When thinking about a person’s personality, we sometimes have the idea of either classifying them as an introvert or extrovert, but being both is more common than you think.

The reason why is because being in certain situations can change a person’s comfort zone and make them more of an introvert or extrovert. So instead of saying you are one or the other, it makes more sense to say you have introverted or extroverted tendencies.

There are some theories about the differences between the two and research has shown that our genetic makeup plays a big part. A lot of it has to do with where we get our energy from, or how we recharge our brains. So when looking at the more introverted side, people tend to lose energy when being in crowds for too long, but when the more extroverted side people lose energy when they spend too much time alone.

Being one or the other, or even both, isn’t so much as whether you are social or not, but more on how stimulated you are. Extroverts are below the ideal level of arousal, introverts are already above, and being in the middle means it can go back and forth but you are at a comfortable level.

No matter what you technically describe yourself as, everybody has been one or the other throughout their life, depending on who they are with. Being with people who you are comfortable and happy with can bring out the more extrovert side, whereas following a crowd who you don’t know and aren’t sure of can show the introvert side. Whatever you decide to classify yourself as, remember that nobody is the same and one is not better than the other!