[vocalist]

My understanding of I and E now, is that I's recharge by being physically alone, and E's feel energized by being around other people. Is this right?

Or, is it the act of socializing that recharges an E's "batteries," and lack of socialization that gives the I time to regroup and recharge?

As an E, is it more important for me to be physically surrounded by people, even if I'm not directly interacting with them-- or will I feel more energized simply sitting at home and chatting with a friend over the phone or internet?

Which would wear an I out more? Being a "wallflower" at a party, or heavy interaction in an online chat room or a phone conversation?

I hope my inquiry is making sense...

 

[vocalist]

Aren't being energized and recharging your batteries the same thing?

Umm, yes. I just was trying to use the different terms interchangeably to avoid being too repetitive with my word choice... Sorry for the confusion...

 

[vocalist]

I actually prefer to be alone more often because most of the things I like to do are solitary activities that don't involve people.
Whether or not I'd prefer to be in a big group of people really depends on the exact situation.

See, this is me, too. But at the same time I start to feel really low energy when I'm stuck at home for too long. And with two small children-- one not yet a year old-- this happens a lot. And so I'm trying to figure out what would be the best and easiest way for me to keep my energy level up enough to still be productive. If it's enough to simply be around people for a certain chunk of time, I could easily fill that need by spending time at the mall window shopping and greeting people...

 

[vocalist]

It's pretty much like this, E's like to socialize in large groups; the more people the better. E's tend to have a lot of friends scattered everywhere. I's tend to stick to small groups and tend to just have a few close friends. If you take most extroverts to a party they will want to socialize with a number of people or just be social in general. I's at a party will either sit in the corner away from everyone and/or just talk to a few people. E's tend to feel better in general doing activities which involve other people, and I"s tend to do activities that are by themselves or with just a small group of people. E's tend to talk more, and I"s tend to listen more. Does this help you?

Yeah...great, now maybe I really am an I...Thanks for confusing me! lol

 

[vocalist]

S, I could be a dominant Si, who feels energized by being out in the world, but not necessarily being social. Which would possibly make me an ISFJ instead of ESFJ...which would actually make a lot of sense, considering how I was as a youth...

Or, I could really be an E, but a low E who also feels comfortable being alone...*shrug*