Tuesday Reflections: Pop Psychology Has a New Personality Type

From Introvert and Extrovert to Ambivert and Otrovert

It always amazes me when psychology finds something new that I can relate to.

A few years ago, I stumbled on the term family scapegoating. And far, far before that, I learned about introversion and extraversion.

Now there is also Otroversion. But before I come to that, let me give you a short overview of how these concepts have developed over time.

Image by Steve A Johnson on Pexels

It was Carl Jung who defined introversion and extraversion as psychological concepts much as we understand them today.

He understood an introvert as a person whose psyche is primarily directed inwardly and an extravert as the opposite.

Or to put it more simply:

Introvert:
What does what’s happening around me mean to me?

Extravert:
What is happening around me, and how do I respond to it?

While this was a more theoretical definition, it was Hans Eysenck who made extraversion measurable as a personality trait.

He understood extraversion as outgoing, sociable, and active. And likewise introversion as reserved, quieter, and less socially outgoing.

But the story doesn’t end here....

The Big Five model treats extraversion as a continuum and breaks it down into several facets like friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity level, excitement-seeking, and cheerfulness.

If you haven't taken the Big Five Personality Test yet, you can access it here:

That’s much of how we understand introverts and extroverts today.

If this is a bit too complicated, pop psychology has a very simple model.

Introvert = Needs alone time to recharge their battery.
Extrovert = Needs interactions with other people to recharge their energy.

Okay, that was long. But why am I telling you all this?

Well, all models have their limitations.

If you are like me, you may have experienced yourself sometimes more as an introvert and other times as an extrovert. So maybe you are in the middle of the spectrum. But that has been solved too with the label ambivert.

So until recently we had introvert, extrovert, and ambivert...

Still not enough.

Because there are people who can connect with people, be very social and empathetic, but still don’t feel like they belong. From the outside, they may look like an integral part of the group, but they don’t experience it like this.

It’s like a new dimension, as it doesn't really fit into this distinction between an inwardly or outwardly directed psyche. And that’s what “otro” in otrovert basically means.

Okay, okay... I know this sounds all very complicated. And before I bore you with paragraphs of boring explanations, I have something new for you. Yes, again...

I have created a short video explainer for you. Currently, it’s still with a female voice. But if you give me plenty of positive feedback, only if you really like it, of course, I will use my voice for future explainer videos.

If you want to dive deeper into the concept of otroversion, read Kaminski's book:

The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners.

He coined the term otroversion. So you get firsthand knowledge from it directly.

Want to Know If You Are An Otrovert?

As you probably know by now, I love to create self-assessment tests.

So... if at least FIVE of you want an otrovert test, I will create one.

Drop a comment below to let me know.

Coming Next

This Friday I will publish the first part of the new INFJ Healing Journey.

My Substack initially started as INFJ Reflections. I know that many of you see yourself as INFJs or at least have a big overlap with this personality type.

So with this healing series, I kind of will close a circle that has been open for a long time.

Looking forward to having your eyes on this new series.

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