A highly sensitive introvert may come across as very observant, caring, emotional, and able to read others well — even though people exhaust them! Nevertheless, you can be an introvert and not be highly sensitive.
INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging)
INFJs, or The Advocates, are actually the rarest personality type, representing only 1-3 percent of the population. Despite there being so few of them in the world, tons of INFJs identify as highly sensitive, and they have made a huge impact in the world.
It is generally stated that about 70 percent of all highly sensitive people are introverts, but that as much as 30 percent are extroverts. So introversion and high sensitivity are not necessarily always linked. The sensitivity to stimuli is slightly different for introverts than for HSPs.
Shy vs Highly Sensitive People / HSP
Psychologist Elaine Aron, PhD says “Because HSPs (highly sensitive persons) prefer to look before entering new situations, they are often called 'shy. ' “But shyness is learned, not innate. In fact, 30% of HSPs are extraverts, although the trait is often mislabeled as introversion.”
Sensitive people have a higher likelihood of having low self-esteem. As a highly sensitive person, you may have learned to hide the depth of your emotions or your propensity to become overwhelmed. You may be trying to be “normal” or fit in with “risk-takers,” a temperament trait highly prized in our society.
Some kinds of Introversion are common, some are rare
Men preferring Introversion make up 54% of the (male) population, but that's only part of the story. ISTJ preferences are the most common Introverted type for men, making up 16.4%, while INFJ preferences are only 1.3%, making them the least common.
People with high levels of thinking introversion don't share the aversion to social events people usually associate with introversion. Instead, this style of introversion just means a person who tends to be introspective, thoughtful, and self-reflective.
Introverts tend to be more prone to overthinking than extroverts, but it's possible for anyone to fall into this trap. Being an introvert means you have a tendency towards self-reflection that can take its toll if you're not careful.
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) need daily downtime that is alone, unstructured, and unplugged.
Their attunement to the feelings of others and attention to the inner workings of the mind can make them highly empathic and compassionate. This heightened sensitivity to feelings is one reason introverts do better in one-on-one interactions.
If you're an introvert, you likely possess emotional intelligence skills that your more gregarious counterparts secretly admire, and rightly so. Introverts are often misread as people who wish they could change. But that's not so!
INFJ is the rarest personality type across the population, occurring in just 2% of the population. It is also the rarest personality type among men. INFJ stands for Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging. This unique combination is hard to find in most people.
One of the biggest struggles for introverts is small talk. Since they are not like an extrovert who thrives on talking and meeting new people, they find it difficult to engage in quick exchanges about the weather or how someone's day is going.
While most survey respondents, regardless of personality traits, say they prefer to cry when they're alone, Introverts are more likely than Extraverts to say so. Introverts are more comfortable crying alone or with a small group of friends, while Extraverts may be more at home with public crying.
Introverts are generally more attuned to expressing love in nonverbal ways and don't tolerate sentimentality. They also need more time to express their affection, so patience is very important at the beginning of the relationship.
Is it healthy to be an extreme introvert? Absolutely! It's okay to enjoy solitude and prefer more intimate communication with others. But it's important that you understand the differences between introversion and having an underlying mental health issue such as social anxiety.
Introversion isn't totally genetic. It gets influenced by your environment at a young age, and our genes allow a certain amount of flexibility in response. This happens through “set points,” which are the upper and lower limits of how much extroversion your brain can handle.
Those who are extroverted, sensing, feeling, and judging are often identified as one of the kindest types by experts. "ESFJs have extroverted feeling as a dominant cognitive function," Gonzalez-Berrios says. "This makes them rule by their hearts. They are kind, polite, friendly, and sensitive."
INTJs are typically very quiet and reserved unless they happen to meet someone who, like them, loves exploring theoretical concepts, analyzing possibilities, and dreaming up long-term goals. That said, they're not typically very verbal when it comes to discussing their feelings or people's personal lives.
So which zodiac signs are most introverted? Capricorns and Pisces are the most introverted. They prefer to stay on the sidelines instead of being in the middle of the action. They are also quite private people and would rather keep their feelings to themselves than share them with others.
Sights, sounds, smells, and other forms of sensory input may cause a heightened experience for HSPs. A sound that is barely perceptible to most people may be very noticeable, and possibly even painful, to an HSP. There's more to being a highly sensitive person than just being sensitive to stimuli.
Being highly sensitive is an invaluable trait that comes with many advantages. HSPs are known to be highly observant, intuitive, thoughtful, compassionate, empathetic, conscientious, loyal, and creative. In fact, managers consistently rate people with higher sensitivity as their top contributors.
Most highly sensitive people display rare strengths in key areas of emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ) — the ability to recognize and understand emotions in themselves and others. These strengths including self-awareness and social-awareness.