The psychologist and author on personality types, and the way that introverts and extroverts differ in how they communicate.
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Brian Little's book Me, Myself and Us looks at a range of personality traits and how they combine and clash in surprising ways. (Twitter)
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The Next Chapter4:58Brian Little on "Me, Myself and Us"
Brian Little is a psychologist and a leader in communicating how recent research on neuroscience and personality can help us understand ourselves and the people around us. In his book Me, Myself and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being, Little examines basic human traits and how they combine and clash in all kinds of ways.
Shelagh Rogers spoke with Brian Little in front of an audience at the University of Victoria. In this excerpt from that conversation, Little talks about his own introversion and what happens when introverts and extroverts get together.
Shelagh Rogers and Brian Little in discussion on stage during the University of Victoria's Alumni Week 2016. (University of Victoria) For many years, I used to lecture on how introverts have a few characteristics that are good and shouldn't be hidden or shunned, or bemoaned if they appear in our kids. On the contrary, there are quiet strengths in introverts that we need to attend to, develop and cultivate. The strange thing now is that there's been almost a reversal — the extroverts are getting ticked off! They're saying "What about us? We're the ones who keep things going!" But they also have a few problems associated with them, particularly in the way they communicate. When you get the two together, it can be very daunting. Extroverts like black-and-white, concrete, specific language. Introverts, on the other hand, use parenthetically complex sentences. We can talk past each other. If we can laugh about it, that's terrific. The differences in personality are salutatory for the human condition. But if we take offense, or we're daunted or annoyed by the style, then the milk of human kindness can go sour.
Brian Little's comments have been edited and condensed.
