On the surface, agoraphobia and extraversion seem like opposites. One is an anxiety disorder that often presents as a fear of crowded spaces and social situations, while the other describes the personality of people who thrive off interaction with others.
Perhaps you’re wondering if and how the two relate.
Below, we’ll explore the association between these phenomena, what anxious extraversion looks like, and what extraverts can do to lower their anxiety levels.
What’s the Relationship Between Agoraphobia and Extraversion?
The research on agoraphobia and extraversion suggests that extraverts are less likely to suffer from agoraphobia than introverts. However, it’s supposedly still possible for extraverts to experience anxiety disorders. The treatment options for anxious extraverts are self-help techniques and talking therapies.
As far as scientific research goes, agoraphobia isn’t typical among extraverted people. The evidence repeatedly demonstrates that low extraversion scores predict anxiety disorders.
Agoraphobia and introversion
Research has previously shown that agoraphobic individuals are more likely to be introverts.
It’s also been found that introversion is significantly associated with agoraphobia and social phobia and increases the odds of a lifetime agoraphobia diagnosis.
A 2012 study provides a potential explanation for this. In this study, it was found that introversion was positively associated with both the presence of situational avoidance and its severity in a sample of individuals with panic disorder.
However, it doesn’t stop there—the researchers delved deeper into extraversion’s association with agoraphobia.
They discovered that the presence of agoraphobia might actually reduce extraversion levels, making individuals less active and sociable and less likely to seek rewards and experience positive emotions.
Their explanation for this? agoraphobia may be an expression of introversion rather than a consequence of it.
Why Are Extraverts Less Likely To Suffer From Agoraphobia?
You may be asking: What is it about extraverts that makes them less likely to suffer from agoraphobia?
Response to Stress
According to a recent 2017 study, it may have something to do with extraverted individuals’ stress responses.
Within their research, it was found that those scoring higher in extraversion displayed less activation of the stress hormone cortisol in anxiety-inducing situations.
On top of this, extraverts were less likely to experience negative emotions due to stress.
This finding may suggest that extraverts are less prone to anxiety than their introverted counterparts, an idea supported by Penley and Tomaka’s 2002 study.
This 2002 paper found that extraverts demonstrate more resilience in response to stress and a lower prevalence of negative affect—extraversion was inversely related to fear, stress, and self-disgust.
Alongside this, extraverts reported higher scores on happiness, pride, and self-control.
Positive Emotionality
As seen in the two studies above, positive emotions seem to be a prominent marker of extraversion. In fact, positive emotionality is considered a central facet of this personality trait.
Some research suggests that the lack of social anxiety within the extraverted community may be due to this characteristic.
Cabello and Fernandez-Berrocal, for example, demonstrate that social anxiety disorder occurs less often in extraverts if they have high positive emotionality scores.
However, many researchers still believe that extraverts can suffer from anxiety disorders like agoraphobia, despite the lack of evidence. Some suggest this may have become more commonplace since the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Anxiety Disorders and COVID-19
The idea that extraverts can experience anxiety disorders has gained traction since the COVID-19 pandemic. Why is this? Because the prevalence of anxiety disorders has risen.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted an increase in depressive and anxiety disorder symptoms from 36.4% to 41.5% from August 2020 to February 2021.
For extraverts, the lack of social contact with others may have resulted in the development of social anxiety. What’s more, extraverts living with social anxiety before the pandemic may have struggled to cope with their anxiety symptoms without the support of others.
What Agoraphobia Looks Like in Extraverts
The presentation of anxiety is supposedly different between extraverts and introverts. For introverts, anxiety may be a continuous worry that you appear stupid to others or are irritating.
Extraverts are known for bringing energy to social interactions and always being in a good mood. Extraverts with anxiety may become stressed about always having to be entertaining and ensuring others are having a good time.
Furthermore, their worries may revolve around being accepted by others – becoming anxious that others are judging them.
Extraverts may be shy in specific settings, such as being surrounded by people they don’t know but outgoing in others.
An extravert with social anxiety may experience an extreme pull to be social and yet a craving to avoid the exact situations that give them energy. This conflictual feeling may be incredibly confusing.
Treatments for Extraverts with Agoraphobia
Making some minor tweaks to your life can have a significant impact if you’re an agoraphobic extravert. Here are some treatment options:
Self-Help
Get in the Know
Getting in the know about agoraphobia can aid your understanding of the condition. By understanding agoraphobia, you can develop coping strategies for when your anxiety flares up and learn to spot the physical signs that occur when you’re pushed outside of your comfort zone.
Choose Social Occasions Wisely
Some social activities will make you more anxious than others. For example, you may become fearful when surrounded by people you don’t know and trust.
When you recognize the environments that make you anxious, you can ensure you take appropriate measures to look after yourself, like scheduling downtime afterwards.
Therapy
Evidence suggests that talk therapies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are highly effective in easing the symptoms of anxiety disorders like agoraphobia.
CBT can treat agoraphobia and alleviate anxiety by targeting the unhelpful thoughts that surface when you’re anxious, swapping them for more constructive ones.
Summary
Agoraphobia and extraversion don’t seem to align in their basic definitions or the scientific research.
Nevertheless, it may be possible for extraverts to suffer from anxiety disorders, and the effects appear no less severe than for anyone else.
To tackle the symptoms of agoraphobia, try self-help techniques or talking therapy.
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