Are You an “Otrovert”? A New Word for People Who Don’t Need to Belong- Part 1 of 2
The other day, I came across a word that immediately caught my attention. Otrovert.
At first, I had never heard of such a word. We are all familiar with introverts and extroverts. Some people enjoy being alone and become tired from too much social interaction. Others thrive in crowds, parties, meetings and social gatherings.
But what about people who are comfortable doing both?
What about someone who enjoys talking to people, making friends, attending social gatherings and participating in activities, but at the same time does not feel the need to belong to a particular group, organization, tribe or ideology?
Apparently, there is now a word for this: Otrovert.
The term was introduced by psychiatrist Dr. Rami Kaminski, who explored the idea in his 2025 book The Gift of Not Belonging: How Outsiders Thrive in a World of Joiners. Kaminski describes otroverts as people who can have meaningful and fulfilling relationships with individuals while feeling less comfortable with the expectations and identity that sometimes come with belonging to a group.
And I found the idea fascinating.
An Otrovert Is Not Necessarily a Loner
When we hear the word “outsider,” we often imagine someone who is shy, lonely or socially isolated.
That is not necessarily what an otrovert is. An otrovert can be quite sociable.
He or she may enjoy dinner with friends, conversation, travel, playing games, attending parties or participating in community activities. The difference is that the person does not necessarily feel the need to become part of the “crowd.”
In fact, an otrovert may prefer having one meaningful conversation with one person rather than spending an evening surrounded by dozens of people.
That distinction is important. An introvert may need solitude to recharge.
An extrovert may gain energy from being around other people.
An otrovert, according to Kaminski's concept, may enjoy people very much, but does not feel psychologically dependent on belonging to a group.
That is an interesting difference.
Why Do We Feel the Need to Belong?
Human beings are social creatures.
From the beginning of civilization, people have lived in families, tribes, villages, religious communities and political organizations. Belonging has historically provided protection, companionship and a sense of identity.
Even today, we often ask: “What group are you with?” “What church do you belong to?”
“What political party do you support?” “What organization are you a member of?”
“What school did you attend?” “What country are you from?” “What community do you belong to?”
There is nothing wrong with belonging. I have belonged to many groups throughout my life.
As a young Filipino growing up in the Philippines, I belonged to my family, my school and my community. Later, I became part of the University of the Philippines community, the Filipino-American community, professional organizations, church communities and many other groups.
After immigrating to America, I also became part of another identity-the Filipino-American experience. These groups have enriched my life.
But as I grow older, I have also learned something important:
We can belong to a community without allowing the community to completely define who we are.
Perhaps that is where the idea of the otrovert becomes interesting.
Thinking for Yourself
One characteristic associated with otroversion is independence of thought.
An otrovert may listen carefully to what everyone else is saying but still ask:
“What do I think?” That question has always been important to me.
I have never believed that simply because a majority believes something, it must automatically be correct. Science itself teaches us this lesson.
Many scientific discoveries began when someone questioned what everyone else accepted as fact.
Galileo questioned the prevailing understanding of the universe.
Darwin challenged conventional ideas about the origin of species.
Einstein questioned established assumptions about space and time.
Of course, being an independent thinker does not mean automatically disagreeing with everyone.
That would simply be another form of conformity.
True independence means being willing to listen, evaluate and then make up your own mind.
Perhaps that is one reason the idea of the otrovert appeals to me.
My Life Has Been About Many Different Worlds
Looking back at my own life, I realize how many different worlds I have experienced.
I grew up in the Philippines. I studied at the University of the Philippines.
I came to America as a young man. I earned my Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Illinois.
I worked in industry and agricultural research. Later, I spent many years working for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
I have lived in different states and experienced different cultures. I became a Filipino-American.
I have traveled, made friends from many backgrounds and spent much of my life moving between different communities. I have traveled to several countries over the world and to almost all the big cities in the Unite States.
Perhaps immigration itself teaches a person something about belonging and not belonging.
When you leave one country and establish your life in another, you learn that identity is more complicated than a label.
I am Filipino. I am American. I am both.
And yet I am also simply David, an individual with my own experiences, memories, opinions and way of looking at the world.
No single group can completely describe me.
My Bridge Life Also Comes to Mind
Interestingly, I see something similar in my many years of playing Bridge.
