I’m not sure I understand what you mean. I can understand how introversion, at least if the introvert has been able to follow his or her own preferences, must correlate with social inexperience, at least relative to the average extrovert.
But why is it that introversion must correlate with AS?
Because of the way introversion is defined: it is a component from the technique of principal component analysis, so it necessarily bundles together all kinds of personalities that are less sociable.
My understanding is that introversion may be partly about ability to socialize, but primarily reflects lack of desire to socialize ( and especially lack of desire to socialize in larger versus smaller groups). It’s also my understanding that with AS, there is at least sometimes a component involving inability to socialize, for example, many of those with AS have a hard time reading facial expressions (and this inability comes not merely from lack of practice, but is more innate).
I have also met a number of people with AS who are extroverts, that is, they have a desire to socialize, although they may have some difficulties in execution. I don’t have any breakdown on the numbers, but it seems to me that if introversion is more about lack of desire to socialize and AS is more about inability to socialize, they don’t necessarily need to be correlated, although they may very well be.
I have in the past used precisely the latter to describe myself to others. Last Saturday I was at a student party: I spent the late afternoon and early evening chatting with both friends and new acquaintances pretty much non-stop, drank up to the point where my behaviour became just a bit more impulsive than usual, danced into the wee hours of the morning and exchanged some crude sexual rites with a stranger.
I unquestionably had fun. It will also take me at least a couple of weeks before I can talk to more than one people at a time without feeling exhausted. Until then, my free time will be spent with a pair of headphones, my reading queue, a 4X videogame, and no human interaction closer than Skype.
I don’t have any breakdown on the numbers, but it seems to me that if introversion is more about lack of desire to socialize and AS is more about inability to socialize, they don’t necessarily need to be correlated, although they may very well be.
Wikipedia quotes diagnostic criteria for AS that focus on ‘impairment’ and ‘repetitive, stereotyped behavior,’ which sounds like it’s just based on ability, not desire/introversion. That’s consistent with your hunch.
I also skimmed for studies correlating AQ (Autism-Spectrum Quotient) with introversion, and discovered the AQ is built from 5 question types, one of them testing social skills. But the social skill questions don’t just test for ability (#36, ‘I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face’), they test for desires too (#1, ‘I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own’). (Source is Simon Baron-Cohen’s paper about the AQ.) So I’d expect the social skill subtest to tap into introversion as well as social ability, which would make the AQ correlate with extroversion/introversion (and it does).
I expect the correlation of AS with introversion depends how you measure Asperger-ness. The binary criterion ‘diagnosed with Asperger’s’ probably has a weak correlation; the AQ scale would have a better one. It’s interesting that AS diagnosis criteria are based just on social ability, while the AQ scale tests far more than that—that suggests the AQ is measuring quite a lot more than Asperger-ness.
(I also found a forum called Typology Central, ‘a personality type indicator community.’ For some reason the idea of a forum for discussing personality types makes me giggle.)
I’m not sure I understand what you mean. I can understand how introversion, at least if the introvert has been able to follow his or her own preferences, must correlate with social inexperience, at least relative to the average extrovert.
But why is it that introversion must correlate with AS?
Because of the way introversion is defined: it is a component from the technique of principal component analysis, so it necessarily bundles together all kinds of personalities that are less sociable.
My understanding is that introversion may be partly about ability to socialize, but primarily reflects lack of desire to socialize ( and especially lack of desire to socialize in larger versus smaller groups). It’s also my understanding that with AS, there is at least sometimes a component involving inability to socialize, for example, many of those with AS have a hard time reading facial expressions (and this inability comes not merely from lack of practice, but is more innate).
I have also met a number of people with AS who are extroverts, that is, they have a desire to socialize, although they may have some difficulties in execution. I don’t have any breakdown on the numbers, but it seems to me that if introversion is more about lack of desire to socialize and AS is more about inability to socialize, they don’t necessarily need to be correlated, although they may very well be.
One definition I’ve seen is that extroverts get energy from being with people, while introverts need to be alone to recharge.
I have in the past used precisely the latter to describe myself to others. Last Saturday I was at a student party: I spent the late afternoon and early evening chatting with both friends and new acquaintances pretty much non-stop, drank up to the point where my behaviour became just a bit more impulsive than usual, danced into the wee hours of the morning and exchanged some crude sexual rites with a stranger.
I unquestionably had fun. It will also take me at least a couple of weeks before I can talk to more than one people at a time without feeling exhausted. Until then, my free time will be spent with a pair of headphones, my reading queue, a 4X videogame, and no human interaction closer than Skype.
Wikipedia quotes diagnostic criteria for AS that focus on ‘impairment’ and ‘repetitive, stereotyped behavior,’ which sounds like it’s just based on ability, not desire/introversion. That’s consistent with your hunch.
I also skimmed for studies correlating AQ (Autism-Spectrum Quotient) with introversion, and discovered the AQ is built from 5 question types, one of them testing social skills. But the social skill questions don’t just test for ability (#36, ‘I find it easy to work out what someone is thinking or feeling just by looking at their face’), they test for desires too (#1, ‘I prefer to do things with others rather than on my own’). (Source is Simon Baron-Cohen’s paper about the AQ.) So I’d expect the social skill subtest to tap into introversion as well as social ability, which would make the AQ correlate with extroversion/introversion (and it does).
I expect the correlation of AS with introversion depends how you measure Asperger-ness. The binary criterion ‘diagnosed with Asperger’s’ probably has a weak correlation; the AQ scale would have a better one. It’s interesting that AS diagnosis criteria are based just on social ability, while the AQ scale tests far more than that—that suggests the AQ is measuring quite a lot more than Asperger-ness.
(I also found a forum called Typology Central, ‘a personality type indicator community.’ For some reason the idea of a forum for discussing personality types makes me giggle.)
Sometimes a cause anti-correlates with its effect. I think the standard example is being taxed causes low wealth, but is correlated with high wealth.