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Summary
Summary
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Experience the book that started the Quiet Movement and revolutionized how the world sees introverts--and how introverts see themselves--by offering validation, inclusion, and inspiration
"Superbly researched, deeply insightful, and a fascinating read, Quiet is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to understand the gifts of the introverted half of the population."--Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR-- People, O: The Oprah Magazine, Christian Science Monitor, Inc., Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews
At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts--Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak--that we owe many of the great contributions to society.
In Quiet , Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts--from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, impeccably researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.
Author Notes
Susan Cain graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. She worked as a corporate lawyer before deciding to write Quiet and devote herself to the cause of empowering introverts. She is also the author of the children's book Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
While American culture and business tend to be dominated by extroverts, business consultant Cain explores and champions the one-third to one-half of the population who are introverts. She defines the term broadly, including "solitude-seeking" and "contemplative," but also "sensitive," "humble," and "risk-averse." Such individuals, she claims (though with insufficient evidence), are "disproportionately represented among the ranks of the spectacularly creative." Yet the American school and workplace make it difficult for those who draw strength from solitary musing by over-emphasizing teamwork and what she calls "the new Groupthink." Cain gives excellent portraits of a number of introverts and shatters misconceptions. For example, she notes, introverts can negotiate as well as, or better than, alpha males and females because they can take a firm stand "without inflaming [their] counterpart's ego." Cain provides tips to parents and teachers of children who are introverted or seem socially awkward and isolated. She suggests, for instance, exposing them gradually to new experiences that are otherwise overstimulating. Cain consistently holds the reader's interest by presenting individual profiles, looking at places dominated by extroverts (Harvard Business School) and introverts (a West Coast retreat center), and reporting on the latest studies. Her diligence, research, and passion for this important topic has richly paid off. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
The introvert/extrovert dichotomy is easily stereotyped in psychological literature: extroverts are buoyant and loud, introverts are shy and nerdy. Here, former corporate lawyer and negotiations consultant Cain gives a more nuanced portrait of introversion. Introverts are by nature more pensive, quiet, and solitary, but they can also act extroverted for the pursuit of their passions. Cain describes and explicates the introvert personality by citing much research (at times so much that readers may be confused about what she is explaining) and going undercover, at one point immersing herself at a Harvard Business School student center and, in a very amusing chapter, at a Tony Robbins seminar, among other case studies. Cain's conclusion is that the introversion or extroversion personality trait is not as simple as an on/off switch but a much more complex expression of a personality. VERDICT This book is a pleasure to read and will make introverts and extroverts alike think twice about the best ways to be themselves and interact with differing personality types. Recommended to all readers.-Maryse Breton, Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec, Montreal (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We're told that to be great is to be bold, to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts-which means that we've lost sight of who we really are. Depending on which study you consult, one third to one half of Americans are introverts-in other words, one out of every two or three people you know. (Given that the United States is among the most extroverted of nations, the number must be at least as high in other parts of the world.) If you're not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married to, or coupled with one. If these statistics surprise you, that's probably because so many people pretend to be extroverts. Closet introverts pass undetected on playgrounds, in high school locker rooms, and in the corridors of corporate America. Some fool even themselves, until some life event-a layoff, an empty nest, an inheritance that frees them to spend time as they like- jolts them into taking stock of their true natures. You have only to raise the subject of this book with your friends and acquaintances to find that the most unlikely people consider themselves introverts. It makes sense that so many introverts hide even from themselves. We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal-the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk- taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. He favors quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong. She works well in teams and socializes in groups. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual-the kind who's comfortable "putting himself out there." Sure, we allow technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so. Introversion-along with its cousins, sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness-is now a second- class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man's world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we've turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform. The Extrovert Ideal has been documented in many studies, though this research has never been grouped under a single name. Talkative people, for example, are rated as smarter, better- looking, more interesting, and more desirable as friends. Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones. The same dynamics apply in groups, where research shows that the voluble are considered smarter than the reticent-even though there's zero correlation between the gift of gab and good ideas. Even the word introvert is stigmatized-one informal study, by psychologist Laurie Helgoe, found that introverts described their own physical appearance in vivid language ("green- blue eyes," "exotic," "high cheekbones"), but when asked to describe generic introverts they drew a bland and distasteful picture ("ungainly," "neutral colors," "skin problems"). But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions-from the theory of evolution to van Gogh's sunflowers to the personal computer-came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there. Copyright © 2012 by Susan Cain. From the book QUIET: The Power Of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, published by Crown, a division of Random House, Inc. Reprinted with permission. Excerpted from Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Author's Note | p. xi |
| Introduction: The North and South of Temperament | p. 1 |
| Part 1 The Extrovert Ideal | |
| 1 The Rise of the "Mighty Likeable Fellow": How Extroversion Became the Cultural Ideal | p. 19 |
| 2 The Myth of Charismatic Leadership: The Culture of Personality, a Hundred Years Later | p. 34 |
| 3 When Collaboration Kills Creativity: The Rise of the New Groupthink and the Power of Working Alone | p. 71 |
| Part 2 Your Biology, Your Self? | |
| 4 Is Temperament Destiny?: Nature, Nurture, and the Orchid Hypothesis | p. 97 |
| 5 Beyond Temperament: The Role of Free Will (and the Secret of Public Speaking for Introverts) | p. 115 |
| 6 "Franklin was a Politician, But Eleanor Spoke Out of Conscience": Why Cool Is Overrated | p. 130 |
| 7 Why Did Wall Street Crash and Warren Buffett Prosper?: How Introverts and Extroverts Think (and Process Dopamine) Differently | p. 155 |
| Part 3 Do All Cultures Have an Extrovert Ideal? | |
| 8 Soft Power: Asian-Americans and the Extrovert Ideal | p. 181 |
| Part 4 How to Love, How to Work | |
| 9 When Should You Act More Extroverted Than You Really Are? | p. 205 |
| 10 The Communication Gap: How to Talk to Members of the Opposite Type | p. 224 |
| 11 On Cobblers and Generals: How to Cultivate Quiet Kids in a World That Can't Hear Them | p. 241 |
| Conclusion: Wonderland | p. 264 |
| A Note on the Dedication | p. 267 |
| A Note on the Words Introvert and Extrovert | p. 269 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 273 |
| Notes | p. 277 |
| Index | p. 325 |