Michael Melcher: HRC is a misunderstood introvert.

[pnwmom]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-melcher/hillary-c...


Introversion/extraversion refer to where people get their energy. Extraverts get their energy from other people, the external world, and experiences. Introverts get their energy from themselves or their own space. Extraverts are often chatty, social and open; introverts are often quiet, reflective and contained. Introverts open up to their close friends; extraverts open up to everyone. Bill Clinton is clearly an extravert; I think Hillary is an introvert.

Since 75% of the population is extraverted, extraverts are considered normal. By comparison, introverts are considered a little weird ("why can't you just open up?"). (As I've written in The Creative Lawyer, law is an exception: the majority of lawyers are introverts.) Introverts often have to feign extraversion to succeed in the professional world; their natural style is often not valued. Much of the criticism of Hillary Clinton's authenticity is criticism of her introversion. She's basically criticized for being private and for being careful about her words; and then she's criticized for inauthenticity when she tries to act more extraverted and social.

SNIP

Around 60% of women are feelers, and around 60% of men are thinkers. This means that both Hillary and Bill are in the minority for their particular gender. This is where the press gets wigged out. The words commonly used to describe presidential presence are all thinker-ish: strong, clear-headed, tough, questioning, blah blah blah. So the press is constantly evaluating whether she's enough of a thinker to be president. At the same time, the press seems discomfited that Hillary is not more girly: they also want her to be compassionate, open, nuanced -- apparently she is supposed to cry at eulogies.

SNIP

What's the point? Since Hillary is in the spotlight, more or less 24/7, people assume that everything she does has some core meaning that has implications for her potential presidency or her character. But sometimes Hillary is just being an introvert, and that's that.

[aquart]

1. Yup.

That's why the pair of them work. That's why Hillary would be fine with people if she were a guy. She's an ambitious, intelligent, hardworking woman. Amazing how many people consider that "polarizing."

[TrogL]

5. INTJ's are NOT "fine with people"

even if they are guys.

I'm not entirely happy with the whole idea of Myers-Briggs indicators as they tend to label people, then deal with the label, not the individual. As the article said, we have access to all functions, just prefer one or the other.

Also, people forget that the definition for Introversion/extraversion refers to where people get their energy, not their behaviour. A working politician could spend her entire day in people's faces. An extrovert (by strict definition) would need a party to regroup - an introvert would crawl into a book.

[pnwmom]

17. Being introverted affects your behavior, too. n/t

[TrogL]

2. Better link

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-melcher/hillary-clinton-misunder_b_76282.html

[pnwmom]

18. Thanks for fixing that. n/t

[Fresh_Start]

3. I'm another thinking, introvert woman

its amazing how little we've progressed or accept as a society.

[last_texas_dem]

4. I have wondered about this regarding Clinton before

I have thought that much of why Clinton comes across the way she does could have to do with her personality type, and the author's prediction that she would be an INTJ seems accurate. I believe that this is a common personality type for many academics. Clinton's personality type does not seem like an easy personality type for someone in politics to have, and I feel sympathy for her because I think there have been times when being the way she is has made it difficult for people to understand her. As an INFP male, that is something that I can relate to.

[JenniferJuniper]

6. INTP here

And it really does take a great deal of energy to pretend not to be one in my professional life. There are days when I'd prefer to be at the dentist having all of my teeth pulled out rather than spend another second chit-chatting about meaningless bullshit at a business lunch.

I'm not an expert, but I think Hillary's perception problems may be related more to her Thinking preference than to Introversion. People really seem to have problems with females who do not have a preference for Feeling. Couple it with introversion, and they seem to like it even less. Conversely, not many would want a chatty, emotional woman for president.

It's a fine line she's got to walk. I feel her pain. Well, not literally.

[rucky]

9. Yep.

INTP, as well.

Just leave me alone and let me work.

[atommom]

10. INTP here too. I can imagine that if she is truly INTJ, much of politics

(especially running for office) may be painful to her. I certainly wouldn't want to do it.

[JenniferJuniper]

11. Not sure she's an intuitive

or if she is, how strong a preference it is.

I have read that Al Gore is an INTP, and that sounds right. Could partly explain his losing interest in running for president. Been there, done that, on to other things.

[pnwmom]

21. I have a feeling that John Kerry's personality is similar,

and that's why people didn't tend to warm to him.

[pnwmom]

20. As you imply, she's in a Catch-22. People expect women to behave

differently than she does, and fault her for not being warm enough -- on the other hand, a woman who behaved like a woman is "supposed to" wouldn't be perceived as able to handle the Presidency.

