On New Year’s Eve, a friend of mine sent me one of his rare emails, in which he told me essentially that I wasn’t an introvert at all. Translating and paraphrasing a little, he stated:
No introvert starts a new life in a foreign country, and approaches strange cultures with complete openness.
Then he proceeded to introduce a new concept, that of an “otrovert”. I did some research, and according to wikipedia:
An otrovert is someone who feels like an eternal outsider in groups, even when they are friendly and socially capable.
The Otherness Institute (founded by the researcher who coined the term) lists traits of otroverts as
- non-belonging
- difficulties with group or communal norms
- free thinking
- intense need for privacy
Hmm. Some of the traits listed (intense need for independence, internally rebellious but confrontation-averse, abhors noisy/crowded places, does not like attention) definitely fit. And interestingly, I never had a problem with public speaking or leading a group (teaching at uni or now guiding the tours), as the website suggests.
I also have no problem talking to a single person. In fact, at my concerts, I’m trying to say hi to one new person every time and take it from there. At the same time, I feel intensely awkward when I have to approach a whole group. The self-introductory “hi, I’m the new one” is the start to my worst nightmares.
So, could there be something to this? Maybe – that’s what an otrovert would say. 😉 I took the test on the website above, and I score 230/280 on the otrovert scale.
You can read more about being an otrovert on the website above. There is also the book “The Gift of Not Belonging” by Rami Kaminski who coined the term otrovert. I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t say anything about it. While most of the ratings are positive, some people say that the book lacks scientific rigour and is based on (the author’s) personal anecdotes. One person even says that this is not a new concept, just the Myers-Briggs INTJ in a new guise.
To me, it sounds definitely interesting and I will investigate further.
Your score is 217/280. You are an Otrovert. I am not sure I agree. 🤣
I wonder… how much overlap is there between neurodivergent and otrovert? I can see certain types of neurodivergents getting an otrovert result.
That’s a good point, I haven’t thought about this at all. Then again, there is probably some overlap with intro/extroverts as well. 😉
Of course, these sorts of tests need to be taken with a very large grain of salt, especially if the website or organization administering them has something to sell you at the end…