Many cliches try to describe extraversion, such as the social lion, the natural leader, and the life of the party. As we move into the third part of our story on the Big Five personality traits, we'll see that there aren't many traits with so many different ideas about them.
In 2012, in The Benefit of Being a Wallflower, the character Patrick says this about his friend Charlie. Even though Wallflower might not sound like the nicest name, the movie was part of a trend called re-evaluating introversion. American lawyer and author Susan Cain wrote the best-selling book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts within a World that Can't Stop Talking.
It came out earlier that same year. It was talked about on Oprah, was on the cover of Time Magazine, was named the 2012 Book of the Year by the British Psychological Society, and has already been translated into 40 languages. Suddenly, everyone was talking about how good it would be to score lower on the Extraversion trait.
This re-evaluation came after Extraversion had been the most important trait for almost 100 years. American writer David Brooks and others have said that the United States' cultural dominance in the 20th century led to a culture of personality.
This is a desire for strong, attractive people who can take over a room with charm, energy, and boldness. Today, a decade after Quiet and Patrick's praise of the Wallflower, we might be getting closer to a more complex understanding of the pros and cons of each point on the Extraversion scale.
One way to think about extraversion involves considering how much a person's interests and wants are focused on others or themselves. A person who scores high on extraversion has a lot of interest in the outside world and needs a lot of excitement from other people.
High extraversion also means you are willing to lead and direct others. A highly outgoing person has a lot of energy, which shows in how they act and the fact that they like to be in places with a lot going on.
When people score lower on this scale, they don't need as much social interaction and can be overstimulated more easily. More shy people need alone time more and get tired more quickly in social situations like loud parties and house guests.
This doesn't mean that they don't get energy from being around other people. As seen during the covid-lockdowns, most people get important benefits for their mental health from being around other people. The difference is that more shy people need less time with other people.
Maybe they only need to go out once a week instead of making plans for the next few months. More shy people tend to like more private situations, like a one-on-one talk or a small-group game. Most of the time, they are more interested in their inner lives than more outgoing people. They also seem quieter, less active, and more introspective.
You may have noticed that we haven't used "introvert" or "extrovert" yet. Too often, those are shown as two different "kinds." But the meaning of extraversion in psychology is that it is spread out like the other Big Five traits. That is, there is a range that goes from very shy to very outgoing, and most people are somewhere in the middle.
In other words, most people like to spend some time alone and with others. Extremes are much less common. Depending on where a person falls on the "facets" or "subscales," there are important differences in how they show their extraversion. Personality test looks at assertiveness, ability to get along with other people, and energy level.
Assertiveness is an aspect of Extraversion that involves saying what you think, standing up for yourself, and taking charge. It's no news that this makes people look like leaders and often makes them want to be leaders.
A person with high confidence is not afraid to say what they think and stands by it, even if others disagree. A less aggressive person is more likely to be flexible and give in to other people's ideas, especially when pushed. They also don't feel as good when they're in charge. Most of the time, they'd rather be followers.
This is where the "social lion" often linked to Extraversion can be found. High scores on Sociability suggest a talkative, eager "people person" who loves spending time with others and likes being the center of attention. People with lower scores are shyer and required to be alone more often than they need to be with other people.
Do you like loud parties, scary roller coasters, and crowded city centers? Then you're likely to score high on the "Energy Level" side, meaning you like high-energy places and have a high overall energy level. You might look slightly more reserved and like to do quieter things at lower amounts of this trait.
On the other hand, someone could be the life of the party and love to talk to people but have a hard time being in charge. These combos have much to do with how well you can do different jobs.
Imagine you are a candidate looking to fill a job as a business analyst. You have reached the interview stage.
The first person who goes in seems a little shy. They don't make much eye contact, and they don't say much. They don't say more than they must, answer your questions in short bursts, and don't act too important. When you ask them what they think about something like your website or a news story about your business, they are modest and give a standard "on the one hand, on the other" answer.
Then, a candidate with a lot of charm walks in. They give a speech about how happy they are to be here and how close they came to not making it to the office. There are lots of jokes and smiles, so you laugh, and the time goes by quickly. Your questions receive thorough lengthy answers. All you have to do is observe as the candidate poses questions and keeps the talk going. You feel like you're being listened to. Their opinions are given with confidence and force.
Many studies have shown that people with high extroversion have an edge when getting hired. Most importantly, more outgoing people get better scores in assessment sites and standard job interviews.
This is less of a problem if the part needs extraverted traits, like being dominant in social situations, being friendly, or looking excited and interested. Structured ways seem to be the best way to level the playing field. For example, in behavior-based interviews, the effect of being extraverted is much smaller than in standard ones.
When it comes to job success, extraversion is among the traits that have a lot to do with how well the person fits the role. There is clear evidence for some types of jobs that being extraverted is a good thing. High extraversion is a good predictor of job success in two broad areas of jobs: management and sales.
A lower score on this trait might be better for some jobs, like those that require a lot of time alone and quiet concentration. Still, it doesn't seem to matter much to some people. For example, semi-skilled workers and various white-collar professionals appear to do well at various degrees of Extraversion.
Different jobs care about different parts of extraversion to make things even more complicated. As we've already discussed, Assertiveness is more important for leadership roles than Sociability. To be a leader or boss, you must be happy taking the lead, voicing your opinion, and showing people where to go.
For sales jobs, on the other hand, job performance is linked to both being friendly and being able to stand up for yourself. When you think about it, this doesn't come as a surprise: a salesperson usually spends much of their day talking to leads and customers.
If you wouldn't enjoy that or have a low bar for getting "socially drained," it would be hard for you to bounce back after getting a "no," You'd probably struggle to do well at your job and hate it soon. Extraverted people tend to be driven by fame and success, which have been demonstrated to predict sales performance.
It's interesting that extraversion's effect on how well someone does their job also seems to depend on how conscientious they are. In a study, sales reps, customer service reps, clerical staff, and office workers who didn't sell anything were asked about this effect.
On the other hand, workers with lower levels of Conscientiousness did worse on the job when they were extraverted. In other words, the best and worst performance scores went to outgoing people.
One finding was that extraversion works best when paired with a feeling of duty, a focus on results, and discipline. So, a candidate who talks a lot doesn't always work less hard, but their talkativeness hurts their success when they do. A full Big Five personality test is the best way to find out.
However, extraversion seems to be more regularly helpful when more work-related results are considered. In a thorough study, researchers looked at the link between this trait and many different results, such as schooling, job applications, performance, work success, well-being, and job views.
They concluded that being extraverted "gives a small but lasting advantage throughout domains and a person's life." The writers described this by listing four benefits of extroverted people. Extraverted people tend to focus on what they want to get instead of what they want to prevent. This way of thinking has been linked to more happiness and success in the workplace.
