The survival toolkit - headphones, here's why?



Late for class or work or even going on a date, carrying your headphones is a must right? 

Imagine one day you're running late and your headphones get left behind, tragic right?

Do you feel like without headphones your day would just be nothing but annoying?

This experience of feeling annoyed because of leaving behind your headphones isn't only limited to introverted individuals but also among extroverted individuals too. But the burning question is if introverts always wear headphones with intent to avoid interaction? From a personal point of view, headphones have the ability to block out background noise leading to you feeling a sense of calmness & the individual is able to concentrate on their thoughts. But, through the years being an introvert has enabled the ability to observe without saying much to others. Observed many introverted individuals who would plug in their headphones for hours on end. From a critical point of view, introverts have their own way to preserve their communication capacity (either by reading books, sitting at a place away from people, listening to music or watching a movie).

We would be focussing on those introverts who wear headphones in social settings. To justify our argument as to why headphones is literally the survival toolkit, here are some theories which would speak in our defense : 


1. Privacy Regulation (Altman, 1975) : This theory was developed to understand why people sometimes prefer to be alone but also occasionally participate in different social interactions. In order to achieve selective control over our privacy requires a variety of different behavioral mechanisms like for example nonverbal behavior and environmental mechanisms. In simple terms privacy is like the state of social withdrawal which includes moving away from people due for a time period. Altman says the "dialectics" is like the individual's openness and closeness (seeking or avoiding any social interaction) where "dynamics" means the desired level of privacy that they require. It is necessary to note that dynamics and openness change due to the environment. Example this means that we may not be wanting to socialize while sometimes we can. The main aspect of the theory by Altman highlights the optimal level of privacy. This optimal level of privacy can enable us to experience when the individual wishes to be alone and then experience socialization when needed.


2. Nonverbal Communication (Ekman, 1992): The whole aspect about nonverbal communication indicates the action based communication which includes body language or facial expressions or other physical expressions. Introverts using their headphones is like a signal that signifies the need to be detached from some social situations. Paul Ekman is an emotional psychologist who also suggests that this theory of nonverbal communication is an effective way to express your feelings or actions.


3. Coping Mechanism (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984): This theory highlighted how two aspects yield a particular response from the individual as in there are two types - problem focused and emotion focused coping because an individual aims to manage the issue causing them a sense of distress and also regulating your emotional responses to the situation is equally important. Therefore when we, introverts use headphones in a social setup that is mainly because of the stress that exists in our surroundings which acts as a comfort to those individuals. Wearing headphones is a coping mechanism which can be attributed to either the cognitive or emotional needs.


In conclusion, we can see that these theories suggest certain aspects like stimuli, external environment when we talk about introverts using their headphones in a social setting. A good news is in the future if someone asks you why you use headphones all the time and don't talk, this article can be a way to prove your point. Also to end on a good note is that we introverts don't avoid interactions but we are selective about it.


Reference:

1. Leaper, C. (2011). Social Identity Theory - an overview


2. Nonverbal Communication. (n.d.). Paul Ekman Group

https://www.paulekman.com/nonverbal-communication/#:~:text=Ekman%20discovered%20how%20nonverbal%20behaviors



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