According to psychotherapist Dr. Marti Olsen Laney, introverts are more responsive to dopamine, a chemical related to human pleasure, than extroverts. Correspondingly, introverts generally use the acetylcholine neurotransmitter, a dopamine-like chemical that is influenced by turning inward. The acetylcholine pathway is the longer thinking path that introverts take; it passes through brain areas linked to reflection, planning, and determining memories.

Many may agree that there’s a preference towards outgoing and social people, and as Cain explained, “Here’s where the bias comes in; our most important institutions—our schools and our workplaces—they are designed mostly for extroverts and the extroverts’ need for lots of stimulation.”

Brocchieri said she often doesn’t have the desire to socialize during in-person school yet feels the need to be talkative during online school. Still, Brocchieri finds working alone to be the better option for her.

“I like to do my work in my room by myself,” Brocchieri said. “I go through my work without having to stop and talk to people. It’s distracting when I’m around people and I’m doing my work because then I’m not fully focused on what I’m doing.”

Because introverts generally take the acetylcholine pathway and have a higher sensitivity to dopamine, they tend to work in a more meaningful manner when alone. Considering this fact and an introvert’s tendency to be quiet, Brocchieri feels that class participation should not be a large portion of grades.

“It makes you feel bad that a personality trait is causing your grade to go down; just because you’re quiet, it’s affecting your grade in a negative way,” Brocchieri said. “I feel like it’s not something that you grow out of; it’s just how someone’s personality is.”

According to Introvert Dear, introverts are constitutionally born introverts. A study involving babies reacting to new content showed that the highly reactive babies grew into more cautious adults, while the lower reactive babies grew to be more risk-taking adults. Brocchieri shared her thoughts about introducing groupthink at a young age.

“If you’re not forced to answer questions, then you are more inclined to want to do it because I feel it’s the basic nature of people—especially kids. If you tell them to do something, they’re going to want to do the opposite,” Brocchieri said. “If you were let in naturally, you would end up starting to talk and contributing your opinion. It wouldn’t be so forced, and it wouldn’t cause so much stress either.”

Sophomore Athea Koester also believes groupthink and socializing at an early age affect one’s current experiences.

“In kindergarten and first grade, socializing is really important, but also for a lot of students, they might not be ready,” Koester said. “If they didn’t enjoy socializing at a young age, they might still not like it now. If they did have positive experiences with it at a young age, they might like to be more social… but it also doesn’t affect your personality in some ways. I didn’t have bad experiences, but I am still an introvert.”

Koester noted that frequent group activities in school are not as suitable for introverts as they are for extroverts, adding that online learning and working with others this year felt overstimulating for her.

“I think online school requires less effort than talking to people at school, but at the same time, it’s draining because you’re talking to people you don’t know well at all,” Koester said. “And you have to constantly prove to the teacher that you’re engaged by talking to them; even if you finish a discussion and you have nothing else to say, the teacher will come into your breakout room and ask, ‘Are you guys done talking?'”

Michelle McKee, the Advanced Placement (AP) psychology teacher at Carlmont High School, has tried several different activities and groups for breakout rooms to meet her students’ preferred learning methods. She described how introverts might be handling online school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think many of them are probably struggling because they’re being put in situations that are zapping their energy. It not only takes energy away, but it doesn’t re-energize them in any way, shape, or form at the same time,” McKee said. “For an introvert, if you are constantly having to be in breakout rooms, do group projects in breakout rooms, and be in breakout rooms with people you don’t know at all, that can definitely be a very scary prospect.”

Regarding school participation and breakout room activities, McKee believes engagement is a major component in the classes she teaches, but doesn’t think it should be a significant part of the grade.

“I don’t think that it’s always the introvert’s job to conform to an extroverted world — or to an extroverted assignment, like a seminar. I think there needs to be some balance and opportunities for introverts to be able to shine in their natural habitat,” McKee said. “I think we need to not just automatically assume that every student knows how to not be introverted. At the same time… if you really aren’t able to hang a little bit in a seminar-type atmosphere, then I would not encourage you to take a seminar-type class.”

Introverts represent 50.7% of the general U.S. population; however, many still experience a more stimulating school life than their ideal amount.

“It shouldn’t be the norm for people to have to be outgoing. It’s okay if you’re quiet and you’re not always talking with everyone, and saying what you are thinking. School perpetuates the idea that you should be always talking, speaking your opinion, and contributing to the conversation,” Brocchieri said.