PERSONALITY TYPES
1.1
7
READING
6
a
Divide these adjectives into two
groups according to personality types.
adventurous cautious enthusiastic
quiet reserved self-confident
talkative thoughtful
6
b
Now divide these jobs into two
groups according to personality types.
Which adjectives from Exercise 6a do
you think go with which jobs? Work with
a partner and explain your choices.
salesperson engineer teacher
nventor manager writer
7
a
Read the encyclopedia entry quickly
and check your ideas in Exercise 6.
7
b
Read the text again. Are these
statements true or false according to
the text?
1
Jung thought of the terms extrovert and
introvert.
2
The terms describe a person’s way of
looking at life.
3
Extroverts prefer to be surrounded by
people rather than be on their own.
4
Introverts don’t think carefully before
they do things.
5
Scientists agree that extroverts are this
personality type when they are born.
6
Introverts tend to be happier than
extroverts.
8
Making connections
Work with a
partner and choose five jobs. Discuss
what personality types the jobs would
attract and why. Then discuss your
choices with another pair.
computer programmer musician
tax inspector athlete librarian
film director police officer researcher
artist journalist
SPEAKING
9
Work with a partner to discuss the
following.
1
In your opinion, how useful do you
think the two personality types are for
describing personality?
2
What tells you more about a person’s
personality: their clothes, their body
language, their voice, their attitude,
their tastes or something else? Which
is best in your opinion?
3
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of having a strong
personality?
Everyone has a different
personality. It is what makes
people individuals and unique.
However, there are some shared
personality qualities which let
us talk about personality ‘types’.
One of the most basic personality
differences is between extroverts
and introverts. These terms
are used in many theories of
personality types. They were made
popular by the important Swiss
psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875–1961),
although he did not invent them.
Extroversion and introversion
are ways of describing a person’s
attitude to the world: do they
move towards it or away from it?
Extroverts are people who look
outwards. They are friendly,
sociable, talkative, enthusiastic and
self-confident. They are interested
in a range of experiences and enjoy
spending time with other people.
They tend to act first, then think
later. When extroverts feel bad,
unmotivated or without energy,
they look outside themselves. This
means they might go shopping or
call their friends. Typical extrovert
jobs are in sales, teaching and
management.
Introverts, on the other hand,
look inwards. They feel more
comfortable alone and enjoy ideas
and thinking. They are reserved,
quiet, thoughtful and may be shy.
They like to think and consider
before taking action, and will often
analyse situations before speaking.
In contrast to extroverts they value
fewer, but deeper experiences.
When feeling bad or stressed,
introverts look inside themselves for
energy and motivation. Introverts
often work as, writers, engineers
and inventors.
Although the types are different,
most people have both extrovert
and introvert characteristics in their
personality, but often they aremore
one type than the other. There has
been some interesting research into
why people are basically extroverts
or introverts. Some people say
that extroverts and introverts are
born not made. Others believe that
environment ismore important in
shaping someone’s personality.
Attitudes towards introverts
and extroverts vary in different
cultures. For example, Americans
value extrovert qualities. However,
cultures such as those in central
Europe and south east Asia regard
introvert characteristics more
highly. Interestingly, research shows
that people who live on islands tend
to be more introverted. Studies
have also found that extroverts
have higher happiness levels than
introverts.
Extroverts and introverts