[applegrove]

7. Interesting to point that out.

[rucky]

8. I can relate to this. n/t

[Beacool]

12. Why is this surprising?

She has said it herself, her friends have said it, her staff have said it. Hillary has never been an extrovert, she's a thinker and basically a private person in a very public job. It's not haughtiness or aloofness, it's just that she enjoys private time more than being surrounded with people. Bill, on the other hand, is exactly her opposite in personality. He needs people like others need oxygen, he's notorious for calling people at all hours to have a conversation. While campaigning for governor, Bill would spend an hour shaking hands and Hillary would be backstage reading a book, same at his beloved football games.

I'm more like Bill, I love people.

[BootinUp]

13. I'm like Hillary

in fact worse. lol.

[pnwmom]

19. It's not surprising to many of us -- but to people who expect everyone

to be an extravert, I guess it is. Those people seem to resent her for her natural reserve, and call it "coldness"; or her caution in speaking, and say she's calculating.

[sandnsea]

14. But this isn't why people don't like her

They don't like her because she isn't honest.

[pnwmom]

22. Some of the incidents of what some people refer to as dishonesty

are actually times when HRC is trying to make distinctions that are important to her.

Other times people say she is "inauthentic" because her personality isn't all out there on the surface.

And other times the media has deliberately taken what she has said and changed the context to make her appear dishonest when she wasn't at all.

On the other hand, all politicians change their positions at times. For example, Kucinich made a major about face from his pro-life stance a few years ago. Does that make him calculating and dishonest?

It seems to me that HRC is held to a standard higher than that expected of most male politicians.

[sandnsea]

26. She Isn't Honest

She did go to Iraq and Afghanistan and say we needed to "stay the course" and opposed timelines and withdrawal strateies, and now wants to pretend they were against the war from the beginning. She did cackle in people's faces, and then suddenly stop that laugh completely. She did pretend not to know what her staff was doing on Obama attacks when everybody knows she micro-manages everything. She did throw Kerry under the bus. She hasn't gone after Bush and in fact the Clintons helped him get away with his lies by giving him a pass on the yellowcake. She waffled around on immigrant driver's licenses because they hadn't gotten the polling done. She is not an honest person, neither one of them are, and that's why people don't like her. All she needs to do is to start standing up and telling people what she truly believes, but she can't do it because she has 'believed' whatever the polls tell her for so long she has forgotten how to form her own opinion. And you know it's true.

[pnwmom]

27. That's clearly what you think, but I disagree. You didn't address the issue of DK,

however, and his about-face on the abortion issue. His change of heart seems awfully politically convenient to me. What sort of Supreme Court justice would be appoint if he had the chance? How do we know that his current pro-choice position will be a lasting one?

[sandnsea]

28. Who Cares, he will never win n/t

[chaska]

15. HRC is a misunderstood Repubican.

[pnwmom]

16. Her voting record is consistently above 90% on progessive issues.

The typical Rethug is less than 20%.

www.progressivepunch.org

[mtnsnake]

24. You sound just like a Republican.

[Evergreen Emerald]

23. I had a friend in high school who was an introvert.

She was given harsh treatment by the boys and girls. They said she was snotty and acted as if she were too good for everyone. She was just shy and an introvert.
They misunderstood her and misjudged her.

[Chovexani]

25. I'm a terrible introvert.

INFP. And I had the same problem all through school. I still do, to some extent.

People can be really judgemental towards introverts. At work, people think I'm strange because I'm quiet and don't join in on the watercooler talk. It's just not comfortable to me. :shrug:

[pnwmom]

29. You're not terrible, you're just an introvert.

I think the ones who should be criticized are the people who make negative judgments about people they don't know.

[Chovexani]

30. Heh, I didn't even catch that

Amazing how programmed we can be and not even realize it. I always find myself reflexively apologizing for it.

I think a lot of introverts are the same way. :(

[pnwmom]

31. Have you read a book called

The Highly Sensitive Person?

It's not exactly about introverts, although there is a lot of overlap between introverts and people who are highly sensitive. And I don't mean sensitive in the sense of someone's feelings being easily hurt -- but sensitive in the sense of being extra alert and neurologically high-tuned. Anyway, it's a very interesting book. If you are this kind of person ( in addition to being an introvert), the book might help you to feel more comfortable with your way of being, and also give you some tips about getting along in the larger world.

[Chovexani]

32. People keep recommending that book to me.

I'll have to check it out.

[pnwmom]

33. I hope you do!

I got it for a relative, then realized, to my embarrassment, that most of it applied just as much to me.