Personality and Design

Would you rather spend your Friday evening entertaining guests during a party or cozy in your bed watching Netflix? Some studies say that up to half of the world population is comprised of introverts, so the distribution of personalities is nearly half and half (Granneman, 2015). Personality is a complex topic, but for this post I will focus on the differences in introverts and extroverts and resulting design choices. You may have taken the Myers-Briggs test in school and have a good idea of whether you are more introverted or extroverted, but do you know if your home is a reflection of that result? Different personalities have different needs when it home to defining what "home" is.

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Your answer to the opening question likely affects how your home is designed. Extroverts thrive with the interaction of people and wish to encourage community, whereas introverts appreciate the privacy and isolation of their home. If hosting parties are your thing, then a large open concept plan probably seems very attractive to you. If having an evening to yourself is more of your pace, then having spaces more distinct from each other would naturally be more inviting. Being an introvert myself, I chose an apartment where the living room, kitchen, and bedroom all have walls separating them. Even though I have a roommate, the floor plan allows me to do me own thing uninterrupted while my roommate does something else in a different space. My living room seating is simply one couch, so my only plan if more than one guests were to come over would be to all sit in the floor. For an extrovert, this plan would not be ideal.

Separation between the living and dining rooms is a feature most introverts would appreciate in a home.
Photo taken by Me

If you had the choice, the location of where you live was probably a big factor in your decision making of finding a house. A study showed that introverts typically prefer mountains and extroverts prefer open, flat land (NewsRX, 2015). Why is this? The participants of the study found that the isolation and densely forested area was much more peaceful and served as a refuge. The wide-open land left the extroverts the opportunity to socialize and have more stimulation. Here the prospect is more available. Prospect and refuge comes to play in choice of location when it comes to introverts versus extroverts. Introverts tend to need more refuge where they can feel protected, secluded, and safe, whereas extroverts benefit from having more prospect and both being able to see others as well as be seen by others.

Introvert vs. Extrovert Location Preference
Hand Sketched by Me

Another factor affected by personality is the permanence of your living space. Since extroverts tend to enjoy being out with friends more, "home" can be seen as simply a place to get some sleep at night. If you value solitude, then "home" is your own place where there is a greater sense of permanence (Surbhi, 2018).  Personality and identity of the space itself is connected to this as well. Since extroverts usually enjoy being with other people, it would only make sense to have a space  that most people like. This means very little quirks and personalizations in order for your guests to feel welcome and at home instead of being alienated by unfamiliar things. Introverts feel more inclined to make their space their own because they spend more time in their house and typically stay longer by choice than an extrovert. Neither do they feel pressured to appease the occasional guest.

Introverts' spaces are more personalized and permanent than an extroverts' space.
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Does your home reflect your personality? Or is it designed differently than what this post would suggest?  Personality is not a simple subject, so if you found that you are happy in the space you live in, but is not like what I talked about, then there may be other traits that are more prevalent that define what you call "home." Maybe you are an introvert, but have family over very often and value time with them. That may make an open concept far more desirable if family gathering provided more happiness and recovery than solitude did. Whatever the circumstance may be, our homes say a lot about who we are based on what type of designs our personalities require.


Sources:
Granneman, J. (2018, July 13). There might not be as many extroverts in the world as we think, science says. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://introvertdear.com/news/there-might-not-be-as-many-extroverts-in-the-world-as-we-think-science-says/

Society for Personality and Social Psychology; Personality and place: New insights on person-environment links. (2015). NewsRx Health, p. 104.

Surbhi. (2018, July 06). Difference Between Introvert and Extrovert (with Comparison Chart). Retrieved from https://keydifferences.com/difference-between-introvert-and-extrovert.html