Why Extroverts Aren't As Popular As They Think They Are, According To Research
Science suggests that extroverts do not see the world as accurately as introverts do.
Dancing man, beavera | Canva Most people assume that extroverts are more popular because of their outgoing personalities and raw passion for well-planned social events.
But the problem is this: they only socialize with certain people, which affects their views on life. Yes. A study has found that introverts are more realistic than extroverts when it comes to their outlook on the world.
Social media has a major impact on how we interpret people. Sadly, this doesn't work. Mostly because people's profiles tend to only portray them positively — leaving us with a false perception of their (general) reality.
But given that extroverts are particular about who they befriend, the outcome is a skewed depiction of reality — limited to that which is on their news feeds.
A 2015 study published in Psychological Science had 284 MBA students complete a personality behavior questionnaire; the results showed that extroverts have their heads in the clouds due to a "friendship paradox."
Meaning they believe they have more friends than they actually do. Social networks serve as a great example of this. You may have thousands of Facebook friends, but how many of them do you actually hang out with? Have physical ties and bonds to? Not too many, right?
How does this affect introverts? The researchers concluded that some introverts — who make up about 25 percent of the population — have a better understanding of how the world works around themselves and others than extroverts do.
Extroverts view the world as one big party, that everyone is just as social as they are. Introverts know that to not be true because they themselves are not social butterflies, so this leaves extroverts to assume introverts are just as extroverted as they are.
RELATED: 5 Simple Ways To Train Your Brain To Be More Social & Feel Less Lonely
Researchers did also note that the "friendship paradox" affects people at varying levels, and it's not a reflection of the sample of students they used for the study.
Another interesting finding is that extroverts' false bias leads to their social networks being overpopulated with extroverts and underpopulated with introverts. This bias wasn't as prevalent amongst introverts.
Not cool, extroverts! Don't cut introverts out. They not only make great friends, but they're awesome lovers.
There is a lesson that can be learned from this. We have to adopt a more realistic mental picture of the world, in which people are going to have some amount of low-level fun at all times, no matter what they're doing. Whether it's binging on Netflix, or scrolling through Twitter. It will help our own lives not seem so insignificant.
“There's a tendency to wonder, ‘Am I normal?’” Feiler said. “And our research suggests that you're probably more normal than you think.”
Nicole Weaver is a senior writer for Showbiz Cheat Sheet whose work has been featured in New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more.