Personality is any person 's collection of interrelated behavioral , cognitive , and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. These interrelated patterns are relatively stable, but can change over long time periods.
120-488: Although there is no consensus definition of personality, most theories focus on motivation and psychological interactions with one's environment. Trait-based personality theories, such as those defined by Raymond Cattell , define personality as traits that predict an individual's behavior. On the other hand, more behaviorally-based approaches define personality through learning and habits . Nevertheless, most theories view personality as relatively stable. The study of
240-447: A pragmatic guide for social norms . The term carries both positive and negative connotations, as it is viewed critically by anti-realist theorists but recognized for its practical benefits in fostering shared beliefs. Consensus reality differs from consensual reality, with the former representing mutual agreement about what is true. Artists and thinkers have challenged consensus reality, aiming to disrupt established norms and question
360-550: A biological basis of human personality. If personality traits are unique to the individual culture, then different traits should be apparent in different cultures. However, the idea that personality traits are universal across cultures is supported by establishing the Five-Factor Model of personality across multiple translations of the NEO-PI-R, which is one of the most widely used personality measures. When administering
480-419: A certain brusqueness of manner, or by his glum unapproachability, or some kind of malapropism, he causes unwitting offence to people... For him self-communings are a pleasure. His own world is a safe harbor, a carefully tended and walled-in garden, closed to the public and hidden from prying eyes. His own company is the best. He feels at home in his world, where the only changes are made by himself. His best work
600-414: A clinical measuring tool to diagnose psychiatric disorders and help with prognosis and therapy planning. Personality is frequently broken into factors or dimensions, statistically extracted from large questionnaires through factor analysis . When brought back to two dimensions, often the dimensions of introvert-extrovert and neuroticism (emotionally unstable-stable) are used as first proposed by Eysenck in
720-442: A continuum, and thus characterize the personality of philosophers of each camp. The "mental make-up" (i.e. personality) of rationalist philosophers is described as "tender-minded" and "going by "principles", and that of empiricist philosophers is described as "tough-minded" and "going by "facts." James distinguishes each not only in terms of the philosophical claims they made in 1907, but by arguing that such claims are made primarily on
840-775: A continuum, individuals may have a mixture of both orientations. A person who acts introverted in one situation may act extraverted in another, and people can learn to act in "counter dispositional" ways in certain situations. For example, Brian Little's free trait theory suggests that people can take on "free traits", behaving in ways that may not be their "first nature", but can strategically advance projects that are important to them. Together, this presents an optimistic view of what extraversion is. Rather than being fixed and stable, individuals vary in their extraverted behaviors across different moments, and can choose to act extraverted to advance important personal projects or even increase their happiness, as mentioned above. Researchers have found
960-434: A continuum. Goldberg (1992) developed a 20-word measure as part of his 100-word Big Five markers. Saucier (1994) developed a briefer 8-word measure as part of his 40-word mini-markers. However, the psychometric properties of Saucier's original mini-markers have been found to be suboptimal with samples outside of North America. As a result, a systematically revised measure was developed to have better psychometric properties,
1080-463: A correlation between extraversion and self-reported happiness. That is, more extraverted people tend to report higher levels of happiness than introverts. Other research has shown that being instructed to act in an extraverted manner leads to increases in positive affect, even for people who are trait-level introverts. Extraverts report experiencing more positive emotions, whereas introverts tend to be closer to neutral. This may be because extraversion
1200-422: A culture can also be useful evidence for the universality of traits across cultures, as the same underlying factors can still be found. Results from several European and Asian studies have found overlapping dimensions with the Five-Factor Model as well as additional culture-unique dimensions. Finding similar factors across cultures provides support for the universality of personality trait structure, but more research
1320-413: A disappointment and pathology". In contrast, Cain says that introversion is not a "second-class" trait but that both introverts and extraverts enrich society, with examples including the introverts Isaac Newton , Albert Einstein , Mahatma Gandhi , Dr. Seuss , W. B. Yeats , Steven Spielberg , and Larry Page . Most contemporary trait theories measure levels of extraversion-introversion as part of
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#17327755583661440-514: A disposition that generally leads them to experience a higher degree of positive affect. In their study of extraversion, Lucas and Baird found no statistically significant support for the instrumental theory but did, however, find that extraverts generally experience a higher level of positive affect. Research has been done to uncover some of the mediators that are responsible for the correlation between extraversion and happiness. Self-esteem and self-efficacy are two such mediators. Self-efficacy
1560-472: A distinct dislike of society as soon as he finds himself among too many people. In a large gathering he feels lonely and lost. The more crowded it is, the greater becomes his resistance. He is not in the least "with it," and has no love of enthusiastic get-togethers. He is not a good mixer. What he does, he does in his own way, barricading himself against influences from outside. He is apt to appear awkward, often seeming inhibited, and it frequently happens that, by
1680-469: A greater influence on happiness levels. Personality is not stable over the course of a lifetime, but it changes much more quickly during childhood, so personality constructs in children are referred to as temperament. Temperament is regarded as the precursor to personality. Another interesting finding has been the link found between acting extraverted and positive affect. Extraverted behaviors include acting talkative, assertive, adventurous, and outgoing. For
1800-581: A large longitudinal study by Diener , Sandvik, Pavot, and Fujita (1992), which assessed 14,407 participants from 100 areas of continental United States. Using the abbreviated General Well-Being Schedule, which tapped positive and negative affects, and Costa and McCrae's (1986). short version of the NEO 's Extraversion scale, the authors reported that extraverts experienced greater well-being at two points in time, during which data were collected: first between 1971 and 1975, and later between 1981 and 1984. However,
