ABSTRACT
Social development can be hard for most children as the push and pull between needs and expectations gets increasingly harder to navigate. People are often praised for their ability to gain large numbers of friends and participate in highly social venues, while those who are more socially withdrawn are given labels suggesting that they are somehow “less” for being so. Some of the social skills necessary to survive in our culture include the ability to be heard within the crowd, the ability to be seen within the crowd, the art of conversation, and the ability to collaborate within a group. As introverts begin to become more social, there may be a tendency to overdo it, losing themselves and their introverted voice in the noisy world of extroverts. Everyone, most especially introverts, need social competency skills—the ability to feel comfortable within social settings and converse with many different types of people.
