Do extroverts have social privilege?

Here's the source: Yes this is really a thing

Personally I can't fucking believe this article, but I have to admit it's interesting.
Tell me, what do you think?
Do extroverts have social privilege over introverts?

I agree that introverts people have more "hard time" than extroverts ones (I'm taking myself as an example here (I'm kinda introvert)), but I do not agree that extroversts have "social privileges"

Frankly, I think it is mainly about one thing: that no man is an island
The most important trait of society is that people coexist with others. In this context, we have, if we follow this diversifying categorization, the people that show interests for what is "outside of them" (extroverts) and those who instead are interested to what is "inside of them". Because of this, the both of them confront something different to the other: extroverts are influenced by everything that "is not them", in which we find other people too; introverts, instead, focus on "what they are", bringing up questions that have meaning only for them
Now, in this case, we have a person who is interested into something that is "objective" (not quite the correct term, but I'm gonna use it to make myself clearer) and another that is interested into something "subjective". Now, about the subjective/objective duality, here it should be meant not only on a meaningful level (my judgement on a certain object), but also on a cognitive level (the possibility to access to the confront with a certain object)(not sure if they can be translated in this way, but I hope I made clear what I mean to say)
Extroverts and introverts meet "objects of interest" that because of their personality are confronted in a different way: the introverts search for the answer to a question by relying on their own perception; the extroverts take into consideration not only their own perceptions, but also the other people's ones. This answer leads us to other consequences that extroverts can be emphatics, since they need to understand the other people's perceptions/opinions so that they can express theirs, while introverts could be not (I use the can/could because I think it is mainly, but not totally)
If we bring the empathy factor in the previous assumption that society's most important trait is coexistence, we find the reason about why I think introverts have more "hard times" than extroverts but being an extrovert should not be a "social privilege": being in a society means that you must be able to confront with others so that you may coexist with them, thus having empathy is a must for you to live with others. While this is easier for extroverts than for introverts (thus the "hard times" the latter has), it is not a social privilege, since being able to express yourself and being able to emphasize with others is something that is required for all those who live in a society (in cases of serious illenesses, that's another story (or so I think, if I'm wrong please correct me))

I still feel I missed something and I fear this argument is invalid though (or parts of it)

as an introvert, i think this James St. James should stop conflating mental illness with introversion. it's insulting.

This is dumb because apparently, they're comparing introverts to people with anxiety. Being too afraid to ask for extra something or the location of something is anxiety. Introverts just like to chill out alone more often or talk to people a bit less.

Quote from Salt

This is dumb because apparently, they're comparing introverts to people with anxiety. Being too afraid to ask for extra something or the location of something is anxiety. Introverts just like to chill out alone more often or talk to people a bit less.

Agreed. Introverts just find it tiring and draining dealing with people. That's all you really need to be an introvert.

I agree with everything that has been stated here. I wanted to throw an open question pertaining to this topic to you guys. I find it interesting that many people who lack social skills and don't want to put in the effort to be a decent human being blame it on "being an introvert". Not that this is the majority by any means. What do you guys think?

As a not people person myself, that's an extremely bullshit excuse. An ass is just an ass and is not in any way defined by being intro or extroverted. Even if you don't want to be around people you don't really want to upset them either, because that would spiral into more social interactions of a significantly less degree of pleasantness. If you're not particularly fond of engaging with people, you'd want those interactions to be simple and clean and botching them would get them backed into a corner. I wouldn't even call ignoring people an introvert move, because again, that still creates a situation we're not comfortable with. We're just quiet and keep to ourselves, people who put no effort into being a moderate person have some different defining things going on.

And adding on to what everyone else has been saying, although I didn't read the article, I don't see any real edges to one over the other. If you're an extrovert sure you might have more friends and maybe some jobs come easier to you, but as an introvert we don't need as many friends and once we get those jobs we define ourselves through our actions, regardless of our external volume.

I think we're all running the risk of generalising introvert using various different ideas about it rather than understanding the nuances of the label.

Some introverts are going to be of the anxious and shy variety, and some are going to be perfectly capable with interpersonal skills. Then there'll be loads of introverts that don't fit either extreme I've given.

1. Not having to “forsake your basic needs” like food and going to the bathroom because your roommate has company over and “when [your] daily person quota has been filled, hunger is the lesser of two evils.”

This is an example of anxious people that can't prioritise their own needs and fears versus anyone else, not introvert/extrovert

2. Not having to leave a store empty-handed because you can’t find what you need after looking for several hours and are too afraid to ask an employee.

Social anxiety, not introvert/extrovert

3. Not “risking bodily harm” because you walk so fast in order to get away from the crowd and close your eyes every time you turn a corner and so are “pretty much guaranteed to smack into somebody.”

Social anxiety, not introvert/extrovert

4. Being able to find a job more easily, and if you think it’s just because you’re a “great worker, and all that,” St. James clarifies that that’s just because “extroverts don’t seem to understand the amount of privilege actually helping them,” like being able to socialize.

Perhaps with a grain of truth to it, but more interpersonal skills / not having them than introvert/extrovert

5. Being able to make friends more easily because you talk to people.

Same as for 4

6. Not having to be as tired as introverts are all the time because having to be around other people (something that St. James refers to as “daily socialization demands” and “human chores”) leaves you “ready to collapse.”

