Introvert or Extrovert

[Bea_]

I'm curious how many here consider themselves to be introverts vs extroverts.

I am a total introvert

Wondering what we consider ourselves to be in male mode vs. female mode? The same or different?

[lisalove]

I'm pretty much both.
Every test or quiz on the subject, I almost always am able to answer the questions either way.

[Teresa]

Bea,
I guess I have to be a total extrovert otherwise I couldn't do what I do , it's why I'm finding lockdown hard I'm missing people . Being a CDer or TG shouldn't mean you have to hide away .

[Terri_Cross]

Some of both. Depends on...

[HelpMe,Rhonda]

Introvert. At least the male side is. Shocked that I'm on the internet as Rhonda here and a few other places, posting pics.

[Crissy 107]

Total extrovert, I love to talk and engage with people. When I was in high school I was not at all, quiet and a wall flower was it.

[Diane Smith]

A painfully shy introvert, I'm afraid. I try to do a little better when I'm out and about dressed, but it is hard to overcome one's deepest personality traits.

- Diane

[Pixie_94]

I'm mostly an introvert, but prolonged silence can have a toll on my mood.

[Brandi17]

I am Extrovert in my everyday life as a male, but I have neve talked to anyone while crossdressed and I don't plan to anytime soon either. I prefer being to myself when the female side of me comes out.

[AllieSF]

Total extrovert, I love to talk and engage with people. When I was in high school I was not at all, quiet and a walk flower was it.

Yeah, this is definitely me. I lost the introvert through college and became more extroverted as I lived life. Now, I am very extroverted and love meeting new people.

[Sometimes Steffi]

Boy me is an introvert; Steffi is an extrovert. Go figure.

[Leslie Langford]

I think this question needs to be redefined in terms of what we consider ourselves to be in male mode vs. female mode.

Just as our female personas often differ significantly from out male personas, there is an equal likelihood that one of them might identify as introverted, extroverted, or a combination of the two, with the other being the polar opposite. Male "Leslie" tends to be the quiet, introspective type...O.K. - I'll even say it...tending to the bookish, "nerdy" side and one who doesn't like to draw attention to himself. "Leslie", on the other hand, enjoys being out in public, and although not being an attention-seeking narcissist nevertheless does not shy away from interacting with people when in female mode when the situation arises.

[JennniferMcC]

Total introvert. Total. I probably missed a calling to be a desert hermit. I've always imagined that fact was conditioned by the need to hide the femme part of me. I remember as a small child I was the class clown. As I grew older and began to realize my..."proclivities" were not the norm I probably began to withdraw into myself. It will be interesting to see what Jennifer will be like when I get her out of this damn closet.

[bobbi1957]

as male pretty extrovert as bobbi im working on trying to be

[susan54]

I would not use either term of myself and only employ it to describe people at one extreme or the other of the range of variation. I like being on my own for extended periods (lockdown and I are getting along fine) but I can also be outgoing and sociable when the occasion arises. I am thinking of giving a talk soon as Susan and that does not frighten me.

[Helen_Highwater]

Neither, like most things I believe it's a spectrum and I sit somewhere in the middle.

While I wouldn't call myself a "show off" I'm not afraid to engage folks in conversation. I'm more likely to do that when dressed especially with females. After all, it's often how they behave.

[BTWimRobin]

I'm both .... More introverted than extroverted.

[Lana Mae]

I have aspects of both! I was introverted and shy until I took nursing and then became more extroverted! I still like those still quiet moments but also like to be with people! Hugs Lana Mae

[sara66]

I am 99.9% introvert. That being said I am in sales so I have to fake the other .1%.
Sara

[VS Fan]

Exactly Sara.... I’m a total introvert that can turn it on when needed but it’s draining by the end of the day...

[Raychel]

Total Introvert here.

[SaraLin]

male mode - recovering introvert (with a long way to go)

female mode - painfully shy introvert. Love being "out there", but terrified that someone will notice me - or even worse, talk to me

guess I've still got work to do.
Someday, maybe...

[natasha]

Im the definition of introvert

[Eve_cd]

Fairly introverted in either shoes, at first. Once I am comfortable or have made a couple of connections it can switch, but I?m terrible at initiating.

