Individuals vary widely in the way they socialize, with some tending to be extroverts and others to be introverts. Personality differences in both of these dimensions affect creativity and leadership. Many creative people are extremely introverted, sometimes showing a disdain for familiar social relationships (Cattell, 1963; Roec, 1952). Henry Cavendish, for example, who discovered hydrogen and calculated the mass of the Earth, did not address women and never spoke more than a few words to any man. Highly capable leaders, by contrast, cannot be this type of introvert.

The tendency of creative people to promote themselves may indicate that they are extroverts rather than introverts. However, the available research findings show some conflicting results. In his analysis of creative genius from a Darwinian perspective, Simonton (1997) concluded that creative genius requires a minimum level of intelligence and knowledge, as well as the ability to find connections and perceive disparate relationships between ideas. In terms of personality, creative geniuses are open to diverse experiences, tolerate ambiguity, and have a wide range of interests. They love their work, are introverted, and may be overly independent. 

Eysenck (1993) summarized that the most important strengths of the creative personality that research has found are: (1) independence, (2) introversion, (3) flexibility, (4) broad interests, (6) self-acceptance, (7) selfishness, (8) extremism, and (9) rejection of external constraints. Although the pattern of personality characteristics varies clearly and to a large degree from one creative producer to another, it is likely that these factors combined are what most creative producers are characterized by.

Feist & Barron (1996) included introversion in their creative personality profile, and Cheek & Stahl (1986) found that shyness was significantly related to creativity in children, but a large body of research has shown only marginal (weak) associations between introversion and creativity. It seems to depend a lot on the field in which a person works or is interested. Another possibility is that what sometimes appears to be introversion may simply be task focus or commitment; creative people are, after all, persistent and highly driven to complete their work and projects. For this reason, they spend a lot of time on their creative endeavors, taking time away from other activities, such as social engagements.

Beghetto (2006) found that students with high creative self-efficacy spend as much time with their friends as other students, and are more active in bands, drama, and similar social groups. This is certainly not consistent with the idea that introversion is a key trait for creativity. 

Introversion and peers

Winner (1996) and Silverman (1993) have reported that gifted children and adults tend to be more introverted than extroverted—especially if they are highly gifted—and that this tendency toward introversion is more prevalent in gifted children than in others. Although some gifted children are both extroverts and outgoing, most are introverts when compared with typical children. When we combine introversion with the frequent mismatch between gifted children and their peers (in terms of interests, skills, knowledge, and sensitivity), it is not surprising that gifted children, especially those with high giftedness, find that they have little in common with their same-age peers.

Introverted children are unlikely to approach new children and will likely wait for others to initiate friendships. They need time to observe a situation closely before engaging in it, and they do not feel the need for as many friends as extroverts do. Sometimes, these children may not have learned how to choose friends. Some gifted children are so preoccupied with their own thoughts and interests that they ignore others. In such cases, parents and teachers need to realize that the world in the child's mind is more important to him than his social relationships with peers. But helping the child understand that others may be repelled by his behavior can raise his awareness that his poor social interactions may be defeating him from within, and that he needs to change.

Time spent alone sometimes worries parents about whether their child will be content to play alone. “He would rather stay home and build with blocks than play with other children,” they say. At school, he would rather read a book than play outside with other children. Sometimes gifted children find companions in the characters they read about in books when they are alone. There is no doubt that time spent alone is important for many gifted children, especially introverts. It may be necessary for the development of one’s abilities. Barbara Kerr’s research (1997) concluded that gifted girls who became famous had a common trait: they all needed to spend a lot of time alone to read or continue what they had started. Barbara Kerr also found that most of these girls did not enjoy social respect, but were keen to attend. Some gifted children, despite their capacity for interactive play, preferred to spend a lot of time in solitary play, fiddling with things, creating things, or reading quietly.  

When is alone time too much or a concern for educators? 

Some gifted children actually want to be socially isolated. One clue is to try to determine whether the child is spending this time by choice, or whether he or she is doing so because of a lack of social skills or an inability to form relationships. Parents should ask the following questions:

● Does my child spend time alone because he lacks social skills?

● Is he afraid of rejection?

● Does he really enjoy time alone?

● Does alone time help him focus on the fun thoughts and activities he is thinking about?

If a child is able to interact happily from time to time with playmates who share his interests and abilities, there is little to worry about. He will probably prefer spending time reading a book to spending time with peers who share few interests. However, if parents feel that there are reasonable reasons to be concerned about their child’s social interaction, they can seek professional advice or counseling on this issue. Time spent alone is important but not necessarily harmful. The childhoods of many gifted and creative people who have won multiple Olympic medals are far from typical. They spent many hours alone developing their talents, and were often homeschooled or tutored. Their social lives were limited to peak training or performance times. However, most of these children turned into accomplished experts as they grew older, regardless of how much they continued to achieve in their areas of talent.