I enjoy being part of a group and happy to take the lead in meetings so I’ve never considered myself to be a strong introvert. However the definition of strong extrovert isn’t a definition that I would say describes me either as I’ve gone days with talking to anyone, and enjoy peace and quiet.
I’m a little from column A and a little from column B, thus always struggling when completing things like the Myers–Briggs Type test, as the side of the Introversion (I) / Extraversion (E) fence I fall on, seems to change based on environment, mood and even the wording of the question.
The term ambivert is nothing new, it was first used in 1927 by Kimball Young, the ‘ambi’ meaning ‘both’ in Latin.
In his book Young states “The ambivert is a combination of certain features of introversion and extroversion” with the bulk of the population (now believed to be around two thirds) fitting into that category. I only heard of the term in the last few years and thought it was suitable, although not really clarifying the whole switching side thing.
However rather than placing you on an exact point on the spectrum halfway between introvert & extrovert and featuring traits of both, now the suggestion is that many ambiverts may shift within that range, sometimes being closer to one side of the spectrum than the other and vice versa .
This makes far more sense to me as I can become overwhelmed when interacting with people for prolonged periods and need to break off, seeking activities that require less interaction like reading a book or painting some miniatures.
I guess it feeds nicely into my MMOs, I enjoy being part of a guild yet often find myself not wanting to be involved in group activities or even use Voice Comms. Somedays it’s just me and my character.