[MargaretJ]

Introvert. Certainly in male mode, but on the occasions in the past I was able to get out in public in female mode, I tried blend in and not attract attention.

[April Rose]

I am an introvert in the Jungian sense, not the Freudian.

[BrendaPDX]

Introvert by nature, extrovert by hard work!

[Paulie Birmingham]

Extrovert.

[NancySue]

Clearly an extrovert. I enjoy people, sports, socializing, etc. I would love to extend this into both worlds. Unfortunately, community and social situations prevent this. I keep hoping.

[Star01]

I lean towards introvert but am comfortable with things like public speaking when the situation calls for it. Mostly I stay under the radar in male mode with the drabbest of the drab wardrobe of pocket t-shirts and jeans. I become more introverted en femme as I don't pass and am too introverted to attempt it alone. It would look odd to see a woman in a dress and heels walking alongside a highway surrounded by corn fields so my location and circumstances are best suited to being an introvert.

[josie_S]

much more of an introvert than an extrovert, but when I'm dressed femme, I tip the scales just a little bit toward extrovert, though I still remain very much an introvert ��

[Ressie]

I heard somewhere that extroverts get bored if they're not talking with other people. Introverts are deep thinkers that don't like their thoughts being interrupted. I'm the thinker type but I've learned to be more extroverted throughout my life. I'm the same personality in either mode. I tend be shy around people I don't know.

[LilSissyStevie]

Whenever I've taken the Myers-Briggs personality test I come out as INTJ or INTP. I'm nearly perfectly balanced between the J and P but there is no doubt about the "I" (introverted.) My mother used to say I was "self contained." I could always entertain myself and preferred to. Other people just seemed to complicate what I was trying to accomplish.

[DianeT]

I am an introvert in the Jungian sense, not the Freudian.
Ha, nobody did yet, so I'll bite the hook first: what is the difference April Rose?

[docrobbysherry]

Natural introvert. But, I worked hard in college to change that. Made my living in sales.

Every time before entering a crowded venue, even where I know most of the T's there, I have to take a deep breath and tell myself it will be ok!:brolleyes:

Who but an introvert would aspire to take photos like this?:devil:
313219

[jacques]

hello Bea,
I can be both, but not at the same time,
Stay healthy,
luv J

[Jenny22]

Extrovert.

Sherry, you've got to be an extroverted introvert to dress in your costumes as you do and present the photos to we girls.You, dear sister, are one of a kind!

[AngelaYVR]

I like talking with people as long as I get lots of quiet time in between. I dislike large gatherings and vacuous conversation.

[Asew]

Totally an introvert. My wife was surprised I was willing to dress in public since that seems to defy my shy introverted self.

[FairyCrossdresser]

I think that?s pretty much where I?m at. Certainly it would be reasonable to say I?m in man mode? at work but in .?Heather mode? about 75% outside of work.

And I don?t get much of a choice in that, when Heather takes over the urge is overwhelming so if I want to go out and mix it has to be in a skirt, heels and makeup.

[Tina Davis]

Major introvert in both modes, but I'm trying to open up more when I go out dressed. I have to force myself to talk with other people sometimes. It's funny because I volunteer as a PA announcer, where I talk all the time. But it's just a disembodied voice and not directly to someone.

[Confucius]

"Give me a child till 7 and I will show you the man." This is an old saying and it is true for me.
In my youth I was extremely introvert, painfully shy. I suffered from an inferiority complex. I also had childhood gender dysphoria. By the time I was around 17, or 18, I decided that I did not want to be that way anymore. I was determined to overcome my demons. I took steps to fight my low esteem, introversion, and gender dysphoria. Now, 50 years later, very few people would imagine my background. However I still believe that I have a natural propensity as an introvert, low self-esteem and feminizing.

[Marianne S]

I'm definitely an introvert: an INTP, in Myers-Briggs terms.

This raises a couple of questions. I'm mostly closeted, and though I have been out dressed in public a few times--including a couple of times with my wife, and sometimes just driving--I don't have the same insistent need to dress in public that many of our members have. Of course, this partly depends on whether we're "trans" or not (which I'm not), but I also wonder whether being an extrovert in itself intensifies the need to dress in public. While an introvert like myself may be more or less content with the experience of dressing in private, to an extrovert with a strong need to interact with people, the social aspect of crossdressing may form a more important part of the experience.

