What Is An Extravert REALLY?

Perhaps this seems like an odd question. I mean, everyone knows what an extravert is… right? Actually, extraversion is subject to a lot of misconceptions, because often, it’s the introverts that are writing about it. In fact, in the online world of personality theory, introversion frequently steals the spotlight, leaving extraverts the short end of the stick, so to speak.

Introverts dominate the internet, or at least that’s what people are led to believe. Opportunists have capitalized on this, creating content, courses, books, and etcetera, all designed to bolster the introvert’s confidence and help them feel understood. Unfortunately, in the process of over-emphasizing introversion, extraversion has been de-emphasized, or reduced to something that typically sounds inferior.

Previously, I wrote an article called “What Is an Introvert REALLY?” which discussed the current introvert culture, what introversion has become in the eyes of others, and what it actually is. In this article, I’m going to focus in on how extraverts are seen, what assumptions are made about them, and what an extravert really is. Let’s start by discussing what an extravert is not.

What An Extravert (or Extraversion) Is NOT

1. Extraverts are not always social butterflies

Oftentimes, people assume that extraverts will always love people, and will always be socially confident. Now, to be fair, outside the context of Jung’s cognitive functions, extraversion typically does have to do with being sociable or outgoing. The average person, not entrenched in personality theory, will use the word in this way. However, within the context of the 16 personalities, the term “extravert” has a slightly different meaning. Bottom line: you can be an extravert and not actually like people. Subsequently, an extravert who is like this may not develop the good social skills that people typically assume extraverts will have.

2. Extraverts are not immune to social anxiety

Social anxiety is an issue that is separate from introversion and extraversion, given that there are a variety of reasons that someone could suffer from social anxiety. Furthermore, as I mentioned above, extraverts may not always develop good social skills, causing them to lack social confidence and fall prey to social anxiety. However, with that being said, people who seem to obviously extraverted can actually be (internally) very socially anxious without anyone else realizing it by simply observing them. I’ve read accounts of extraverts describing themselves this way.

3. Extraversion is not a superpower that makes one successful in the external world

In my opinion, a lot of content geared towards introverts portrays introversion as a handicap of sorts. In comparison, extraversion often gets described as something that makes living in this world so much easier, as if extraverts have fewer struggles than introverts. I personally don’t think that’s a fair way to look at it. Everyone has their own unique struggles. Extraverts are not immune to struggles, and are not guaranteed any kind of success in the world simply because they are extraverted. There are so many factors that go into this.

4. Extraverts are not shallow, purely driven by a need for success or entertainment.

Of course, some extraverts might be shallow, and some extraverts might be driven by a need for success. But, some introverts might be like this too. These traits or tendencies are not specific to introversion or extraversion. No one personality type is innately “deeper” than another.

What An Extravert REALLY Is

A lot of sources say that extraversion and introversion has to do with how you gain energy. Those who are energized around others are extraverted, while those who are most energized alone are introverted. While this isn’t exactly accurate according to Jungian theory, there is an aspect of it that is applicable. Namely, it takes the least amount of effort to use your dominant function. Ergo, you will gain the most energy from using your dominant function, and lose more energy (comparatively) when trying to use a non-dominant function. Therefore, an extravert will be energized by their extraverted function, but as mentioned before, this doesn’t necessarily mean that using it will involve or require people.

Carl Jung’s Definition of an Extravert

So what really is an extravert? Simply put, an extravert is someone whose focus is on the external world. (In contrast, an introvert is someone whose focus is on their internal world.) Carl Jung referred to extraverts as being object-oriented, while he referred to introverts as being subject-oriented. (I avoided using the words objective and subjective, although they do apply, because objective doesn’t mean unbiased in this context, which is what most people assume when they read that word.)

Carl Jung says, “Now, when orientation by the object predominates in such a way that decisions and actions are determined not by subjective views but by objective conditions, we speak of an extraverted attitude. When this is habitual, we speak of an extraverted type. If a man thinks, feels, acts, and actually lives in a way that is directly correlated with the objective conditions and their demands, he is extraverted.”

For an extravert, this object-oriented nature can take on different forms, depending on which extraverted function is their dominant.

For instance, the Fe dominant, of the ENFJ and ESFJ, will likely be the most people-oriented of the extraverted types, orienting themselves to the emotional environment and their community. On the other hand, many Te dominants (ENTJ and ESTJ) don’t consider themselves socially extraverted, for multiple reasons. These types orient themselves to empirical data and/or hierarchical structures so that they can produce effective and externally verifiable results. Meanwhile, as dominant perceivers, the Se dominants (ESFP and ESTP) and Ne dominants (ENFP and ENTP) are more exploratory in nature. They may or may not involve other people in their process.

Related Articles: 7 Reasons ENTJs and ESTJs Mistype as Introverts, Introversion vs Extraversion, Objectivity vs. Subjectivity, Extraversion in Typology

In Conclusion…

Here at Practical Typing, we constantly try to remind people that social extraversion is not the same thing as cognitive extraversion. However, after continually seeing introversion-geared content, I also feel compelled to remind people that neither introversion nor extraversion is objectively better or worse. Introversion is not a handicap, and extraversion is not a ticket to success. Everyone has their struggles. Focus on the Jungian definition of an extravert to determine if you actually are one, and ignore the value-based misconceptions that so often get unfairly added to its definition.