Lol wut?

Now if Introvert only meant someone who can't function in a society with lots of people in it, then yes, of course people who function with other people have social privilege. That should be quite obvious.

If we're going by the literal definition of 'privilege' in this context then yes, extroverts have social privilege over introverts. This banks on the acceptance of a few things:

1) Privilege in this context refers to a social construct that has to do with identifying advantages certain groups of people have relative to other groups. Cited in Wikipedia - Note: article may not be neutral due to the debate surrounding privilege having so many people involved.

2) Extraversion-introversion describes an aspect of psychology that has to do with human personality traits which has been generally accepted as the best theory. Cited in Wikipedia

3) Being an extrovert has some advantages over being an introvert.

If you disagree with the above then we'd need to have a different discussion, but if you accept those then hopefully we can agree that from a literal perspective as we currently understand it and only focusing on the statement made that the author is correct. Being an extrovert does indeed grant you a form of privilege over introverts. The problem I have is that in this case the author has weaponized the term 'privilege' which counts on the reader assume that it's inherently a negative thing as if somehow a person's worth is somehow measured by their perceived 'privilege'. That's a completely separate debate to me but it seems like that's the actual issue people are arguing here. Privilege on it's own isn't a bad thing, everyone has some kind of privilege. It's a word used to describe advantages certain groups have over others, and that's something that definitely exists. People who throw it out there along side something else like "white privilege" or "male privilege" somehow believe that's all they need to prove their point but just because being white or a male grants you certain advantages doesn't mean it's suddenly bad to be white or a male. Literally every individual can have loads of privilege, I don't understand why recently "privilege" has been used to generalize and criticize entire groups of people. Seems like the kind of prejudice reasonable people would want to avoid if you're claiming to be all about equality.

Quote from Nish

I agree with everything that has been stated here. I wanted to throw an open question pertaining to this topic to you guys. I find it interesting that many people who lack social skills and don't want to put in the effort to be a decent human being blame it on "being an introvert". Not that this is the majority by any means. What do you guys think?

What do you define as a decent human being? And how does a desire to socialize dictate this?

Quote from Sea Beast

What do you define as a decent human being?

I agree, my answer to the question would depend on what you would define as a decent human being.

Quote from Sea Beast

What do you define as a decent human being? And how does a desire to socialize dictate this?

I don't know if I can describe this outside an adult situation. I've been at work and some people don't have the manners to say "Thank You" when you do them a favour. They wouldn't hand a man choking in a restaurant a glass of water. They won't shake your hand when you are introduced and won't smile back when you say "how do you do?"

Now, is the presence of all these traits indicative of a decent human being? No. But the absence of it is certainly indicative of being a dick. Sadly, many many people use the "I'm an introvert" excuse to be a dick about basic social interaction.

Quote from Jeff

If we're going by the literal definition of 'privilege' in this context then yes, extroverts have social privilege over introverts. This banks on the acceptance of a few things:

1) Privilege in this context refers to a social construct that has to do with identifying advantages certain groups of people have relative to other groups. Cited in Wikipedia - Note: article may not be neutral due to the debate surrounding privilege having so many people involved.

2) Extraversion-introversion describes an aspect of psychology that has to do with human personality traits which has been generally accepted as the best theory. Cited in Wikipedia

3) Being an extrovert has some advantages over being an introvert.

If you disagree with the above then we'd need to have a different discussion, but if you accept those then hopefully we can agree that from a literal perspective as we currently understand it and only focusing on the statement made that the author is correct. Being an extrovert does indeed grant you a form of privilege over introverts. The problem I have is that in this case the author has weaponized the term 'privilege' which counts on the reader assume that it's inherently a negative thing as if somehow a person's worth is somehow measured by their perceived 'privilege'. That's a completely separate debate to me but it seems like that's the actual issue people are arguing here. Privilege on it's own isn't a bad thing, everyone has some kind of privilege. It's a word used to describe advantages certain groups have over others, and that's something that definitely exists. People who throw it out there along side something else like "white privilege" or "male privilege" somehow believe that's all they need to prove their point but just because being white or a male grants you certain advantages doesn't mean it's suddenly bad to be white or a male. Literally every individual can have loads of privilege, I don't understand why recently "privilege" has been used to generalize and criticize entire groups of people. Seems like the kind of prejudice reasonable people would want to avoid if you're claiming to be all about equality.

Permission to post this on tumblr? A lot of people need to read this.

Quote from Jeff

If we're going by the literal definition of 'privilege' in this context then yes, extroverts have social privilege over introverts. This banks on the acceptance of a few things:

1) Privilege in this context refers to a social construct that has to do with identifying advantages certain groups of people have relative to other groups. Cited in Wikipedia - Note: article may not be neutral due to the debate surrounding privilege having so many people involved.

2) Extraversion-introversion describes an aspect of psychology that has to do with human personality traits which has been generally accepted as the best theory. Cited in Wikipedia

3) Being an extrovert has some advantages over being an introvert.

If you disagree with the above then we'd need to have a different discussion, but if you accept those then hopefully we can agree that from a literal perspective as we currently understand it and only focusing on the statement made that the author is correct...

I'd say even if the author's conclusion is correct, their arguments were not.

And I reject premise 3) as not considering that introverts will also have advantages over extroverts, rendering a blanket privilege for one side false.