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Extraversion: Behavior and Causes

January 21, 2011

Featured Content, Psychology

Last Tuesday I asked people to respond to a short survey about intro- and extraversion. I received 15 submissions, which was more than I had expected, thank you all!

The survey existed out of 10 simple questions with which I can measure extraversion. Now, this was only a very short sample test.

Extraversion is one of the factors of the “Big Five”, a five factor model designed to measure the personality traits extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness (by now I can type that correctly in one try!). A true Big Five test consists out of a lot more questions to measure the traits more reliably.

Generally, 60-75% of the (western) population is made up by extraverts, and the rest is made up by introverts and ambiverts (those that are as introverted as they are extraverted). The distribution in our group looked as follows:

The distribution in our test sample

 

There could be many reasons for the big difference between two statistics. First, we didn’t take a full Big Five test. Second, to measure extraversion in a population, you need very many people, so 15 people is not enough by far to make any solid conclusions.

Interestingly, those who tested as extraverted, had jobs that you’d relate to extraverted people: most of them had jobs that deal with people on a daily basis. The more introverted people were mostly writers. What was equally interesting is that 20% of the participants thought they were more (or less) extraverted than they tested.

Differences in behavior

There are different levels within the , but those that are undoubtedly extraverted love to party – they engage in frequent social interaction, take the lead in livening up dull gatherings and enjoy talking a lot. Extraverts often assume leadership positions, whereas introverts tend to retreat from social situations much quicker.

Causes

Eysenck, a British psychologist suggested that the differences between people in their extraversion is caused by differences in brain physiology. Extraverts seek excitement and social activity to heighten their arousal level, whereas introverts tend to avoid such situation to keep arousal to a minimum. He hypothesized that introverts have higher levels of cortical activity and thus are always more aroused than extraverts.

Basically, the extravert needs a lot more external stimuli than an introvert to function properly. The treshold for stimuli lies much lower for an introvert, because their baserate of cortical activity is already much higher than that of an extravert. This means that an introvert is quicker and more easily tired from social interaction and excitement.

Besides brain physiology, researchers have found evidence, by conducting twin studies, that there is a genetic component of 38%-58% for extraversion.

How do you feel that your intro- or extraversion (or ambiversion) has influenced your life?

Tuesday I will discuss what the implications of extraversion and how it is regarded in different cultures. Stay tuned! :)

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About Manon Eileen

Dutch 23-year-old SF/F YA writer, BSc in Psychology and soon MA in Global Criminology. She is creative, easily bored, and craves tea all the time. Also: "science isn't about why, it's about why not" - Cave Johnson.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/petersaintclair Peter Saint-Clair

    I probably came up introverted, which is how I see myself…I like it that way, though! Interesting experiment…you’ll have to do a full blown one, one of these days.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      If only I had the time! There are so many interesting experiments I could conduct… It usually takes months only to gather enough (viable) data.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Also, if you google “Big Five test”, you can find a lot of online (free) tests if you’re interested in your character traits :D I always find them to be a fun way to spend time… lol

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  • http://ajzaethe.com/ A.J. Zaethe

    I am very much Extroverted. I become very lazy and unmotivated if left alone. It affects my writing often, because I can’t write when alone. I get writers block and I despair. I need my peoples and friends. I very much wish I was an ambivert. However, I do show tendencies for introversion, or just social awkwardness. Either way, it is interesting and fun to know. (had taken a test in a book called Please Understand Me.) I highly recommend any of you, especially you, Manon, to pick it up. It is a good way to see yourself and not put yourself into your characters that are not based off yourself. (note, it is not a writing book. Still interesting.)

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks for reading and commenting, A.J.!

      And also, thanks for the recommendation, it sounds interesting!

  • Caitrin

    I am most definitely an introvert. I’ve heard another way of talking about extro/intro verts, what do you think of it? Basically it’s that extroverts feel energized the more time they spend with people, whereas introverts feel drained the more time they spend with people.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Yeah, I suppose that is kind of in line with “He [Eysenck] hypothesized that introverts have higher levels of cortical activity and thus are always more aroused than extraverts.” The introvert feels drained more quickly because their cortical activity is already higher than that of an extravert and the extravert actually *needs* it to heighten their cortical activity.

      If that makes sense at all >_>

      Thanks for reading and commenting, Cait :D

  • http://twitter.com/pathunstrom Patrick Thunstrom

    The comments about Eysenck’s theory are intriguing, and it is something I actually think I’ve seen in my own behavior. While I like working with people, my limit can be reached very quickly, especially if what’s going on in my head and around me are at odds for any reason.

    But then some days I can go for hours, no problems.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks for reading and for your comment, Patrick!

      I actually think that it’s something continuous. So say that an introvert hasn’t had much excitement for a couple of days, they might have some reserve and can go on for a few days, as you mention. But after those few days, they’re totally exhausted again. It’s not something that resets every day, I think.