Interestingly,I've found that people who score high on Introversion (or Reserved onthe SLOAN test) are more likely to have a weak sense of identity, a lower enjoyment of life, and are more likely to hate themselves.They are also more likely to be bitter, defensive, and self deceive. This alone would account for both the more negative introvert self descriptions and the vitriol I occasionally get about that. That's not to say a small percentage of introverts might not be perfectly happy and/or well-adjusted, but that's simply not the case with most people that self rate as reserved, unassertive, private and othertraits associated with Introversion by the Big 5 and Myers Briggs personality systems.
Asan introvert myself historically, I have to admit to my own history of self uncertainty and self hatred. Of course the MBTI offered self hating introverts a more positive sense of identity, your money is as good as any other client and they want it (also the MBTI developers were probably Feelers/Irrational who value what feels right over what makes sense so they are unlikely to criticize even a serial killer if doing so would make them feel sad). So they tell introverts - you arejust different, you recharge alone, you are just pickier about who tobe friends with, it's perfectly normal to have anxiety in a crowded area. The reality is that anxiety is not healthy, its symptomatic of a psychological and/or organic health issue.
Based on the actual evidence, I have to conclude that many aspects traditionally associated with introversion are in fact serious psychological dysfunctions. For example, being private can mean being afraid to show others who you really are (often because you don'teven know who you are). How anyone could spin that as a positive is testimony to the marketing greed of personality test companies or good intentioned people pleasing of the Accommodating disposition.
