McDonald 1

Sean McDonald
Professor Cassandra Blandford
English 1103
7 October 2015
Writing to Understand Others Proposal (Rough Draft)
While popular writing in culture portrays introverts (also known as introversion) as antisocial/shy this is usually not the case. Introverts are defined by The Myers & Briggs Foundation
as follows, introverts tend to be most productive when in an environment that fosters selfreflection and a sense of inner peace; occasionally an introvert will work with a small, well
known group, but in general they achieve success more when flying solo. An introvert strives to
develop an idea in theory before acting out a plan. To me what I know about introverts is how
they prefer more quiet work environments, and do the assignment on their own rather than
collaboration.
The topic of introversion interested me after my Computer Science class took The Myers
& Briggs Foundations test. I found out that I was an ENTP, or known as extraversion, intuition,
thinking, and perceiving. Since I thought I was an introvert for the longest time and when The
Myers & Briggs test told me otherwise I wanted to get a better understanding of introversion
besides the stereotypical social differences the most people know. Introversion was not my first
choice however when I first read this assignment. I thought about possibly studying a specific
religion or Greek life. What made me chose to understand introversion is how I was personally
connected with the topic because I thought I was an introvert.
Introverts can be perceived as anti-social because in a group of primarily extroverts
involved in a discussion, an introvert may know the knowledge involved but rather collect all of

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their thoughts first before speaking on the matter. While extroverts are quick thinking and are
able to contribute the discussion going fluidly causing the introvert to appear zoned out or scared
to speak out which is not the case. Some questions I have to ask is what makes for a better
environment for an introvert? Why are introverts more hesitant to contribute to a discussion with
more extroverts than introverts? Is this because of lack of knowledge on the topic? Or is it
because by the time thoughts are collected the topic has already moved on? Those questions
answers will help build content that I can relate to through a literary archetype.
When I was looking for the answers about introverts, I used a Myers-Briggs Test. In one
of my classes, we were assigned to do a Myers-Briggs Test in order to identify what type of
personality traits we have and the best jobs which are suitable with it. Using this test, I talked to
people whom I know in order to see what makes them an introvert and if they identify
themselves as one also. The test identifies people as introvert based on the way which they take
in information, make decisions, and plan for future events. Next week, my classmates and I will
receive the results for this test and I can see if they recognize themselves as an introvert or they
just discovered that they are one through this test.
Once we received the results to our test, I tried to meet people who identified themselves
as an introvert and got the result as an introvert and those who identified themselves as an
extrovert but got introvert instead. Most of these people got similar personality type codes such
as INFP, INTP, or ISTJ. The reason why most of these people got identified as an introvert was
due to having a major PCI (Preference Clarity Index) although the rest of the traits may be
commonly associated with extroverts. Looking at the results, most people were not surprised
with the result they have received by reading the different pros and cons that were listed for their
personality type. They were able to relate to these themselves and realized that what was labeled

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for them was true. If the sample size is too small though of those who got introvert and there is
not enough information coming from them, I can ask other people I know in my major that I
know are introverts and identify as them.
Overall I think the topic of proving social stereotypes wrong about introverts will be very
interesting to see the content produced from my research. I learned that so far even though some
people are classified as introverts, they tend to act more like extroverts when around people they
are comfortable with. This itself starts to scratch the surface showing that introverts are not antisocial but rather dont like to talk in specific environments because of other reasons like shyness.