Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/eFtj42jop5Q   If you’re quiet and withdrawn by nature, you’ll be happier if you push yourself to be outgoing.  UC-Riverside psychologists studied 123 subjects classifying them as introverts or extroverts.   Investigators coached each participant to act, for one week, as quiet, reserved introverts or as talkative, outgoing, “life of the party” extroverts.   The participants reported greater feelings of well-being during their week spent as extroverts.   Those who were naturally quiet and had to work the hardest to be talkative and spontaneous showed no ill effects as the result of the charade.   We are all actors of sorts, and this study shows that it is healthy to get outside yourself.  Humans are naturally social animals, and the qualities associated with extroversion facilitate that tendency.   Seth Margolis, Sonja Lyubomirsky. Experimental manipulation of extraverted and introverted behavior and its effects on well-being.. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2019; DOI: 1