What personality type is a loner?
3 Loner Personality Traits
The term “loner” is often used to refer to someone who is always by themselves, but it is much more than that. Loners have no real desire to associate or be around other people. Loneliness is not the same as being a longer. The reason why these differences are important is because a loner can be lonely or a loner may be thriving in solitude. To understand the loner personality traits, one has to understand what or who a loner is.
A loner can be any person. The term is not a scientific one and it has no medical resonance. It is not a condition or a disorder. Being a loner is simply a personality trait, just as arrogance, rude, soft-spoken, kind, gentle or proud are. But loner is not just an adjective to describe a person’s attitude or character. It actually implies a person’s mind, thought process, approach towards life and lifestyle itself.
Common Loner Traits
A loner is almost always shy or a quiet person. He or she would not indulge in many conversations. He would rarely be seen with anyone and he would stay or ,at least try to stay aloof, from anything and everyone around him or her. The only thing that would draw the attention of a loner is any object or person of interest. A loner is not mentally challenged or disabled in any way. They just don’t want to partake in social activities in the same manner that others do. He or she would rather spend time in their own world doing things that they like and pondering over whatever interests them.
While the aforementioned is a very generic description of a loner, there are numerous exceptions. A loner can be kind or unkind, gentle or arrogant, humble or proud, virtuous or vicious and every other term that can be used to describe extreme characteristics of human beings, both at the positive and the negative end of the possibilities. A loner can be a scientist in the making or a potential recruit for brainwashing terrorist organizations.
Similarly, what causes a person to be a loner can also vary, which also affects personality traits. A person can be a loner because of a history of abuse. A person can also be a loner because he or she is the abuser. In these two cases, their approach towards the world and their personality may appear to be the same but their eventual exposition would be radically different.
It is a common perception that loners are unhappy, they are sad and have nothing to do or no one to love, that they are either losers or nerds, they can never be accepted by society at large and they may never end up being anyone. Quite contrary to that, loners can be very happy, extremely loved and can be more successful than otherwise normal people.
Additional Traits To Be Aware Of
In that context, here are some loner personality traits.
1. A loner can have a very joyous personality. Simply because a loner stays away from fun and frolic, doesn’t blend in with the crowds and doesn’t share a hearty laugh publicly doesn’t mean that they are depressed or unhappy. A loner can actually be the happiest person in the world, content with his or her abilities, with a nice family, working on things they like and planning their future in ways that appeal to them.
2. A loner’s personality is also an ever changing one. Since they don’t remain confined to social norms or stay loaded with commitments and constant necessity to live their lives in a certain way according to expectations, loners often take the routes less traveled and, in the process, they evolve. Wisdom is seldom attained by adhering to all the mundane frivolities in life and in the world. Wisdom is attained by thoughts, realizations, explorations, introspections and by doing what is not being done. This reality about wisdom also implies that loners are wiser. They don’t put forth a wise personality but when they speak, they can make more sense than anyone else around.
3. Moving away from the positive loner personality traits, there are many negatives as well. A loner is not intelligent by default or wise by birth. If a person is a loner because of some specific problems and doesn’t have much to be interested in or be engrossed in, then such a person will be depressed, extremely lonely and may continue to grow a cocoon of a shell around him or her to get further away from society and others. Loner personality traits that are indicative of a bruised psyche or depressed heart should be attended to with professional help.
Loner
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A loner is a person who does not seek out, or may actively avoid, interaction with other people. There are many potential reasons for their solitude. Intentional reasons include introversion, mysticism, spirituality, religion, or personal considerations. [1] [2] Unintentional reasons involve being highly sensitive or shy. More than one type of loner exists, and those who meet the criteria for being called loners often actually enjoy social interactions with people but display a degree of introversion which leads them to seek out time alone.
Terminology [ edit ]
The modern term loner can be used in the context of the belief that human beings are social creatures and that those who do not participate are deviants. [3] [4] [5] However, being a loner is sometimes depicted culturally as a positive personality trait, as it can be indicative of independence and responsibility. [6] Someone who is a recluse or romantically solitary can be referred to by terms including singleton and nonwedder. [7] [8] Loners are often mistakenly perceived as having a hatred for other people and can face the ramifications of such a perception, such as being viewed as an outcast or misfit. [9]
Overview [ edit ]
This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( September 2019 ) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Possible characteristics [ edit ]
When expressing a desire to be alone, loners may not reject human contact entirely. A common example is that of the person who shuns any social interaction with colleagues beyond what is necessary for fulfilling their work or school responsibilities, mainly for practical reasons such as avoiding the complication of their non-personal life, but who is also highly charismatic during social gatherings with people outside of work or school—or vice versa. [14] Somebody who can be a loner would also fit the criteria for introversion, possibly due to both their innate personality traits and life experiences. [15]
See also [ edit ]
- Alexithymia
- Avoidant personality disorder
- Autism
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Asperger syndrome
References [ edit ]
- ^«Neighbours describe bomb suspect as devout loner». The Times. 26 July 2005 . Retrieved 30 October 2018 . (subscription required)
- ^
- «Review of Losers, Loners, and Rebels». Foreword Reviews . Retrieved 30 October 2018 .
- ^
- «The American Spectator : A Defense of Quiet Loners». Archived from the original on 2009-05-17 . Retrieved 2009-06-01 .
- ^[1]. pdf
- ^
- coffeenexg (2009-01-26). «You’re Not Alone, You’re Just a Loner». Mothers Hand Book . Retrieved 2019-08-26 .
- ^ Enriching The Sociological Imagination, p 124 Rhonda F. Levine — 2004
- ^ Downing, Justin. Workplace Romance, Organizational Policy, and Employee Rights: A Qualitative Case Study. Diss. Northcentral University, 2016.
- ^ DarlingTon, Tania. «Josei drama and Japanese television’s ‘new woman’.» The Journal of Popular Television 1.1 (2013): 25-37.
- ^ Follmer, Elizabeth H., et al. «Resolution, relief, and resignation: A qualitative study of responses to misfit at work.» Academy of Management Journal (2017): amj-2014.
- ^
- «Loners Vs. Loneliness». The New York Sun. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018 . Retrieved 24 April 2018 .
- ^
- Berry, John (1997). Handbook of Cross-cultural Psychology: Social behavior and applications. p. 468.
- ^ Taylor, Graeme J. «Alexithymia: concept, measurement, and implications for treatment.» The American Journal of Psychiatry (1984).
- ^ Hayward, M. W., et al. «Prey preferences of the leopard (Panthera pardus).» Journal of Zoology 270.2 (2006): 298-313.
- ^
- Hojat, Mohammadreza (May 1983). «Comparison of transitory and chronic loners on selected personality variables». British Journal of Psychology. 74 (2): 199–203. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1983.tb01855.x. PMID6883012.
- ^
- Svoboda, Elizabeth (March–April 2007). «Field Guide to the Loner: The Real Insiders». Psychology Today Magazine.
External links [ edit ]
- Article about loners in Psychology Today
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