Introversion does not equal psychosis or a propensity to violence.
This really shouldn’t need to be said, of course. Except that it does.
Recently,The Daily Mail reported a tragically familiar story. A 23 year old named Joseph McAndrew stabbed his parents and twin brother to death in the kitchen of their family home. Here were the very first words of the article: “A… 'loner and introvert' allegedly stabbed to death his twin brother, mother and father…”
I’m sure this formulation is as familiar to you as the story itself. The media often brings us tales of “shy,””quiet,””introverted” killers.
I’m not disputing that Joseph McAndrew was a quiet guy who kept to himself. The article reports that he spent most of his time alone in his room.
But McAndrew was not just introverted. He was deranged. He’d been struggling with mental illness, possibly schizophrenia, for many years. And herein lies the problem. People who suffer from psychoses often withdraw from the world. Technically, they are “introverted” in the sense of having turned inward.
But they are not introverts in the sense that most people use that word, to connote a person who has a rich inner life and prefers low-stimulation environments (the company of a close friend to a big group, a quiet game of tennis compared to bungee jumping.)
In fact, studies show that introverted young people are less prone to violence and delinquency than extroverts are. They also smoke less and use fewer drugs.
Here's another way to look at the problem. People who suffer from mania tend to be sociable, talkative, and energetic. So do narcissists. It is also true that a narcissist is more likely to be an extrovert than an introvert. But that doesn’t mean that extroversion = mania or narcissism.
Please, can we finally put this cultural myth to rest?
Do you have the same reaction I do to these kinds of media stories? What can we do about this problem, which is somewhere between a bias and a semantic issue? Please share your thoughts.
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