1920-495: A meta-analysis of 15 experience sampling studies has suggested that there is a great deal of overlap in the way that extraverts and introverts behave. In these studies, participants used mobile devices to report how extraverted (e.g., bold, talkative, assertive, outgoing) they were acting at multiple times during their daily lives. Fleeson and Gallagher (2009) found that extraverts regularly behave in an introverted way, and introverts regularly behave in an extraverted way. Indeed, there
2040-752: A meta-trait associated with mental and physical exploration). There are several personality frameworks that recognize the Big Five factors and there are thousands of measures of personality that can be used to measure specific facets as well as general traits. Some research has investigated whether the relationship between happiness and extraversion seen in adults also can be seen in children. The implications of these findings can help identify children who are more likely to experience episodes of depression and develop types of treatment that such children are likely to respond to. In both children and adults, research shows that genetics, as opposed to environmental factors, exert
2160-429: A non-existent thing cannot exist. Further, Spinoza's rationalism argued that the mind does not know itself, except insofar as it perceives the "ideas of the modifications of body", in describing its external perceptions, or perceptions from without. On the contrary, from within, Spinoza argued, perceptions connect various ideas clearly and distinctly. The mind is not the free cause of its actions for Spinoza. Spinoza equates
2280-536: A paranoia and active process of thought and so assist in discrediting completely the world of reality". Extraverted Extraversion and introversion are a central trait dimension in human personality theory. The terms were introduced into psychology by Carl Jung , though both the popular understanding and current psychological usage are not the same as Jung's original concept. Extraversion (also spelled extroversion ) tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion
2400-570: A person shows positive emotions of enthusiasm , energy, and excitement, that person is seen favorably by others and he or she gains others' attention. This favorable reaction from others likely encourages extraverts to engage in further extraverted behavior. Ashton, Lee, and Paunonen's (2002) study showed that their measure of social attention, the Social Attention Scale, was much more highly correlated with extraversion than were measures of reward sensitivity. Temperamental view
2520-497: A philosopher is dissatisfied with any other way of seeing things or not. James argued that temperament may be the basis of several divisions in academia, but focused on philosophy in his 1907 lectures on Pragmatism . In fact, James' lecture of 1907 fashioned a sort of trait theory of the empiricist and rationalist camps of philosophy. As in most modern trait theories, the traits of each camp are described by James as distinct and opposite, and maybe possessed in different proportions on
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#17327755583662640-1167: A positive correlation between introversion and total white matter volume. Task-related functional neuroimaging has shown that extraversion is associated with increased activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus, prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus , and the amygdala . Extraversion has also been linked to physiological factors such as respiration, through its association with surgency . Various differences in behavioral characteristics are attributed to extraverts and introverts. According to one study, extraverts tend to wear more decorative clothing, whereas introverts prefer practical, comfortable clothes. Extraverts are more likely to prefer more upbeat, conventional, and energetic music than introverts. Personality also influences how people arrange their work areas. In general, extraverts decorate their offices more, keep their doors open, keep extra chairs nearby, and are more likely to put dishes of candy on their desks. These are attempts to invite co-workers and encourage interaction. Introverts, in contrast, decorate less and tend to arrange their workspace to discourage social interaction. Despite these differences,
2760-556: A preference for a quiet, more minimally stimulating external environment. They prefer to concentrate on a single activity at a time and like to observe situations before they participate, especially observed in developing children and adolescents. They are more analytical before speaking. Mistaking introversion for shyness is a common error. Introversion is a preference, while shyness stems from distress. Introverts prefer solitary to social activities, but do not necessarily fear social encounters like shy people do. Susan Cain , author of
2880-491: A shared family environment between siblings has less influence on personality than individual experiences of each child. Identical twins have similar personalities largely because they share the same genetic makeup rather than their shared environment. There has been some recent debate over the subject of studying personality in a different culture. Some people think that personality comes entirely from culture and therefore there can be no meaningful study in cross-culture study. On
3000-572: A single, continuous dimension of personality, with some scores near one end, and others near the halfway mark. Ambiversion is falling more or less in the middle. Quiet author Susan Cain reported studies indicating that 33 to 50% of the American population are introverts. Particular demographics have higher prevalence, with a 6,000-subject MBTI -based survey indicating that 60% of attorneys, and 90% of intellectual property attorneys, are introverts. The extent of extraversion and introversion
3120-405: A test accurate. "Each item should be influenced to a degree by the underlying trait construct, giving rise to a pattern of positive intercorrelations so long as all items are oriented (worded) in the same direction." A recent, but not well-known, measuring tool that psychologists use is the 16PF . It measures personality based on Cattell's 16-factor theory of personality. Psychologists also use it as
3240-650: A variety of findings contradict the claims of the social activity hypothesis. Firstly, it was found that extraverts were happier than introverts even when alone. Specifically, extraverts tend to be happier regardless of whether they live alone or with others, or whether they live in a vibrant city or quiet rural environment. Similarly, a study by Diener , Sandvik, Pavot, and Fujita (1992) showed that although extraverts chose social jobs relatively more frequently (51%) than nonsocial jobs compared to introverts (38%), they were happier than introverts regardless of whether their occupations had social or nonsocial character. Secondly, it
3360-625: Is a result of the shifts in culture originating in the Renaissance , an essential element in modernity . In contrast, the Medieval European's sense of self was linked to a network of social roles: "the household , the Kinship network, the guild , the corporation – these were the building blocks of personhood". Stephen Greenblatt observes, in recounting the recovery (1417) and career of Lucretius ' poem De rerum natura : "at
3480-412: Is a single, objective , overall reality believed to exist irrespective of the perceptions of any given individual, and the idealistic approach, in which it is considered that an individual can verify nothing except their own experience of the world, and can never directly know the truth of the world independent of that. Berger and Luckmann argue that "reality is socially constructed and that
