Social anxiety does not come from disliking people. It comes from worrying more than necessary about how you will look to others. That is why someone can be fine with close friends and still tense up badly whenever they feel judged.
It is a state in which the expectation that others will think badly of you makes it hard to be in front of people. It shows up strongly in situations that involve being judged, such as presentations, work dinners, phone calls, and conversations with strangers.
The body reacts first. The heart beats fast, the face turns red, and the voice shakes. Thinking that others will notice these reactions makes them even stronger.
Introversion is a tendency to lose energy when meeting people. Social anxiety is a fear of being judged in front of people. An introvert avoids a gathering because they want to be alone, while someone with social anxiety wants to go but cannot.
So the two can occur together or separately. It is common for an outgoing person who loves people to lose sleep before a presentation.
It gets worse the more judged someone feels. The hardest situations are ones where many people are watching, mistakes are obvious right away, and there is no second chance.
Situations where they were embarrassed before are just as hard. The memory of what happened comes back ahead of time, and the body reacts before the actual situation even begins.
Each time they avoid something, they feel better for now, but that relief makes them believe their fear was right. Nothing happened because they did not go, so they conclude it must have been dangerous.
On the other hand, when they actually do it, it is usually less bad than expected. The worry decreases only when that experience repeats, and while they keep avoiding, they never get it.
If it is uncomfortable but they still do what they need to do, it is closer to personality. If they cannot go to school or work, or keep putting off seeing people, it falls within the range that can be diagnosed as social anxiety disorder.
In that case, counseling or treatment works faster than coping alone. There are treatments with proven results, and many people improve, so simply enduring it is the more costly choice.
Whether meeting people gives you energy or takes it away and how much you fear being judged need to be looked at separately. The first is closer to an inborn tendency, and the second is a problem that can be addressed.
The Beyond Persona assessment reports Enthusiasm, which shows how much energy you get from being with people, and Withdrawal, which shows how much you tend to feel anxious or hold back, as separate results. They can help you decide whether to make more time for yourself or to work on your worry about being judged. These results are not a diagnosis.
This page describes behavior patterns for self-understanding. It is not a medical or psychological diagnosis, and it does not replace professional care. If difficulties persist and disrupt daily life, please seek professional help.
This page covers the type in general. How it actually shows up in your own combination is what the measurement tells you.