Internal/external processing vs. introversion/extroversion

[EJCC]

So, we all know that introverted functions are usually processed internally - and everyone processes both internally and externally to an extent. But I think it's safe to say that some people are very strongly "internal processors" or "external processors" in a more general sense, and that that is not always related to the Jungian definition of introversion/extroversion.

Examples: I know a lot of ENFPs. Some of them talk to people constantly, always bouncing ideas off of people, always asking for advice that they will probably not take - because it's not about the advice-asking, it's about the processing. (Same as the familiar stereotypes about Fe-users.) I know other ENFPs who do all their serious thinking internally and will only ever do that advice-asking as a source of actual data to process internally, vs. using the conversation as a way to process externally.

I, personally, am a strong extrovert, and would call myself an internal processor. I think some of this is learned - I forced myself to be very self-reliant at a young age - but not all of it. I will only go to a broader group to complain or ask questions if I legitimately need external data to add to my internal log*. Sometimes I ask a question, get a lot of answers, and can't really contribute to the conversation anymore because I need to think before I can respond well. (This has happened innumerable times on this forum, and I always feel bad about it, because in a perfect world, I'd always respond promptly to people.)

So... what's this about? Any experience with it? Am I off-base?


*This includes being comforted.

 

[citizen cane]

So, we all know that introverted functions are usually processed internally - and everyone processes both internally and externally to an extent. But I think it's safe to say that some people are very strongly "internal processors" or "external processors" in a more general sense, and that that is not always related to the Jungian definition of introversion/extroversion.

Examples: I know a lot of ENFPs. Some of them talk to people constantly, always bouncing ideas off of people, always asking for advice that they will probably not take - because it's not about the advice-asking, it's about the processing. (Same as the familiar stereotypes about Fe-users.) I know other ENFPs who do all their serious thinking internally and will only ever do that advice-asking as a source of actual data to process internally, vs. using the conversation as a way to process externally.

I, personally, am a strong extrovert, and would call myself an internal processor. I think some of this is learned - I forced myself to be very self-reliant at a young age - but not all of it. I will only go to a broader group to complain or ask questions if I legitimately need external data to add to my internal log*. Sometimes I ask a question, get a lot of answers, and can't really contribute to the conversation anymore because I need to think before I can respond well. (This has happened innumerable times on this forum, and I always feel bad about it, because in a perfect world, I'd always respond promptly to people.)

So... what's this about? Any experience with it? Am I off-base?


*This includes being comforted.

Great idea for a thread. I had the same thoughts, but couldn't have phrased it as well. As an ISTJ, I think that, depending on the issue at hand, I process internally sometimes, and others I process more externally. This may in some way contribute to a lack of strong identification with my MBTI type.

 

[á´…eparted]

Idk, I'm not sure there is much of a correlation with type. I'm quite the extrovert, but I am definitely an internal processor much more so than external, and it is definitely my default mode. I often do it to deteriment as well, because I can feel defective in some way if I need someone or something else to help me solve something; I avoided office hours like the plague in college because I felt going meant I was weak / not smart. I do use external processing when it's something I've learned I will get better results when I do it outwardly and let go of any image concerns I may have with it, and it is easy to do, but I definitely go internal first and foremost.

I don't think it connects much with introversion/extroversion. This is actually one of the sticking points that led me to thinking I was an introvert for years.

 

[Galena]

I am an introvert, but very much an external processor. I'm not comfortable with that part of myself, so I restrict it in a few ways if other people would be involved. It doesn't have to be verbal external processing though - it could just be quiet research to test my internal work. To a questionably masochistic extent, I often go after whatever information contradicts my internal take on an issue the hardest. If my logic doesn't survive, obviously it needs more work. If reading opposition hurts emotionally, there's probably too much ego in my approach, and again, it needs to return to the drawing board.

While my inclination was to say that my discomfort about the trait is culturally or family-influenced, that felt a bit too much buck-passing of the insecurity, because it's not really hard to think of or carry out ways of external processing that don't have problems with obtrusiveness.

 

[Redbone]

I do both. I'm a pretty asocial ENFP and I like time alone. But I often like my time alone to use Ne to explore. It helps me to do the internal processing. I depend less on people to bounce things off of but I do need it. Sometimes I can't "think" unless I'm doing this bouncing with someone (that I trust). I can see patterns better when I'm weaving monologues (sorry my dear INFP). If it's really private or if I feel like I cannot talk it out, I will turn to researching and writing.

I do feel full of information at times and then need to retreat to untangle, sort, and process it. I need alone time to do this. I can get super irritable if it's delayed.

I wonder if internal or external processing is related to how reactive someone is. I find it very difficult to ignore stimuli, so it's easy for me to be bound up in external processing.

I may not explained this well. I underestimated how difficult it was to type this out on a phone.

 

[Virtual ghost]

I would say this has alot to do with gut type in the tritype of the person. People with 8 are more external processors, people with 1 are more internal processors and those with 9 are probably in between.
Strength of Sx instinct can also effect this balance since Sx is always asking for stimulation.


On the other hand I do plenty of external reasoning for Se inferior person and therefore I quite often feel that I am simply ENTJ with fairly dark life story rather than INTJ. So if EJCC and Hard are E then I can pass as an E as well, that is basically one of the main sources of how I got that idea that I am E in the first place. Even if I often don't sound as ENTJ since I am not rised in Capitalism and therefore I don't fit into many ENTJ stereotypes, if you presume this is actually my type. Not to mention that am born in the culture that is Sx 7 like and as soon as you show some e1 traits people start to think you are Anti-christ or something and therefore finding friends was always a serious chore for me. Actually the main part of ENTJness that I lack is the reasoning of e8.

 

[Poki]

external searching for info, internal processing

I know people who do the opposite