For many, the pandemic lockdowns represented a dark cloud with no silver lining. But there was one group that was commonly believed to benefit from th

Why introverts didn't actually 'win' lockdown - BBC Worklife

submited by

Style Pass

2021-07-10 14:30:08

For many, the pandemic lockdowns represented a dark cloud with no silver lining. But there was one group that was commonly believed to benefit from the enforced isolation: introverts.

Writer Jon Ronson was among the first to raise this possibility. “For introverts, self-isolating is no big deal, so I actually think we’re going to be fine,” he told BBC Newsnight on 20 March 2020. “The people I’m worried about are extraverts and the people who aren’t used to this kind of situation.”

Ronson’s views were shared by many others across the world. A journalist at the news site Bloomberg declared that introverts would find the experience of lockdown “liberating”. Reuters ran with the headline “No parties, no problem: Introverts don't mind sheltering at home”. One columnist for the Daily Telegraph in Australia even chastised the “introvert pride” movement for “taunting” extraverts with their unalloyed enjoyment during the crisis. “Get some perspective. Please,” he wrote.

The reality, however, turns out to be far different. Psychologists have now tested the influence of personality on people’s mental health during the pandemic – and their results suggest that introverts found it much harder to cope with the isolation than many had expected. Besides highlighting some common misconceptions about different personality types and their need to socialise, the insights from these studies can help us all to navigate life post-lockdown, as we start to mingle once again.