Introvert Behavior in Western Women
An introvert is a person who prefers to be socially detached and isolated from the rest of the society. Introverts are known to enjoy solitude as against extroverts who are more socially engaged. It is easy to characterize an introvert as being less equipped and skilled to handle socially demanding environments as they are better suited for less stimulating environments requiring reflective thought (Matthews, Zeidner & Roberts., 2004). Introverts are more so known to talk less, socialize less whilst spending less time with people. Coming over to women in this context, in essence, the society expects women to be talkative and outgoing. Furthermore, introverted women in most parts of the world remain unrecognized and less understood by the very judgmental society. It is with this profound reason that most of the unsocial, less talkative women continue to face a plethora of challenges from the society that is unable to comprehend their situation. There are several reasons why Western women developing introvert behavior and the consequences resulting thereof are equally varied.
In general, there are various reasons that cause most of the Western women to develop an introvert, unsocial behavior. It has come to known that some women develop an introvert behavior right from when they were at their tender ages (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). This could have been established as children with introvert behavior portray an abnormal habit of being reserved, less jovial and in constant solitude. Most of these children are unable to fully express themselves whereas others are in constant thought of being less fit as compared to their peers. There are mainly two factors that would cause a child to develop and adapt to an introvert behavior. These two factors are: genetics and the environment (Engler, 2008). A female child is likely to develop an unsocial behavior if one or either of her parents suffers from an antisocial disorder. This may arise as a result of a person having genetically inherited a schizoid personality disorder that is characterized by social detachment and isolation as well as by restricted emotional experience and expression (Jussim, 2012). A woman suffering from this disorder is bound to develop tendencies of being in solitude while having little interest in establishing or maintaining interpersonal relationship (Osborne, 2015). These women are unable to socially initiate any form of friendship and thus most of them tend to have a few or no friends at all. Nevertheless, introverted women tend to perform well in job occupations that do not require any form of social interaction (Zelenski, Santoro & Whelan., 2012). In addition to this, the environment where a female child has been brought up is likely to affect her behavior as she grows up. An environment that is characterized by violence, crime, family problems, poverty and unsupportive family is likely to lead to a woman’s introverted behavior. There is also a very high probability of an introverted woman suffering from low self-esteem (Laney, 2002). Indeed, the world has evolved as the society has set several standards on what defines a woman’s beauty. Thus, a woman who feels that she has not fulfilled all the necessary requirements that define beauty is likely to segregate herself from the rest of the society in fear of being judged for her physical imperfections. It is with this reason that she will prefer being in solitude as opposed to being socially involved with the rest of the people.
A woman who has developed an introvert behavior is likely to face both positive and negative consequences. In essence, most of these women would have few or no friends at all as they enjoy being solitary. In fact, most of them disregard any form of interpersonal relationships as they would prefer being single. Thus, a vast majority of these women would find it hard to get into any relationship that would mature into marriage. Owing to this reason, most of the introverted mature women would end up being single and childless since love is not among their top priorities. In addition, most of the western women depicting such behavior would not be able to perform in an occupation where social interaction is a priority for the company. In fact, it would be extremely daunting and dubious for them to contribute effectively as group members in a team as they lack the skills that would allow them to be in constant communication with other team members (Zelenski et al., 2012). In addition, most of the introverted women would prefer to sink into their own miseries as opposed to seeking help from people. Thus, many would suffer in silence for a long period without anyone’s notice. Nonetheless, these women are able to prioritize on what is vital to them by putting their full concentration and interest on what is dear to them. The introverted women are basically not motivated towards participating in leisure activities such as attending parties and playing competitive sports as they are all based on social interactions (Matthews et al., 2012). Introverted women tend to perform better in solitary and calm environments, in both laboratory paradigms such as vigilance, and real world settings such as systematic study (Matthews et al., 2012). prove to be best achievers education-wise or in any job occupation that does not require them to be in constant social interaction with their fellow employees, customers or the general public.
In conclusion, although introverted women may be viewed as being antisocial, they are able to attain their best potential in what they deem important. In essence, most of the introverted women have proved to be excellent achievers education-wise or in any job occupation that did not require them to be in constant social interaction with their fellow employees, customers or the general public.
References
Engler, B. (2008). Personality theories: An introduction. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Jussim, L. J. (2012). Social perception and social reality: Why accuracy dominates bias and self-fulfilling prophesy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Laney, M. O. (2002). The introvert advantage: How to thrive in an extrovert world. New York: Workman Pub.
Matthews, G., Zeidner, M. & Roberts, R. D. (2004). Emotional intelligence: Science and myth. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Matthews, G., Zeidner, M. & Roberts, R. D. (2012). Emotional intelligence. New York: Springer.
Osborn, H. (2015). The Role of introverts in communication fields (Doctoral dissertation), University of Oregon.
Zastrow, C. & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2016). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Australia: Cengage Learning.
Zelenski, J. M., Santoro, M. S. & Whelan, D. C. (2012). Would introverts be better off if they acted more like extraverts? Exploring emotional and cognitive consequences of counter dispositional behavior. Emotion, 12(2), 290-303. doi: 10.1037/a0025169.