3600-538: Is an adjective). In other words, reality may also be non-consensual, as when one person's preferred version of reality conflicts with another person's preferred version of reality. Consensual reality is relevant to understanding a variety of social phenomena, such as deception. Artists, writers, and theorists have attempted to oppose or undermine consensus reality while others have declared that they are "ignoring" it. For example, Salvador Dalí intended by his paranoiac-critical method to "systematize confusion thanks to
3720-636: Is an inability to use any energy to make important or difficult decisions, plan for the future, control or regulate emotions, or perform effectively on other cognitive tasks. One question that has been posed is why extraverts tend to be happier than introverts. The two types of explanations that attempt to account for this difference are instrumental theories and temperamental theories. The instrumental theory suggests that extraverts end up making choices that place them in more positive situations and they also react more strongly than introverts to positive situations. The temperamental theory suggests that extroverts have
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3840-524: Is based on the notion that there is a direct link between people's personality traits and their sensitivity to positive and negative affects. The affective reactivity model states that the strength of a person's reactions to affect-relevant events are caused by people's differences in affect . This model is based on the reinforcement sensitivity theory by Jeffrey Alan Gray , which states that people with stronger behavioral activation system ( BAS ) are high in reward responsiveness and are predisposed to
3960-803: Is because the U.S. is a culture of external personality, whereas in some other cultures people are valued for their "inner selves and their moral rectitude". Other cultures, such as those in China , India , Japan , and regions where Eastern Orthodox Christianity , Buddhism , Hinduism , Sufism etc. prevail, prize introversion. These cultural differences predict individuals' happiness in that people who score higher in extraversion are happier, on average, in particularly extraverted cultures and vice versa. Despite this, extraverts are still seen as prototypical leaders in traditionally introverted cultures. Researchers have found that people who live on islands tend to be less extraverted (more introverted) than those living on
4080-403: Is believed that since extraverts are characterized as more sociable than introverts, they also possess higher levels of positive affect brought on by social interactions. Specifically, the results of Furnham and Brewin's study (1990) suggest that extraverts enjoy and participate more in social activities than introverts, and as a result extraverts report a higher level of happiness. Also, in
4200-433: Is done with his own resources, on his own initiative, and in his own way... Crowds, majority views, public opinion, popular enthusiasm never convince him of anything, but mere make him creep still deeper into his shell. His relations with other people become warm only when safety is guaranteed, and when he can lay aside his defensive distrust. All too often he cannot, and consequently the number of friends and acquaintances
4320-440: Is like, they might live in a different (or nonconsensus) reality. Materialists may not accept the idea of there being different possible realities for different people, rather than different beliefs about one reality . So for them only the first usage of the term reality would make sense. To them, someone believing otherwise, where the facts have been properly established, might be considered delusional . The connotation of
4440-519: Is likely to enjoy time spent with people and find less reward in time spent alone. They tend to be energized when around other people, and they are more prone to boredom when they are by themselves. Introversion is the state of primarily obtaining gratification from one's own mental life. Introverts are typically perceived as more reserved or reflective . Some popular psychologists have characterized introverts as people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction. This
4560-414: Is manifested in more reflective and reserved behavior. Jung defined introversion as an "attitude-type characterised by orientation in life through subjective psychic contents", and extraversion as "an attitude-type characterised by concentration of interest on the external object". Extraversion and introversion are typically viewed as a single continuum , so to be higher in one necessitates being lower in
4680-561: Is more about what one "does" than what one "has". Additionally, a study by Lippa (1978) found evidence for the extent to which individuals present themselves in a different way. This is called expressive behavior, and it is dependent upon the individuals' motivation and ability to control that behavior. Lippa (1978) examined 68 students who were asked to role-play by pretending to teach a math class. The students' level of extraversion and introversion were rated based on their external/expressive behaviors such as stride length, graphic expansiveness,
4800-597: Is most commonly assessed through self-report measures, although peer-reports and third-party observation can also be used. Self-report measures are either lexical or based on statements. The type of measure is determined by an assessment of psychometric properties, and the time and space constraints of the research being undertaken. Lexical measures use individual adjectives that reflect extravert and introvert traits, such as outgoing, talkative, reserved and quiet. Words representing introversion are reverse-coded to create composite measures of extraversion-introversion running on
4920-880: Is necessary to gain stronger support. Culture is an important factor in shaping the personality of individuals. Psychologists have found that cultural norms, beliefs, and practices shape the way people interact and behave with others, which can impact personality development (Cheung et al., 2011). Studies have identified cultural differences in personality traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, indicating that culture influences personality development (Allik & McCrae, 2004). For example, Western cultures value individualism, independence, and assertiveness, which are reflected in personality traits such as extraversion. In contrast, Eastern cultures value collectivism, cooperation, and social harmony, which are reflected in personality traits such as agreeableness (Cheung et al., 2011). The modern sense of individual personality
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5040-436: Is no relationship between extraversion and deactivated (calm) forms of positive affect such as contentment or serenity, although one study found a negative relationship between extraversion and deactivated positive affect (i.e. a positive relationship between introversion and calm positive affect). Moreover, the relationship between extraversion and activated positive affect is only significant for agentic extraversion, i.e. there
