Are You An Ambivert?

[Mal12345]

Click here to read the 8 signs of being an ambivert:
8 Signs You're an Ambivert: The Most Flexible Personality Type

"Essentially, being an ambivert is like being a jack of all trades. Ambiverts are pretty flexible and can adapt well to whatever environment they’re in. There are those who have more introverted tendencies and those with more extroverted tendencies, but they’re pretty much half and half.

Wouldn’t it be great if personality tests like Myers-Briggs included an option of being ambiverted?"

Yes. But the same goes for the other 3 dysjunctions.

[ᴅeparted]

This doesn't really fit me, but that isn't surprising. I have traits of both an introvert and an extrovert, but I have significant more extroverted traits, as such at the end of the day I am a solid extrovert.

Per this list, none of them are particularly true. Some partially, others not at all.

[fetus]

Yes. I agree with seven of these. And I've been self-identifying as an ambivert for awhile now. Over the years (or months) it seems that I flip-flop between more introverted and more extroverted. I think I'm in a slightly more extroverted state now, hence eNFP rather than iNFP.

[PeaceBaby]

I identify with all of of these really, and I do score very close in the middle between I and E. But I am not really convinced that ambiverts are a "thing". It seems to me the scales must ultimately tip one way or the other, even if the preference is very slight.

[Frosty]

Yeah many of these just seem to be the runoff of living a certain lifestyle/and learned adaptability thing. So vague... Yes I do enjoy time alone and also enjoy time with other people-shocker seeing as I live multidemnsionally.

Do I have energy preferences, yes. May I favor one side, one mode, because of underlying processes, I think so. Can this be said about everyone and the system in general-aka no ambiversion just development and situational differences between people of the same type-I'd say yes. May it be harder to distinguish/more time consuming/less favorable/ might some be more hesitant explore to distinguish, also believe yes.

I am going to throw caution to the wind and say that for the EP's and IJ's... Well.

[Luv Deluxe]

Honestly, most of these traits seem more like the hallmarks of a mature, well-balanced adult than anything truly noteworthy with regard to introversion or extroversion. I'm really starting to feel like "ambivert" is just another buzzword; at the end of the day, I'm guessing that most people probably do prefer one mode over the other. For those who sincerely feel that they can't tell the difference, and this feeling persists consistently, then maybe the term applies.

Or, if ambiversion is a thing, then upwards of 90% of well-adjusted adults could likely identify. If this were the new standard, maybe introversion and extroversion might then only be regarded as such when demonstrated in their extremes (and possibly seen as psychological obstacles to be overcome, consequently).

Take the very first bullet point:

"If you have plans for the weekend, awesome. But if you don’t or if they get cancelled, that’s fine too, you had things to do anyway."

I'm pretty sure this is a healthy reaction and nothing more. If your cancelled plans aren't fine, what would you do instead? Throw a tantrum? Demand that somebody hang out with you? Show up at someone's house uninvited, because the show must go on? I think being adaptable is a positive trait, and one not necessarily linked to these dichotomies.

I think we all tend to fall somewhere along the spectrum. Even the most extroverted people I've met still require a moment here and there to shut off and go do their own thing, though it takes them longer to reach that point than myself. And though it may sound appealing sometimes, I'd be willing to bet that very few people would truly be happy living as hermits for the rest of their lives.

As for myself - I have many, many behaviors that make me appear extroverted, though I'm not. I love being stimulated by the world, I love exploring the world, I can be warm and friendly toward others and I generally don't experience crowd anxiety - but my energy ultimately comes from the inside-out, especially where people are concerned. (I love traveling alone so that I can soak up the experience without being drained or distracted by others, for example.)

I guess I've grown weary of seeing "AMBIVERTS!" everywhere, as though people have only just now discovered they're not purely one or the other, but both.

And if I see one more article using the word "recharge," or more specifically, the phrase "recharge your batteries," I swear... Hehe.

[Patrick]

And if I see one more article using the word "recharge," or more specifically, the phrase "recharge your batteries," I swear... Hehe.

Thanks for saying that. I've always had a problem with that "test" of I/E--especially since my wife and so many others readily relate to it, while I can't. My energy level generally stays moderately high and steady all the time. If I get drained, it's because of overwork, lack of sleep, or something I ate. Mingling with people or being alone doesn't seem to have any effect.

David Keirsey never thought much of I/E. He always said it was the least important "dichotomy," and in his last book he avoided mentioning it at all (except to note, almost in passing, that some people tend to be reserved and others gregarious).

In my particular case, that posed a problem, though: I've always come up decidedly Introverted in tests (including the MBTI), and my being "quiet" or "reserved" is something others readily notice in me. Furthermore, it's something I've always felt was a big part of my personality.

However, I still could not relate to the "recharging batteries" thing. And as a matter of fact, I noticed myself often getting excited and enthused when in a friendly group of people. Sometimes I could even be the life of the party for a while. I do not avoid people to recharge; nor do I avoid people because I'm hypersensitive to noise or commotion. I avoid people due to anxiety. I worry what people think of me, and I fear rejection and abandonment. Hence, my nerves are on edge anytime I'm dealing with someone face-to-face; and I can only take so much of that before it becomes unpleasant. Still, if the relationship is good, it can be worth the stress; so I'll hang in there if it's rewarding.

After years of wondering about this and finding no good type-related explanation for it, just a month or two ago I finally realized my enneagram type is Six. That, to me, is the piece of the puzzle I've been missing. The description of type Six fills in the important-to-me part of personality typing that the Myers-Briggs system fails to capture. (Actually, MB tests do capture it--I always come up Introverted--but the descriptions fail to cover the kind of tension or anxiety I always feel, which is what Introversion means to me personally.)

Someone wrote that enneagram Sixes are the most likely to be ambiverted. But to me, ambiversion doesn't really exist. Rather, I/E can be confusing, and both I and E can manifest in many different ways. A pretty good test is whether you do more initiating or responding: do you readily approach others and initiate conversation, or do you usually wait for someone else to make the first move? My INTJ wife and I are both responders, so we wait for each other to initiate things, and therefore little gets done. Because of her directing nature, she initiates more often than I do, but she resents having to do it.

Other factors are regularly confused with Introversion and Extraversion: e.g., Informing vs Directing style, Affiliative vs Pragmatic mind-set, focus on Motive vs Structure. What Jung meant by I/E is different from what most people mean when they identify each other as introverts or extraverts.

[EJCC]

5.5/8 apply to me. I would describe myself as very extroverted, per the general MBTI use of the word "extroverted". But some people think I'm an introvert, by popular usage of the word, when they first get to know me -- just because I'm fairly independent and thoughtful, I sometimes need recharge time, and I also don't bulldoze people when I have conversations with them. My ISTJ roommate, for example, was convinced that I was an introvert for the entirety of this year, even though I do more talking than him when we interact.

I also scored 100% on Thinking Introversion when I took a test associated with the STAR model of introversion. So there's that.

[wolfy]

I would describe myself as strongly ambiverted.

[Patrick]

I would describe myself as strongly ambiverted.

What does that mean? That you're really enthusiastic about both mingling with others and being alone?