I receive various responses when I speak with people about introversion and extroversion, especially concerning ministry. Some are encouraging, others… less so. I’ve had people discourage me from “speaking the curse of introversion” over myself. I’ve had people relate to me because someone in their life is “also shy.” While I think most adults in Western society have some basic understanding of personality types, I believe it’s too basic, leaving ample room for misunderstanding.
I’ve taken the MBTI several times throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies. Like many of my fellow students, I skimmed the attributes I’d been assigned just to get a general idea. But I didn’t sit down with the intent to truly grasp the complexities and implications that come with each of these traits.
With that said, allow me to give you a quick history of these personality theories and, hopefully, a more filled-out understanding of introverted personality types.
How It Started
If you paid at least a little attention to personality theory in college, you probably remember hearing about Carl Jung. If you really paid attention, you might recall that Alfred Adler and Sigmund Freud were also key figures in the formation of personality theory.
Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst, interacted with both Freud and Adler. While Jung listened to their growing psychoanalytic theories, he noticed a stark contrast in their focuses. As Freud and Adler honed in on different sets of data, they formulated almost completely opposite conclusions.
Freud preferred the terms normal and abnormal. As an extrovert, Freud naturally believed that extroverts, those who find gratification in the external world, were “normal.”
“Freud believed introversion indicated an unhealthy self-preoccupation akin to narcissism.”
As I survey Western culture in general, and Western leadership specifically, I think many still view introversion with a similar disdain. As Freud labelled us, “abnormal.”
Adler, on the other hand, was one of us. As an introvert, his theories were more centripetal. Adler’s work centred on the internal struggle to overcome feelings of helplessness, which he termed the inferiority complex. He viewed introverts as creative artists shaping their own lives from the inside out.
Jung, who found himself between these two poles, wasn’t concerned about who was right. Instead, he sought to merge the two perspectives. Unlike his more dichotomous colleagues, Jung did not consider introversion or extroversion to be unhealthy extremes but rather opposite ends of a healthy spectrum. He also didn’t believe everyone is purely one or the other. Both traits exist in each person; one is simply more dominant.
How It’s Going
For many people I speak with, the negative attitude toward introversion still lingers. I don’t think the kind folks at the MBTI helped much. In fact, I think they took a step backward by categorizing people as either introverted or extroverted. We’d be better off viewing it, as Jung did, as a spectrum, something that reveals our preference, not a hard-coded operating system that determines our odds of success or failure in the real world.
Thankfully, there has been a slowly growing respect and understanding of introverted personality types, especially since Susan Cain’s groundbreaking book Quiet in 2012. Others have since written books to encourage introverted Christians. Introverts in the Church by Adam McHugh, Blessed Are the Misfits by Brant Hansen (which also offers great encouragement for neurodivergent believers), and The Introvert Charismatic by Mark Tanner are all worthwhile reads for the introverted among us.
As introverts, we will continue to find solid footing in the church, even in leadership roles. The most important thing any introverted leader can do is learn all they can about themselves. Learn that you are not broken, just built differently. Lean into your strengths. And yes, push yourself just a little out of your comfort zone every day.
The Introverted Pastor 