5160-414: Is no significant relationship between affiliative extraversion and activated positive affect, especially when controlling for neuroticism. An influential review article concluded that personality, specifically extraversion and emotional stability, was the best predictor of subjective well-being. As examples, Argyle and Lu (1990) found that the trait of extraversion, as measured by Extraversion Scale of
5280-473: Is not always an advantage. For example, extraverted youths are more likely to engage in antisocial or delinquent behavior. In line with this, certain evidence suggest that the trait of extraversion may also be related to that of psychopathy . Conversely, while introversion is perceived as less socially desirable, it is strongly associated with positive traits such as intelligence and "giftedness." Though more recent, large-scale meta-analyses have found that
5400-492: Is one's belief about abilities to perform up to personal standards, the ability to produce desired results, and the feeling of having some ability to make important life decisions. Self-efficacy has been found to be related to the personality traits of extraversion and subjective well-being. Self-efficacy, however, only partially mediates the relationship between extraversion (and neuroticism) and subjective happiness. This implies that there are most likely other factors that mediate
5520-536: Is out of character for introverts, it was shown to harm their well-being. Therefore, one way to preserve introverts' well-being is for them to recharge as often as possible in places where they can return to their true selves—places Little calls "restorative niches". However, it was also found that extraverts did not respond stronger to social situations than introverts, nor did they report bigger boosts of positive affect during such interactions. Another possible explanation for more happiness among extraverts comes from
5640-503: Is similar to Jung's view, although he focused on mental energy rather than physical energy. Few modern conceptions make this distinction. Introverts often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, or meditating. An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people. Introverts are easily overwhelmed by too much stimulation from social gatherings and engagement, introversion having even been defined by some in terms of
5760-585: Is socially preferable in contemporary Western culture and thus introversion feels less desirable. In addition to the research on happiness, other studies have found that extraverts tend to report higher levels of self-esteem than introverts. Others suggest that such results reflect socio-cultural bias in the survey itself. Dr. David Meyers has claimed that happiness is a matter of possessing three traits: self-esteem, optimism , and extraversion. Meyers bases his conclusions on studies that report extraverts to be happier; these findings have been questioned in light of
5880-531: Is the ability to maintain one's average level of happiness in the face of an ambiguous situation – meaning a situation that has the potential to engender either positive or negative emotions in different individuals. It has been found to be a stronger force in extroverts. This means that the happiness levels of extraverted individuals are less susceptible to the influence of external events. This finding implies that extraverts' positive moods last longer than those of introverts. Modern conceptions of personality, such as
6000-486: Is the state of primarily obtaining gratification from outside oneself. Extraverts tend to enjoy human interactions and to be enthusiastic , talkative , assertive , and gregarious . Extraverts are energized and thrive off being around other people. They take pleasure in activities that involve large social gatherings, such as parties, community activities, public demonstrations, and business or political groups. They also tend to work well in groups. An extraverted person
6120-404: Is very restricted. In the 1950s, British psychologist Hans Eysenck theorized that the trait of introversion-extraversion could be explained in terms of Clark Hull's drive theory of motivation. He later developed his own arousal theory to explain individual differences in the trait, suggesting that the brains of extraverts were chronically under-aroused, leading them to seek out stimulation from
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#17327755583666240-775: Is α of 0.85. Statement measures tend to contain more words, and hence consume more research instrument space, than lexical measures. Respondents are asked the extent to which they, for example, "Talk to a lot of different people at parties or Often feel uncomfortable around others". While some statement-based measures of extraversion-introversion have similarly acceptable psychometric properties in North American populations to lexical measures, their generally emic development makes them less suited to use in other populations. For example, statements asking about talkativeness in parties are hard to answer meaningfully by those who do not attend parties, as Americans are assumed to do. Moreover,
6360-690: The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), was positively and significantly correlated with positive affect, as measured by the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Using the same positive affect and extraversion scales, Hills and Argyle (2001) found that positive affect was again significantly correlated with extraversion. Also, the study by Emmons and Diener (1986) showed that extraversion correlates positively and significantly with positive affect but not with negative affect . Similar results were found in
6480-588: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory , and the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator . In September 1909, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung used the term introverted in a lecture at Clark University . A transcript of this lecture was then published with two others in a journal in 1910, the first time the term appeared in print. In the lecture he mentions that love that is "introverted", "is turned inward into
6600-473: The Temperament and Character Inventory have suggested four basic temperaments that are thought to reflect basic and automatic responses to danger and reward that rely on associative learning. The four temperaments, harm avoidance , reward dependence , novelty-seeking and persistence , are somewhat analogous to ancient conceptions of melancholic, sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic personality types, although
6720-446: The anterior cingulate gyrus , temporal lobes , and posterior thalamus, which are involved in sensory and emotional experience. This study and other research indicate that introversion-extraversion is related to individual differences in brain function. A study on regional brain volume found a positive correlation between introversion and grey matter volume in the right prefrontal cortex and right temporoparietal junction , as well as
6840-503: The sociology of knowledge must analyze the process in which this occurs". Rather than being a purely philosophical topic, the question of reality includes, for them, the sociological study of consensus reality. Consider this example: consensus reality for people who follow a particular theocentric religion is different from consensus reality for those who follow another theocentric religion, or from those that eschew theocentric religions in favor of science alone, for explaining life and
