Psychiatric and Mental Health Commons^™

Introversion And Autism: A Conceptual Exploration Of The Placement Of Introversion On The Autism Spectrum, Jennifer Grimes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The conceptualization of the personality construct of introversion has been problematic since the term's inception due to the complexity and seemingly self-contradictory nature of the collection of attributes of which it is comprised. To advance the understanding of introversion, I propose that it is a continuous segment of the non-clinical part of the autism spectrum, and that it is not the same as the inverse of extraversion. When introversion and autism are placed on the same continuum, the nature of the relationship of the traits becomes more apparent, and new possibilities are available for exploration of both autism and introversion. …