Born This Way

No, I am not particularly a Lady Gaga fan, but I felt that the song title fit this post. Whether you are gay, straight, or introverted, I think there is something to be taken from the lyrics of Gaga's song: "'There's nothing wrong with loving who you are'" and "I'm beautiful in my way/'Cause God makes no mistakes/I'm on the right track, baby/I was born this way."

So, as you may have guessed, here's the question for today: Are introverts born with the "introvert" gene or does our environment teach/make us to be introverted--or both?

Looking to my past, if you were to ask my mom, she remembers me as a loud, easily stimulated baby. As stated by The Introvert Mind, it turns out that babies, like me, who react like this and are not "placid and content," typically grow up to be introverts. The easily agitated babies, much like introvert adults, "are more stimulated by the environment than their extraverted brethren, and react more strongly to it." So, according to this finding, I was most likely born this way.

But, then again, as a little munchkin, I remember quite fondly of the times spent running amok, bossing people around, and basically just being a big know-it-all. But as I've gotten older, I've lost the spunk I used to have. I don't boss people around or yell at the top of my lungs to get an important point across... So, what happened? Was I an introverted baby who turned into an extroverted toddler who turned into an introverted teen?

According to The Introvert Mind, "Studies on twins have shown that about half our chance of being introverted is inherited from our parents, whereas the other half comes from our environment growing up.  It would seem that we inherit not introversion, but a proclivity towards it, and that even a child born from an extroverted line may, in the right circumstances, discover their inner introvert as they grow up." This explanation doesn't expound on how I transitioned from introvert to extrovert to introvert. However, I won't disregard this; I am probably just not a prime example for this explanation.


In the book Quiet by Susan Cain, the factors of introversion is described: "A heritability rate of 50 percent doesn't necessarily mean that my introversion is 50 percent inherited form my parents, or that half of the difference in extroversion between my best friend and me is genetic. One hundred percent of my introversion might come from genes, or none at all--or more likely some unfathomable combination of genes and experience." I would assume that this statement is fairly accurate--as far as accuracy is concerned. Each and every introvert is a combination of the genes they acquired and the experiences they've encountered.

“So stay true to your own nature. If you like to do things in a slow and steady way, don't let others make you feel as if you have to race. If you enjoy depth, don't force yourself to seek breadth. If you prefer single-tasking to multi-tasking, stick to your guns. Being relatively unmoved by rewards gives you the incalculable power to go your own way.” Susan Cain