Conversation starters, incomplete thoughts, and links from Adam S. McHugh, author of Introverts in the Church

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Temperamental Geography

I'm working on a theory. The farther north you go from the equator, the more introverts you get by percentage. What do you think?
Posted by Adam S. McHugh at 12:45 PM

6 comments:

  1. I think your potential hypothesis is plausible. My mind starts thinking about what other variables might be affected by lattitude, and would there be any correlation between those variables and introvertedness if indeed there is enough substantiation for your hypothesis and other variables. The first variable that comes to mind is Vitamin D level.
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  2. If that were the case, I suspect it would work southwards as well. I know south better, but I can see it being possible.. Maybe introverts just don't like being in the middle ;)
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  3. Is it something about colder weather that attracts introverts, because it gives them an excuse to find solitude inside?
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  4. I was actually told by a campaign leader out here that Maine is the state in the US with the most introverts. I immediately thought of you and this theory.
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  5. I have visited Maine once and I LOVED it. Maybe that's why.
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  6. Kind of disagree, kind of agree. In cultural studies, there's the concept of hot-culture vs cold-culture. The farther south you go, the more outgoing and people-oriented the cultures get, and the food also gets spicier. The farther north you go, the quieter and more self-contained the cultures get and the more bland the foods. Think about the difference between Italy and Norway. I think it's possible for cultures to be extraverted and introverted without necessarily having more of one or the other kind of people. As with any personality trait, extra- and introversion have their different cultural expressions, so that an introvert in Texas (hot culture) might look quite different from an introvert in Minnesota (cold culture).
    (I'm an introverted Montanan who loves coolness and hates heat, loves foods with a lot of spices but not much spiciness, and comes from a huge, gregarious, but not very emotional family. Yeah. I like calm cultures. England, Japan...)
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Adam S. McHugh is the author of Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister, spiritual director, chaplain, speaker, and retreat leader. He has been published in The Washington Post, The Christian Century, RELEVANT Magazine, Psychology Today, and Leadership Journal, among other publications. He is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and Princeton Theological Seminary. On February 28, 2012 he will serve as guest chaplain in the U.S. House of Representatives. He lives in Claremont, CA.

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