -- and just maintain that cycle. I know an ENxP and an ENFJ who do that, and almost all the ESFJs I know do that. Sometimes it happens to me, but I just don't get all that wound up very often, mostly because the type of socializing that exhausts me is the fake kind, and I do my best to avoid that. (I'm guessing other ExTJs are like that too -- that is, extroverts with lots of Te.)

Edit: Oh I see, you were talking about physical energy. I don't think that has anything to do with type.

I find the social energy aspect interesting as well, the variety that is.
 
N

NPcomplete

Guest
On the outside, I usually seem low-energy mainly because most of my energy is spent in frenetic analysis. But I've noticed that my energy level depends on the situations I'm in. If there is a deadline involved, for instance, I'll be very energetic and be focusing mostly (not solely, unfortunately) on what needs to be done. This is very tiring though, so as soon as I finish sparkling, I revert back to being a low-energy electron. If on the other hand, there is no deadline, I'll be outwardly relaxed but my mind will be drifting.

The energy level, to me, is constant. What differs every time is the amount I show and the amount I don't show, or even how I show it. Hmm it's sounding a bit like the law of conservation of energy now. :laugh:
 

Bamboozle

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No, I don't think it's all about physical energy. There are quite a few INTPs who like to indulge their Se anyway, I think. Personally, I find physical energy a lot easier to handle than social energy. At least physical energy still allows me to introvert, in a way. I'm not talking to people. I'm only interacting with the environment in an Se-Ti way…in a physical way. No Fe things to negotiate.

If you wanted to keep on with the theme that EJCC started re the extraverts: I think even the energy between extraverts is all different, too. The difference between, for example, an ESTP and an ESFP can be vast. The difference lies in energy projection and focus—where are the projecting to? Why? ESFPs actually focus their energy on the people in a room. They connect with people. Draw energy from them and dump heaps of energy back onto them. This doesn't mean they've necessarily got a lot of physical energy, though.

ESTPs, in contrast, seem to treat the environment as a physical thing…even the people, haha. They may also be invested in their physical energy, so, by your definition, ESTPs would be more extraverted. I think most would agree that ESFPs seem more extraverted, though (I think?)

Hope that made sense. Brain is fuzzy today.
 

NotOfTwo

small potatoes
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On the outside, I usually seem low-energy mainly because most of my energy is spent in frenetic analysis. But I've noticed that my energy level depends on the situations I'm in. If there is a deadline involved, for instance, I'll be very energetic and be focusing mostly (not solely, unfortunately) on what needs to be done. This is very tiring though, so as soon as I finish sparkling, I revert back to being a low-energy electron. If on the other hand, there is no deadline, I'll be outwardly relaxed but my mind will be drifting.

The energy level, to me, is constant. What differs every time is the amount I show and the amount I don't show, or even how I show it. Hmm it's sounding a bit like the law of conservation of energy now. :laugh:

hmmm how very INTP of you ;)
 

NotOfTwo

small potatoes
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[MENTION=7867]Bamboozle[/MENTION]

Made plenty o' sense. I can dig the Se-Ti angle, I love the deliberation of rock climbing for instance.
 

NotOfTwo

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:hifive:

Should I do it? ;)

PS: See? I didn't write colon h u g colon. :D

Nah, better not, I think Saturned could take me if we were to fight for you. :biggrin:
I also refrained from the telling colon hug colon. We are sooo Ti.
 
N

NPcomplete

Guest
Nah, better not, I think Saturned could take me if we were to fight for you. :biggrin:
I also refrained from the telling colon hug colon. We are sooo Ti.

I thought owls were carnivorous and bunnehz were not. Are you saying you're a vegan owl? *paradigm shift!*
 

EJCC

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No, I don't think it's all about physical energy. There are quite a few INTPs who like to indulge their Se anyway, I think. Personally, I find physical energy a lot easier to handle than social energy. At least physical energy still allows me to introvert, in a way. I'm not talking to people. I'm only interacting with the environment in an Se-Ti way…in a physical way. No Fe things to negotiate.

If you wanted to keep on with the theme that EJCC started re the extraverts: I think even the energy between extraverts is all different, too. The difference between, for example, an ESTP and an ESFP can be vast. The difference lies in energy projection and focus—where are the projecting to? Why? ESFPs actually focus their energy on the people in a room. They connect with people. Draw energy from them and dump heaps of energy back onto them. This doesn't mean they've necessarily got a lot of physical energy, though.

ESTPs, in contrast, seem to treat the environment as a physical thing…even the people, haha. They may also be invested in their physical energy, so, by your definition, ESTPs would be more extraverted. I think most would agree that ESFPs seem more extraverted, though (I think?)

Hope that made sense. Brain is fuzzy today.
It did make sense. :) And regarding physical energy and communication -- I think a lot of introverts can project more physical energy than some extroverts do. I know INFPs who are more flamboyant with gestures etc than ESFPs I know. :yes:

It seems like, of the extroverted functions, Te is the least "energetic" in the traditional sense. The ENTJs and ESTJs I know are just like me in that they keep up the same energy level consistently all the time. I guess that's because, like you were talking about, their focus is different. They focus on things that need fixing, wrong things that need righting, and even if those things are people or people's behavior, they don't get treated like a social thing. So even though the Te type is interacting with people, those interactions don't follow at all the same rules of conversation/mingling/etc that so many introverts are drained by. ExTJs can use their Te in social settings on their own terms, without worrying about how it will come across (which is either positive or negative depending on the circumstance), and while staying relatively independent of other people's expectations, so they leave those social situations feeling like they just did another thing to check off the list. <-- Edit: Note that this isn't how ExTJs operate in all social situations. We aren't THAT consistently cold-hearted. :(

Fe, on the other hand, seems like the extroverted function most likely to burn itself out just by operating the way it does -- by not avoiding the draining interactions that Te avoids. I think I was talking to an ENFJ about this? And the ENFJ told me that Fe is an exhausting function for them.

EDIT: That was all thinking out loud, jsyk, so if I'm full of sh*t feel free to call me on it :)
 

funkadelik

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Well, I'm an extrovert and I has an exceedingly exorbitant amount of energy on a day-to-day basis provided I am in good health.

Right now I work full time and go to school (7 days a week, no days off) and somehow manage to party, study my ass off and not completely neglect my apartment's hygiene. People ask me all the time how I do it, but I guess it's just cause I'm a pretty laid-back person with a lot of energy. Seems to be a good combination.

But I've certainly met low-energy extroverts and high-energy introverts before.
 
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