Apart from that, we might ask how far the experience of being en femme actually influences introverts to become more extroverted, as some members here have suggested. Personality differences between male and female personae are not all in the imagination, as has been known for a long time. The following passage is from a 1980 book (forty years ago), Sexual Variations: Fetishism, Transvestism and Sado-masochism, by Chris Gosselin and Glenn Wilson of London University's Institute of Psychiatry:


Another means of coping with [the crossdresser's] situation is to assume a form of dual personality, one male, one female, with a different name attached to each. The two personalities are actually measurably different: research has shown (Gosselin and Eysenck, 1980) that if 'true' transvestites fill in Eysenck Personality Questionnaires while in their male role and then repeat the process whilst cross-dressed and functioning as a female, then they become more extravert and significantly less neurotic as they change from male to female. This ties in with the statement made by this type of transvestite that they feel more relaxed when cross-dressed, or that indeed they feel 'a different person' under these circumstances.

For those who "more relaxed" when crossdressed, I can easily theorize that crossdressing reduces social anxieties, among others, "permitting" them to enjoy being more extroverted. Of course, those who are more "trans" inclined are doubtless more comfortable interacting with others while dressed in clothes they feel appropriate to their gender identity. Yet there's also the fact that women as a sex tend to be somewhat more "social beings" than men. As a pattern, while men have evolved and adapted more to survival in a physical universe, women are more adapted to survival in a social universe. So if dressing en femme permits or encourages someone to express more of their "feminine side," that could well mean becoming "more social" and therefore "more extroverted." It's interesting to speculate on anyway.

[Katherine L.]

Total introvert.

[JocelynJames]

I?m pretty much both. I am social without issue but if there?s no one to engage with, that works too.

[Taylor186]

Introvert. In my early 30s I tested as an INTP (slight P bias) and now, at twice that age, I test as a INTJ (slight J bias). Strong Introversion both then and now.

We've learned a lot about introversion in the last 40 years. Susan Cain, the modern day "patron saint," of introverts has a great TED talk, a book: 'Quiet', a website and podcast that you may want to check out if you have not already.

Being an I or E is not about being shy or social, it's basically about where you get energy, or "recharge" your brain batteries.

- "Introverts (or those with introverted tendencies) recharge by spending time alone. They lose energy from being around and interacting with people, particularly large crowds."

- "Extroverts gain energy from other people and they recharge by being social. Extroverts lose energy when they spend too much time alone."


Of course, there are Ambiverts (those in the middle) too. Search "Susan Cain" and "Introvert vs Extrovert" to learn as much as you heart desires.

[JennyMay]

I am an extreme Introvert INFJ. But remember you are not defined by your Myers Briggs profile, the IE scored simple defines where you gain or loose energy. An introvert need alone time to gather energy to be with other people. An extrovert needs people time to gather energy to be alone.

[Crissy 107]

Interesting posts on introverts and extroverts and how they gain or lose energy. I love going to the gym everyday and seeing and talking with people, without that I have been low energy most days.

[Maid_Marion]

I gain energy as female and lose energy presenting as male.

It's like I can dance as a female. As a male we are stepping on each other toes!

[Crissy 107]

Marion, I guess there is a happiness element on us gaining or losing energy. Everything is more complex then we think at the beginning.

[alwayshave]

I'm an introvert, always have been.

[GeorgeA]

Naturally introvert, but as I get older life forces me to be somewhat extroverted.

[Sliplvr]

Introvert. Absolute. Never really liked people. Someone mentioned "desert hermit". I'm there. Mini home 30min from town. Down a rocky dirt road.

[susanmichelle]

A little bit of both for me. Sorta middle of the bird.

[Jenny_S]

It depends on the situation and environment. Just as I prefer to be gender fluid I prefer to be -vert agile.

[ShirleyN]

I'd probably be a little bit of both too if I'm completely honest.

[krissy]

in male mode im an introvert . but when im dressed im all out