The Psychology of Money - An Investment Manager\'s Guide to Beating the Market

24 THE INVESTOR

EXTRAVERT (BREADTH)/INTROVERT (DEPTH):

THE ENERGY SOURCE

The first polarity deals with a person’s energy source. Introverts

tend to recharge their batteries alone or in the company of only

one other person. Research shows that introverts tend to have more

internal activity (thinking) going on, so external input (conversa-

tions, images) can overload them fairly quickly. Young children

exhibit differences in behavior in this regard. Introverts will pick

up a toy and play with it exclusively for a long time, sometimes to

the point of becoming overwhelmed (i.e., bursts of tears, tantrums).

Extraverted children, in contrast, will switch from one toy to an-

other, seemingly gaining energy as they do so. Extraverts are enliv-

ened by people, places, and things. They like being where the ac-

tion is. Their chief fear is missing something if they are isolated.

Conversely, introverts fear losing themselves if they are out in the

world too much.

Some words associated with each type are:

Extravert (E) Introvert (I)

Breadth Depth

Interaction Concentration

Do-think-do Think-do-think

Outside thrust Inside pull

An example of an extravert in the world of politics is John F. Ken-

nedy: energetic and outgoing, a gifted communicator with large

audiences. In contrast, his opponent, Richard Nixon, was more

introverted: thoughtful, slower to respond, and less comfortable

with crowds.

In the world of entertainment, Robin Williams is a screaming

extravert, whose thought processes are on display for all to see. (A

friend’s advice to Williams was, “It’s okay to have an unexpressed

thought!”) Another very funny man, but with an introverted style,

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