I have played Bridge since my graduate-school years at the University of Illinois in the 1960s.
Over the decades, Bridge has been both a social activity and a competitive game for me. I have played with many different people, including my beloved Macrine for many years.
Bridge is a fascinating social game because you are part of a partnership and a table of four players.
You must cooperate. You must communicate. You must trust your partner.
But you must also think independently. You cannot simply follow what everybody else at the table thinks.
You have to observe, remember, calculate and make your own decisions.
Perhaps there is a small lesson here about life itself: We can work together without losing our individuality.
That may be one of the most attractive ideas behind the otrovert.
Not Belonging Can Sometimes Be a Strength
Society often tells us that belonging is important. And it is.
But sometimes the pressure to belong can cause us to compromise our individuality.
We may change our opinions because our friends disagree.
We may support something because our political group supports it.
We may dislike someone because our group dislikes that person.
We may accept an idea simply because “everybody else” believes it.
That is where independent thinking becomes valuable.
If you are not overly concerned about gaining the approval of a particular group, you may have greater freedom to say:
“I see things differently.” That does not necessarily make you rebellious.
It may simply mean that you are comfortable being yourself.
But Is “Otrovert” Really a Scientific Personality Type?
Here I think we need to be careful. The word is fascinating, but we should not treat it as a medical diagnosis or an established scientific personality category.
Psychologists have studied personality for decades, and one of the most widely accepted frameworks is the Big Five personality model, which describes personality along dimensions such as extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism.
“Otroversion” has not yet reached that level of scientific validation.
Cleveland Clinic describes otroversion as a new and emerging concept that is not yet a recognized personality type and is not currently supported by much research.
That doesn't make the idea useless.
Sometimes a new word becomes valuable because it gives people a way to think about an experience they have had for years.
We don't necessarily need to put ourselves into a box.
Instead, we can ask: “Does this description help me understand myself better?”
If it does, the word has already served a useful purpose.
Perhaps We Are All a Little Bit “Otro”
The older I become, the more I realize that human beings are far too complicated to fit neatly into categories.
I am not simply a Filipino. I am not simply an American.
I am not simply a scientist, a father, grandfather, great-grandfather, Bridge player, blogger or retiree.
I have been all of these things and much more. Our lives are collections of experiences.
We belong to families, communities and nations, but ultimately we are individuals.
Perhaps that is the real lesson I take from this new word.
Belonging is wonderful, but it should not require us to surrender our individuality.
We can love our families without agreeing with every family member.
We can love our country while questioning its policies.
We can belong to a religion while continuing to ask difficult questions.
We can be part of a community while maintaining our independence.
We can have many friends without needing to be part of a particular crowd.
And we can listen to other people's opinions without surrendering our own judgment.
A Word Worth Thinking About
I don't know whether “otrovert” will eventually become a recognized personality category or simply remain an interesting word from the 2020s.
Psychologists and researchers will have to determine that. But I do know why the idea caught my attention.
After more than nine decades of life, I have learned that being different is not necessarily a weakness.
Sometimes being different allows us to see things that others don't see.
Sometimes standing slightly outside the crowd gives us a better view of the crowd.
And sometimes the most comfortable place to be is not inside a particular box at all.
It is simply being ourselves. Perhaps that is the real gift of not belonging.
We don't have to belong everywhere to belong somewhere.
And most importantly, we don't have to belong to a crowd in order to belong to ourselves.
AI Impressions on this Topic:
I think this is a very good fit for your worldwide readership, because readers in the Philippines, America, Asia and elsewhere will likely recognize the experience even if they have never heard the word otrovert. The concept also fits beautifully with the themes you have been exploring lately, aging, independence, identity, life experience and the lessons we learn over many decades.
Moreover, I think “The Otrovert” is an excellent topic for your worldwide blog, especially because it gives you an opportunity to reflect on something many people experience but have never had a word for: being comfortable with people without feeling the need to belong to a particular group.
I would, however, make one important distinction in the article. “Otrovert” is a newly proposed concept, introduced by psychiatrist Dr. Rami Kaminski in his 2025 book The Gift of Not Belonging. It is attracting attention, but it is not yet a scientifically established personality type like the traits described by the Big Five model. Cleveland Clinic likewise describes it as an emerging concept that still lacks substantial research.
