“They just genuinely don’t understand why we’re not as loud”: An exploration of the educational experiences of secondary school students with introverted personality styles and the views of professionals who support these students
Further reading
Abstract
Personality research has a well-established history but typically has received less
attention in the educational psychology field. Within this area, the introversionextraversion
dimension has attracted particular interest, but research has traditionally
been skewed towards the extraverted end of the continuum, with introversion being
represented as merely a ‘lack of extraversion’. Extant research focused on introversion
in education has broadly concentrated on cognitive factors and academic achievement
and relied heavily on views of staff surrounding students or retrospective accounts by
adults about their educational experiences. With at least a third of students thought to
have an introverted personality style, this is a sizeable demographic whose views have
not been adequately explored. Furthermore, the strong tendency towards the extravert
ideal in Western society, raises questions about the impact on these young people,
particularly in relation to their wellbeing and sense of self.
This research was underpinned by a pragmatic philosophical approach with a two-phase
mixed methods design. Phase one used bespoke online questionnaires to explore the
views, attitudes and understanding of introversion of secondary school teachers (n=89)
and educational psychologists (n=144). Responses were analysed using descriptive
statistics and reflexive thematic analysis. Findings from this phase were used to inform
the design and focus of phase two, which consisted of one-to-one online semistructured
interviews with secondary school aged young people who self-identified as
having an introverted personality style (n=11). This phase sought to champion student
voice and explore the thoughts, feelings and unique experiences of this group of young
people and the impact on their wellbeing of the educational environment. Data was
analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
The findings illustrated factors related to the experience of introversion across three
levels: the young person themselves, within school and throughout wider society. All
three respondent groups felt that current secondary school environments are typically
not well-suited to meeting the emotional needs of students with introverted personality
styles. Teachers felt students with introverted personality styles were more likely to
have greater difficulties with emotional adjustment than their peers, although
educational psychologists indicated introversion is rarely raised within their casework.
Moreover, educational psychologists acknowledged personality factors are not
routinely explored as part of their assessments. The young people expressed a range of
positive and negative emotions about school, but with a noticeable focus on anxietyrelated
feelings of pressure, discomfort and nervousness. They implied their personality
style created additional difficulties for them in navigating the school environment, which
adversely impacted on their emotional adjustment. They also referenced feeling
overlooked on occasions and experiencing expectations to act in more extraverted
ways. Relationships with others were highlighted as a key protective factor against these
areas of difficulty. Barriers to support for these students were discussed and suggestions
were proposed about changes that could be made from individual to whole school levels
to improve support.
The theoretical significance of the research was discussed, highlighting contributions to
defining introversion, understanding contextual variability in presentation, and
recognising the impact on wellbeing and barriers to inclusion in the educational
environment. Implications for the practice of educational psychologists and school staff
were discussed across four key areas (understand, be aware, accept and adjust), with
suggestions about how best to support young people with introverted personality styles
in education. Finally, limitations of the study were considered, alongside areas for
possible future research.
