“ It was a mystery with one intriguing clue: programmers from the same companies performed at more or less the same level, even though they hadn’t worked together. That’s because top performers overwhel… Susan Cain
“ It turned out that the introverts who were especially good at acting like extroverts tended to score high for a trait that psychologists call self-monitoring. Self-monitors are highly skilled at modif… Susan Cain
“ Introverts often have one or two deep interests that are not necessarily shared by their peers. Sometimes they’re made to feel freaky for the force of these passions, when in fact studies show that th… Susan Cain
“ In other words, introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly. Free Trait Theory explains why an introv… Susan Cain
“ He believes, as most of us do, that venting anger lets off steam. The catharsis hypothesis—that aggression builds up inside us until it’s healthily released—dates back to the Greeks, was revived by Fr… Susan Cain
“ Carnegie’s metamorphosis from farmboy to salesman to public-speaking icon is also the story of the rise of the Extrovert Ideal. Carnegie’s journey reflected a cultural evolution that reached a tipping… Susan Cain
“ But without Emily, Greg would feel—paradoxically for such a social creature—alone. Before they met, most of Greg’s girlfriends were extroverts. He says he enjoyed those relationships, but never got to… Susan Cain
“ Agreeable people are warm, supportive, and loving; personality psychologists have found that if you sit them down in front of a computer screen of words, they focus longer than others do on words like… Susan Cain
“ According to Free Trait Theory, we are born and culturally endowed with certain personality traits—introversion, for example—but we can and do act out of character in the service of core personal proj… Susan Cain
“ A shy man no doubt dreads the notice of strangers, but can hardly be said to be afraid of them. He may be as bold as a hero in battle, and yet have no self-confidence about trifles in the presence of… Susan Cain
“ The results have consistently suggested that introversion and extroversion, like other major personality traits such as agreeableness and conscientiousness, are about 40 to 50 percent heritable. Susan Cain
“ We can stretch our personalities, but only up to a point. Our inborn temperaments influence us, regardless of the lives we lead. A sizable part of who we are is ordained by our genes, by our brains, b… Susan Cain
“ Verbal fluency and sociability are the two most important predictors of success, according to a Stanford Business School study. Susan Cain
“ Three explanations for the failure of group brainstorming. The first is social loafing: in a group, some individuals tend to sit back and let others do the work. The second is production blocking: onl… Susan Cain
“ The earliest open-source creators didn’t share office space—often they didn’t even live in the same country. Their collaborations took place largely in the ether. This is not an insignificant detail.… Susan Cain
“ People followed Moses because his words were thoughtful, not because he spoke them well. Susan Cain
“ It’s always been private occasions that make me feel connected to the joys and sorrows of the world, Susan Cain
“ Introverts function better than extroverts when sleep deprived, which is a cortically de-arousing condition Susan Cain
“ In the words of psychologists John Brebner and Chris Cooper, who have shown that extroverts think less and act faster on such tasks: introverts are geared to inspect and extroverts geared to respond.… Susan Cain