6960-463: The universe . In societies where theocentric religions are dominant, the religious understanding of existence would be the consensus reality. In a predominantly secular society, where the consensus reality is grounded in science alone, the religious worldview would be the non-consensus (or alternative) reality. In this way, different individuals and communities have fundamentally different world views , with fundamentally different comprehensions of
7080-459: The "stimulation" hypothesis is that introverts salivate more than extraverts in response to a drop of lemon juice. This is due to increased activity in their ARAS, which responds to stimuli like food or social contact. Extraversion has been linked to higher sensitivity of the mesolimbic dopamine system to potentially rewarding stimuli. This in part explains the high levels of positive affect found in extraverts, since they will more intensely feel
7200-810: The 1960s. Many factor analyses found what is called the Big Five , which are openness to experience , conscientiousness , extraversion , agreeableness , and neuroticism (or emotional stability), known as "OCEAN". These components are generally stable over time, and about half of the variance appears to be attributable to a person's genetics rather than the effects of one's environment. These five factors are made up of two aspects each as well as many facets (e.g., openness splits into experiencing and intellect, which each further split into facets like fantasy and ideas). These five factors also show correlations with each other that suggest higher order meta-traits (e.g., factor beta, which combines openness and extraversion to form
7320-559: The International English Mini-Markers. The International English Mini-Markers has good internal consistency reliabilities, and other validity , for assessing extraversion-introversion and other five-factor personality dimensions, both within and, especially, without American populations. Internal consistency reliability of the extraversion measure for native English-speakers is reported as a Cronbach's alpha (α) of 0.92, that for non-native English-speakers
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#17327755583667440-468: The NEO-PI-R to 7,134 people across six languages, the results show a similar pattern of the same five underlying constructs that are found in the American factor structure. Similar results were found using the Big Five Inventory (BFI), as it was administered in 56 nations across 28 languages. The five factors continued to be supported both conceptually and statistically across major regions of
7560-601: The U.S. average on extraversion. Utah and the southeastern states of Florida and Georgia also score high on this personality trait. The most introverted states in the U.S. are Maryland , New Hampshire , Alaska , Washington , Oregon , and Vermont . People who live in the northwestern states of Idaho , Montana , and Wyoming are also relatively introverted. As earlier stated, extraverts are often found to have higher levels of positive affect than introverts. However, this relationship has only been found between extraversion and activated forms of positive affect. There
7680-649: The activation of aversive emotions, may influence gregariousness. Although extraversion is associated with many positive outcomes like higher levels of happiness, those extraverted people are also more likely to be exposed to communicable diseases , such as airborne infections , as they tend to have more contact with people. When individuals are more vulnerable to infection, the cost of being social will be relatively greater. Therefore, people tend to be less extraversive when they feel vulnerable and vice versa. Some claim that Americans live in an "extraverted society" that rewards extravert behavior and rejects introversion. This
7800-542: The active faculty produces and forms ideas, but does not presuppose thought, and thus cannot be within the thinking thing. The active faculty mustn't be within self because ideas are produced without any awareness of them, and are sometimes produced against one's will. Rationalist philosopher Benedictus Spinoza (1632–1677) argued that ideas are the first element constituting the human mind, but existed only for actually existing things. In other words, ideas of non-existent things are without meaning for Spinoza, because an idea of
7920-414: The activity facet of extraversion has the most sizable positive relations with cognitive abilities. For many years, researchers have found that introverts tend to be more successful in academic environments, which extraverts may find boring. Research shows that behavioral immune system , the psychological processes that infer infection risk from perceptual cues and respond to these perceptual cues through
8040-404: The authenticity of the world's reality. Children have sometimes been described or viewed as "inexperience[d] with consensus reality," though are described as such with the expectation that their perspective will progressively form closer to the consensus reality of their society as they age. In considering the nature of reality, two broad approaches exist: the realist approach, in which there
8160-513: The basis of human traits rather than within certain cultures. This can be measured by comparing whether assessment tools are measuring similar constructs across countries or cultures. Two approaches to researching personality are looking at emic and etic traits. Emic traits are constructs unique to each culture, which are determined by local customs, thoughts, beliefs, and characteristics. Etic traits are considered universal constructs, which establish traits that are evident across cultures that represent
8280-465: The basis of temperament. Furthermore, such categorization was only incidental to James' purpose of explaining his pragmatist philosophy and is not exhaustive. According to James, the temperament of rationalist philosophers differed fundamentally from the temperament of empiricist philosophers of his day. The tendency of rationalist philosophers toward refinement and superficiality never satisfied an empiricist temper of mind. Rationalism leads to
8400-413: The book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking , argues that modern Western culture misjudges the capabilities of introverted people, leading to a waste of talent, energy, and happiness. Cain describes how society is biased against introverts, and that, with people being taught from childhood that to be sociable is to be happy, introversion is now considered "somewhere between
8520-487: The brain relates to various psychological processes and behaviors. For instance, in human beings, the frontal lobes are responsible for foresight and anticipation, and the occipital lobes are responsible for processing visual information. In addition, certain physiological functions such as hormone secretion also affect personality. For example, the hormone testosterone is important for sociability, affectivity, aggressiveness , and sexuality. Additionally, studies show that
8640-399: The core of the poem lay key principles of a modern understanding of the world." "Dependent on the family, the individual alone was nothing," Jacques Gélis observes. "The characteristic mark of the modern man has two parts: one internal, the other external; one dealing with his environment, the other with his attitudes, values, and feelings." Rather than being linked to a network of social roles,
