Author: Carly Hill

When you get to the office, you pour coffee into your mug, stir in the non-dairy creamer, and tell the receptionist about the crazy weekend you had. You can feel the icy stares coming from a few of your coworkers – the ones who got in early – who don’t believe in coffee breaks or non-work-related conversations during office hours. Is this quiet judgment a real thing or is it all in your head?

Turns out, you might not be so paranoid after all.

Extroverts make life look so easy. They have wicked social skills, so people generally like to be around them. They tend to be open and warm, so their superiors are quick trust them to get their job done. But, according to a study put out by Oregon State University, extroverts don’t always have the advantage when it comes to workplace politics.

According to a fastcompany.com article, the results of two controlled study brought about very consistent results; introverts in the workplace view their more extroverted teammates as less capable to complete their duties. 

In the first study, university MBA students were put into groups of four or five and asked to complete a task. Then, they had to complete a survey about their teammates’ personalities and how competent they thought they were. In the second study, a large group of students participated in an online game in groups of three. Then, they had to assign bonuses to their teammates.

In both studies, introverts viewed their extroverted teammates as less competent.

Chris Gayomali, the author of the article cited above, says, “…it’s important to note that no one is a ‘true’ introvert or extrovert. It’s more of a spectrum, and most people tend to fall somewhere in the middle.”

Opposites do attract – that’s not just a saying, but extreme opposites do more clashing than complimenting. While someone who is mildly more reserved might be drawn to someone mildly more outgoing, if you put an extreme-Chatty-Cathy in a room with an extreme wallflower, that extrovert might be happy as can be, but the introvert will likely be annoyed. 

People understand other people who are similar to them, so a quiet, hardworking introvert, might see their extroverted coworker chatting it up at the water cooler and assume that because the extrovert has time for small talk, he or she isn’t working as hard or as efficiently.

Are Introverts Really Working Harder?

Despite the results of a study or public perception, temperament and personality type have nothing to do with competence or efficiency. Many extroverts climb their way to the top of their field by working hard and being true to who they are. To an extrovert, being around other people is energizing, so frequent coffee breaks and chitchat is something they need to energize them which helps them work more efficiently when they are at their desk and in the zone. Introverts, on the other hand, are drained by social interaction, so if they were to walk around the office indulging in small talk the way their extroverted coworkers do, they would probably go home that day feeling they were lethargic and unproductive.

No matter where you fall in the spectrum, try not to judge your coworkers based on their personality type. Most employers don’t care so much about how their employees carry themselves – as long as they’re getting the work done.

Related Article: 10 Things You Need to Know Before Dating the Outgoing Introvert 

Life-of-the-Party type personalities may claim to have more fun, but can they claim to be healthier, too? Well, according to a recent article put out by New Scientist, they actually can.

In December of last year, a study was conducted that attempted to show links between personality traits and the body’s immune system. The study found “that highly conscientious people had lower levels of inflammation; an immune response that helps the body fight infection and recover from injury. Highly extroverted people had higher levels.” 

While this may sound like good news for extroverts – having higher inflammation and thus being able to fight off infection easier, the downside to the sustained inflammation over a lifetime could “leave you vulnerable to diabetes, atherosclerosis and cancer.

Don’t get all in a tizzy though, Introverts. Even though extroverts may very well have you beat when it comes to inflammatory responses, Daniel Davis, an immunologist at the University of Manchester, UK points out that for the introvert, “other areas of their immune system may be stronger.”

Why Do Introverts Have Lower Levels of Inflammation?

The answer to this question is unknown, but the article in New Scientist points out that it makes sense that the more conscientious or introverted people will have less inflammation because they may take better care of themselves than the more spontaneous social butterflies. People who are more reserved are less likely to get hurt and less likely to be meeting a bunch of new people who carry a bunch of germs.

Another article on this recent finding from The News Reports suggests, “Individuals who they would expect to be exposed to more infections as a result of their socially oriented nature (i.e., extraverts) appear to have immune systems that they would expect can deal effectively with infection. While individuals who may be less exposed to infections because of their cautious/conscientious dispositions have immune systems that may respond less well.”

It’s just like I’ve always told my dad, “Dad, I bite my nails for the antibodies!” To which he’d respond, “It’s like you’re licking a toilet!” I don’t often get sick though…just sayin’ (and yes, I’m an extrovert).

It’s the same reason that people who live by the five-second rule don’t get sick as often as the people who go through bottles of hand sanitizer like it’s their job.

Just think about the story of Heidi. She’s this happy, healthy, sociable little mountain girl with a friend in another town who is so sickly she can’t walk or do anything. Her friend is cooped up at home all the time. But, when she comes and spends a summer with Heidi (the extrovert), she gets well.

Although scientists are not yet sure of the why this link might be there, we at least know now, that there is a link. Think about the people in your life. Do the extroverts tend to be healthier? In my own family, the answer is yes – they do.

Although we can’t change our personalities (and we shouldn’t try – what fun would life be if everyone was the same?!), studies like this can lead us to examine the way we live our lives. Being an introvert doesn’t mean you’re a shut-in who is never exposed to germs. But if you are more of a homebody and you get sick a lot, maybe getting out in the “fresh mountain air,” so to speak, like Heidi’s little friend will do you and your immune system some good.

