Sleep loss 'worse for extroverts'

Sleep loss 'worse for extroverts'(bbc.co.uk)

19 points by mayutana 15 years ago | 7 comments

dcbell 15 years ago |

"On a day-to-day basis, it is suggested this could mean that social contact leads to 'over-stimulation,' explaining why introverts would withdraw or shy away."

Anyone else feel like this? I come alive in small groups and one-on-one, but at some threshold (10+ people or so), I feel like there's just too much complexity flying around. Note that I'm pretty sure it's the complexity thing---a group of 300 people all listening to a lecture is easy to deal with, but 40 mixed singles all trying to meet/impress each other seems as complicated as this (http://xkcd.com/173/) would be with 40 people.

j_baker 15 years ago | |

Introverts tend to be much more polite in terms of giving people space in comparison to extraverts. They wait their turn to speak and don't interrupt others. Extraverts have a tendency to just jump in and listen to whoever is the loudest. Us introverts tend to get confused by this because we're looking for clear delineation between one speaker and the next that simply doesn't exist.

cracki 15 years ago | | |

Well, I've learned to be impatient and not wait my turn, when a discussion requires it. That kind of social interaction tires me out though. I like calm. Excitement only prevents rational thinking.

silentbicycle 15 years ago | |

Definitely. My wife and I both find socializing with large groups of people to be exhausting. The amount of social cues, body language, personal spaces, etc. to follow scales exponentially with the number of people, unless/until they split into smaller groups.

adrianwaj 15 years ago |

Using the quotes 'worse for extroverts' doesn't seem justified as it's not a quote of anyone. Does being a single quote permit its use as such?

http://ninemsn.com.au use quoting like this so often in many of their headlines because their research has shown the quotes in headlines generate more clicks. They could easily be omitted, but the headlines would appear more casual.

pan69 15 years ago |

OK. Let me get this straight. When you use your brain to perform certain tasks, such as interacting with other people, you're brain gets tired faster than when your brain is not performing those tasks. Right?

j_baker 15 years ago | |

In theory it would energize extraverts. I get the impression this is taking Jung's idea of "psychic energy" a bit too literally, but social interaction should at least be less tiring for extraverts than introverts. Besides that, introverts brains are running too... just not in ways that are concerned with interacting with other people.

I'm inclined to agree with the account at the end of the story. Extraverts have a strong need for belonging. If everyone around them is tired, then I wouldn't be surprised if they "became" tired too to be one with the team.