8760-449: The creation of closed systems , and such optimism is considered shallow by the fact-loving mind, for whom perfection is far off. Rationalism is regarded as pretension , and a temperament most inclined to abstraction . Empiricists , on the other hand, stick with the external senses rather than logic. British empiricist John Locke 's (1632–1704) explanation of personal identity provides an example of what James referred to. Locke explains
8880-498: The creation of life circumstances, which promote high levels of positive affect . Specifically, the personality trait of extraversion is seen as a facilitator of more social interactions, since the low cortical arousal among extraverts results in them seeking more social situations in order to increase their arousal. According to the social activity hypothesis, more frequent participation in social situations creates more frequent, and higher levels, of positive affect . Therefore, it
9000-420: The development of conditioned reflexes in the process of education and socialization. Some idealists ( subjective idealists ) hold the view that there isn't one particular way things are, but rather that each person's personal reality is unique. Such idealists have the world view which says that we each create our own reality, and while most people may be in general agreement (consensus) about what reality
9120-531: The environment. The trait of introversion-extraversion would become one of three central traits in Eysenck's PEN theory of personality. William McDougall discussed Jung's conception, and reached this conclusion: "the introverts are those in whom reflective thought inhibits and postpones action and expression: the extroverts are those in whom the energies liberated upon the stirring of any propensity flow out freely in outward action and expression." Extraversion
9240-457: The excitement of a potential reward. One consequence of this is that extraverts can more easily learn the contingencies for positive reinforcement , since the reward itself is experienced as greater. One study found that introverts have more blood flow in the frontal lobes of their brain and the anterior or frontal thalamus , which are areas dealing with internal processing, such as planning and problem solving. Extraverts have more blood flow in
9360-445: The expression of a personality trait depends on the volume of the brain cortex it is associated with. Personology confers a multidimensional, complex, and comprehensive approach to personality. According to Henry A. Murray , personology is: The branch of psychology which concerns itself with the study of human lives and the factors that influence their course which investigates individual differences and types of personality ...
9480-508: The fact that the "happiness" prompts given to the studies' subjects, such as "I like to be with others" and "I'm fun to be with," only measure happiness among extraverts. Also, according to Carl Jung, introverts acknowledge more readily their psychological needs and problems, whereas extraverts tend to be oblivious to them because they focus more on the outer world. Although extraversion is perceived as socially desirable in Western culture, it
9600-405: The generally agreed-upon version of reality within a community or society , shaped by shared experiences and understandings . This understanding arises from the inherent differences in individual perspectives or subjectivities relating to knowledge or ontology , leading to uncertainties about what is real. While various viewpoints exist, people strive to establish a consensus , serving as
9720-399: The high correlation between extraversion and happiness comes from the study by Ashton, Lee, and Paunonen (2002). They suggested that the core element of extraversion is a tendency to behave in ways that attract, hold, and enjoy social attention, and not reward sensitivity. They claimed that one of the fundamental qualities of social attention is its potential of being rewarding. Therefore, if
9840-526: The identity of a person, i.e. personality, on the basis of a precise definition of identity, by which the meaning of identity differs according to what it is being applied to. The identity of a person is quite distinct from the identity of a man, woman, or substance according to Locke. Locke concludes that consciousness is personality because it "always accompanies thinking, it is that which makes everyone to be what he calls self," and remains constant in different places at different times. Rationalists conceived of
9960-518: The identity of persons differently than empiricists such as Locke who distinguished identity of substance, person, and life. According to Locke, René Descartes (1596–1650) agreed only insofar as he did not argue that one immaterial spirit is the basis of the person "for fear of making brutes thinking things too." According to James, Locke tolerated arguments that a soul was behind the consciousness of any person. However, Locke's successor David Hume (1711–1776), and empirical psychologists after him denied
10080-811: The influence of the first theorists in the field, a group that includes Sigmund Freud , Alfred Adler , Gordon Allport , Hans Eysenck , Abraham Maslow , and Carl Rogers . Personality can be determined through a variety of tests. Due to the fact that personality is a complex idea, the dimensions of personality and scales of such tests vary and often are poorly defined. Two main tools to measure personality are objective tests and projective measures. Examples of such tests are the: Big Five Inventory (BFI), Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), Rorschach Inkblot test , Neurotic Personality Questionnaire KON-2006 , or Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R). All of these tests are beneficial because they have both reliability and validity , two factors that make
10200-451: The latter study did not control for neuroticism, an important covariate when investigating relationships between extraversion and positive affect or wellbeing. Studies that controlled for neuroticism have found no significant relationship between extraversion and subjective well-being. Larsen and Ketelaar (1991) showed that extraverts respond more to positive affect than to negative affect, since they exhibit more positive-affect reactivity to
10320-696: The level of extraversion is controversial and the focus of many studies. Twin studies have found a genetic component of 39% to 58%. In terms of the environmental component, the shared family environment appears to be far less important than individual environmental factors that are not shared between siblings. Eysenck proposed that extraversion was caused by variability in cortical arousal. He hypothesized that introverts are characterized by higher levels of activity than extraverts and so are chronically more cortically aroused than extraverts. That extraverts require more external stimulation than introverts has been interpreted as evidence for this hypothesis. Other evidence of
10440-570: The mainland, and that people whose ancestors had inhabited the island for twenty generations tend to be less extraverted than more recent arrivals. Furthermore, people who emigrate from islands to the mainland tend to be more extraverted than people that stay on islands, and those that immigrate to islands. In the United States, researchers have found that people living in the midwestern states of North Dakota , South Dakota , Nebraska , Minnesota , Wisconsin , and Illinois score higher than
10560-448: The modern man is largely influenced by the environmental factors such as: "urbanization, education, mass communication, industrialization, and politicization." William James (1842–1910) argued that temperament explains a great deal of the controversies in the history of philosophy by arguing that it is a very influential premise in the arguments of philosophers. Despite seeking only impersonal reasons for their conclusions, James argued,