Are you tired of that friend’s Instagram feed where every other picture is of her trendy sneakers on the pavement with annoying hashtags like #6milesnoproblem and #burnssogood and #bestworkoutever and #fitlife? Yeah, so are we. Why, you ask? Well, the people who get annoyed by gym rat posts are usually people who kind of hate working out. You hate working out, so you hate on yourself, but that’s no fun, so you decide to hate on the #fitlife girl you follow on Insta. Here’s the good news. We can break this cycle of “hate” by giving ourselves a break. According to science, you’re not lazy, you may just be genetically inclined to hate exercise. 

Last year, The Wall Street Journal put out an article about why some of us hate exercising so much.

The article mentions two friends – one of whom says he’s always hated gyms and running. The other friend competes in 20 road races a year and says that as a kid, he’d ask if he could run extra laps during gym class. That guy.

The article states, “From couch potatoes to Olympic athletes, everyone has a physical capacity for exertion, beyond which the body becomes stressed and begins to feel bad. How much stems from genetic factors—things like lung capacity, oxygen transport and the rate at which oxygen is used in the muscle cells—is still a subject of scholarly debate. Estimates vary from 10% to 50%, says Panteleimon Ekkekakis, a professor of kinesiology at Iowa State who has been studying the psychophysiology of exercise.”

Life Hacker took a look at this research as well and put out an article explaining that your body begins to feel stress when you reach your “ventilary threshold.” So, the harder your body is working, the less oxygen you’re getting, and the crappier you feel.

So, your problem may just be what you’re doing and how much you’re doing. Working out, like anything, is something that you improve at over time. Even if there is something to the theory that you might have been hard wired with a workout aversion, your “ventilary threshold” will improve if you start small and work your way up to the half marathon (or the 5k…who are we kidding?).

Many exercise-haters have given up before they’ve given themselves a chance to enjoy it because they jumped in too fast – working out too hard, too soon.

Keeping this in mind, if you’ve been a couch potato for a while, don’t just dive in and try to be Iron Man your first day back at the gym. Start small and burn calories in ways that are enjoyable to you.

An article from Daily Mail suggests “the physical effects of exercising such as puffing and panting, sweating and pain can trigger varying responses in the brain depending on the person.”

Some people rave about the “runner’s high” because the endorphins that flood their body after exercise create a legit sense of euphoria, but other people might feel physically and mentally worse after a workout than they did when they started. Weird.

Do you think you are genetically wired to hate working out? Have you ever experienced the “runner’s high?” Share with us in the comments below and let us know what you do to keep yourself consistently exercising…even though you kind of hate it.

Google deep dives…you know…that thing where you’re watching a movie and then you wonder, where did this supporting actor grow up, and while I’m at it, what were his parents like growing up? Are his siblings on Facebook? I wonder if they’ve posted any photos from their last family gathering… That’s a Google deep dive.

Or, you see a headline about a druggie in Florida eating someone’s face off, so you decide to Google cannibalism, read about the first recorded cases and most gruesome ones. Maybe it’s YouTube footage of plane crashes kind of day.

I don’t know what it is for you, but getting over the flu is the perfect time to do some intense, senseless investigating. Here are some great ones I’ve done…

Iceland I had a friend who decided to get married in Iceland. Her Facebook photos were stunning, so I thought; I wonder what kind of people live in Iceland. After looking into the politics, demographics, geography, and economic information, I stumbled upon a full-length documentary about life in Iceland.

If you ever need to move there, I know exactly what you need to do and where to find the paperwork to make it happen.

Sinkholes, Firenados, and other Weird Natural Disasters You know what’s way better than watching a horror movie? Researching all the terrifying things that can just spontaneously happen to you. Like, your bed could get swallowed into the earth while you’re sleeping. Or, a tornado of fire could scorch you. Deep dive with this mind set and you can find out all sorts of things…like the fact that I happen to live in one of the top 5 states with the most sinkholes.

Obscure Comedy Writers You love The Mindy Project. It’s your favorite show. The characters, the story, everything. So, you wonder, just what sort of brilliant masterminds are the ones writing lines like, “You are so wise. Why are you wasting your time on medicine? You should be a life coach on ‘The Biggest Loser?’”

Mindy is a genius, but you know she’s got to have a team. It’s really not hard to stalk them. They all post a lot on Instagram and Twitter. After this particular google deep dive, not only do I aspire to be Tracey Wigfield (one of the writers who also acts on the show) when I grow up, I also think her mom has a super cool presence on Facebook.

Diseases and Mental Illness This deep dive is particularly fulfilling if you’re a hypochondriac, like myself. Before you know it, you will have diagnosed yourself with all sorts of personality disorders and autoimmune diseases. When’s the last time you went in for a physical, anyway? It’s probably about time.

Stand Up Comics Everyone loves a good laugh, but who are these people that are making us laugh? Usually, they are really smart, Harvard educated, clinically depressed people. Or, really unintelligent clowns. It depends on your taste in humor. Either way, I’ve spent a good chunk of life doing investigative research on these characters.

I’m always looking for more useless information to gather and more time to squander, so please do share your own Google deep dives with me in the comments section below.