10680-785: The occurrence of life experiences. One study has shown how the home environment, specifically the types of parents a person has, can affect and shape their personality. Mary Ainsworth's strange situation experiment showcased how babies reacted to having their mother leave them alone in a room with a stranger. The different styles of attachment, labeled by Ainsworth, were Secure, Ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized. Children who were securely attached tend to be more trusting, sociable, and are confident in their day-to-day life. Children who were disorganized were reported to have higher levels of anxiety, anger, and risk-taking behavior. Judith Rich Harris 's group socialization theory postulates that an individual's peer groups, rather than parental figures, are
10800-416: The other hand, many believe that some elements are shared by all cultures and an effort is being made to demonstrate the cross-cultural applicability of "the Big Five". Cross-cultural assessment depends on the universality of personality traits, which is whether there are common traits among humans regardless of culture or other factors. If there is a common foundation of personality, then it can be studied on
10920-421: The other. Jung provides a different perspective and suggests that everyone has both an extraverted side and an introverted side, with one being more dominant than the other. Virtually all comprehensive models of personality include these concepts in various forms. Examples include the Big Five model , Jung's analytical psychology , Hans Eysenck 's three-factor model , Raymond Cattell 's 16 personality factors ,
11040-583: The parental style or home environment. Tessuya Kawamoto's Personality Change from Life Experiences: Moderation Effect of Attachment Security talked about some significant laboratory tests. The study mainly focused on the effects of life experiences on change in personality and life experiences. The assessments suggested that "the accumulation of small daily experiences may work for the personality development of university students and that environmental influences may vary by individual susceptibility to experiences, like attachment security". Some studies suggest that
11160-411: The perceived nature of the world they live in. Charles Tart in his book "The Awakening" proposed an alternative term - " conditioned reality " ( conditioned or conditional reality ), pointing out the inaccuracy of the term "consensus reality", since no one asks an individual for consent whether he wants to live in a "generally accepted reality", because he is accustomed to it through “ conditioning ” -
11280-653: The percentage of time they spent talking, the amount of time they spent making eye contact, and the total time of each teaching session. This study found that actual introverts were perceived and judged as having more extraverted-looking expressive behaviors because they were higher in terms of their self-monitoring. This means that the introverts consciously put more effort into presenting a more extraverted, and rather socially desirable, version of themselves. Thus, individuals are able to regulate and modify behavior based on their environmental situations. Humans are complex and unique, and because introversion-extraversion varies along
11400-830: The personality trait of extraversion, while people with a stronger behavioral inhibition system ( BIS ) are lower in reward responsiveness and are more predisposed to personality trait of neuroticism and introversion. Therefore, extraverts are seen as having a temperamental predisposition to positive affect since positive mood induction has a greater effect on them than on introverts, thus extraverts are more prone to react to pleasant effects. For example, Gable, Reis, and Elliot (2000). found in two consecutive studies that people with more sensitive BIS reported higher levels of average negative affect, while people with more sensitive BAS reported higher levels of positive affect. Also, Zelenski and Larsen (1999) found that people with more sensitive BAS reported more positive emotions during
11520-409: The phenomenon of ego depletion. Ego depletion , or cognitive fatigue, is the use of one's energy to overtly act in a way that is contrary to one's inner disposition. When people act in a contrary fashion, they divert most, if not all, (cognitive) energy toward regulating this foreign style of behavior and attitudes. Because all available energy is being used to maintain this contrary behavior, the result
11640-656: The positive mood induction, while people with more sensitive BIS reported more negative emotions during the negative mood induction. The social reactivity theory alleges that all humans, whether they like it or not, are required to participate in social situations. Since extraverts prefer engaging in social interactions more than introverts, they also derive more positive affect from such situations than introverts do. The support for this theory comes from work of Brian R. Little, who popularized concept of "restorative niches". Little claimed that life often requires people to participate in social situations, and since acting social
11760-437: The positive-affect induction, yet they do not react more negatively to the negative-affect induction. The instrumental view proposes that personality traits give rise to conditions and actions, which have affective consequences, and thus generate individual differences in emotionality. According to the instrumental view, one explanation for greater subjective well-being among extraverts could be that extraversion helps in
11880-404: The primary influence of personality and behavior in adulthood. Intra- and intergroup processes, not dyadic relationships such as parent-child relationships, are responsible for the transmission of culture and for environmental modification of children's personality characteristics. Thus, this theory points at the peer group representing the environmental influence on a child's personality rather than
12000-403: The psychology of personality, called personality psychology , attempts to explain the tendencies that underlie differences in behavior. Psychologists have taken many different approaches to the study of personality, including biological, cognitive, learning, and trait-based theories, as well as psychodynamic, and humanistic approaches. The various approaches used to study personality today reflect
12120-574: The purposes of this study, positive affect is defined as experiences of happy and enjoyable emotions. This study investigated the effects of acting in a way that is counter to a person's dispositional nature. In other words, the study focused on the benefits and drawbacks of introverts (people who are shy, socially inhibited, and non-aggressive) acting extraverted, and of extraverts acting introverted. After acting extraverted, introverts' experience of positive affect increased whereas extraverts seemed to experience lower levels of positive affect and suffered from
12240-408: The quality of this participation differs. The more frequent social participation among extraverts could be explained by the fact that extraverts know more people, but those people are not necessarily their close friends, whereas introverts, when participating in social interactions, are more selective and have only few close friends with whom they have special relationships. Yet another explanation of
12360-406: The relationship between subjective happiness and personality traits. Self-esteem maybe another similar factor. Individuals with a greater degree of confidence about themselves and their abilities seem to have both higher degrees of subjective well-being and higher levels of extraversion. Other research has examined the phenomenon of mood maintenance as another possible mediator. Mood maintenance
12480-638: The result of underlying differences in brain physiology. Eysenck associated cortical inhibition and excitation with the ascending reticular activation system (ARAS), a pathway located in the brainstem . Extraverts seek excitement and social activity in an effort to raise their naturally low arousal level, whereas introverts tend to avoid social situations in an effort to avoid raising their naturally high arousal level too far. Eysenck designated extraversion as one of three major traits in his P-E-N model of personality, which also includes psychoticism and neuroticism . Eysenck originally suggested that extraversion
12600-477: The science of men, taken as gross units ... encompassing " psychoanalysis " ( Freud ), " analytical psychology " ( Jung ), " individual psychology " ( Adler ) and other terms that stand for methods of inquiry or doctrines rather than realms of knowledge. From a holistic perspective, personology studies personality as a whole, as a system, but at the same time through all its components, levels, and spheres. Consensus reality Consensus reality refers to
12720-473: The sometimes colloquial North American language of statements makes them less suited for use outside America. For instance, statements like "Keep in the background" and "Know how to captivate people" are sometimes hard for non-native English-speakers to understand, except in a literal sense. Hans Eysenck described extraversion-introversion as the degree to which a person is outgoing and interactive with other people. These behavioral differences are presumed to be
12840-465: The soul except for being a term to describe the cohesion of inner lives. However, some research suggests Hume excluded personal identity from his opus An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding because he thought his argument was sufficient but not compelling. Descartes himself distinguished active and passive faculties of mind, each contributing to thinking and consciousness in different ways. The passive faculty, Descartes argued, simply receives, whereas
12960-684: The striatum and reduced auto receptor availability in the midbrain. Reward dependence has been linked with the oxytocin system, with increased concentration of plasma oxytocin being observed, as well as increased volume in oxytocin-related regions of the hypothalamus . Persistence has been associated with increased striatal- mPFC connectivity, increased activation of ventral striatal-orbitofrontal-anterior cingulate circuits, as well as increased salivary amylase levels indicative of increased noradrenergic tone. It has been shown that personality traits are more malleable by environmental influences than researchers originally believed. Personality differences predict
13080-450: The study of Argyle and Lu (1990) extraverts were found to be less likely to avoid participation in noisy social activities, and to be more likely to participate in social activities such as party games, jokes, or going to the cinema. Similar results were reported by Diener , Larsen , and Emmons (1984) who found that extraverts seek social situations more often than introverts, especially when engaging in recreational activities. However,
13200-461: The subject and there produces increased imaginative activity". His 1921 book Psychologische Typen was published as Personality Types in English in 1923. It described the "introverted" in detail for the first time. In his later paper, Psychologische Typologie , he gives a more concise definition of the introverted type, writing: He holds aloof from external happenings, does not join in, has
13320-409: The temperament of philosophers influenced their philosophy. Temperament thus conceived is tantamount to a bias. Such bias, James explained, was a consequence of the trust philosophers place in their own temperament. James thought the significance of his observation lay on the premise that in philosophy an objective measure of success is whether philosophy is peculiar to its philosopher or not, and whether
13440-456: The temperaments reflect dimensions rather than distance categories. The harm avoidance trait has been associated with increased reactivity in insular and amygdala salience networks, as well as reduced 5-HT2 receptor binding peripherally, and reduced GABA concentrations. Novelty seeking has been associated with reduced activity in insular salience networks increased striatal connectivity. Novelty seeking correlates with dopamine synthesis capacity in
13560-441: The term "consensus reality" is usually disparaging: it is usually employed by idealist , surrealist and other anti-realist theorists opposing or hostile to this "reality," with the implication that this consensus reality is, to a greater or lesser extent, created by those who experience it. (The phrase "consensus reality" may be used more loosely to refer to any generally accepted set of beliefs.) However, there are those who use
13680-414: The term approvingly for the practical benefits of all agreeing on a common set of assumptions or experiences. Consensus reality is related to, but distinct from, consensual reality. The difference between these terms is that whereas consensus reality describes a state of mutual agreement about what is true (consensus is a noun), consensual reality describes a type of agreement about what is true (consensual
13800-411: The will with the understanding and explains the common distinction of these things as being two different things as an error which results from the individual's misunderstanding of the nature of thinking. The biological basis of personality is the theory that anatomical structures located in the brain contribute to personality traits. This stems from neuropsychology , which studies how the structure of
13920-409: The world around them, and of the constructs within which they live. Thus, a society that is, for example, completely secular and one which believes every eventuality to be subject to metaphysical influence will have very different consensus realities, and many of their beliefs on broad issues such as science , slavery , and human sacrifice may differ in direct consequence because of the differences in
14040-583: The world, suggesting that these underlying factors are common across cultures. There are some differences across culture, but they may be a consequence of using a lexical approach to study personality structures, as language has limitations in translation and different cultures have unique words to describe emotion or situations. Differences across cultures could be due to real cultural differences, but they could also be consequences of poor translations, biased sampling, or differences in response styles across cultures. Examining personality questionnaires developed within
14160-600: Was a combination of two major tendencies, impulsiveness and sociability. He later added several other more specific traits, namely liveliness, activity level, and excitability. These traits are further linked in his personality hierarchy to even more specific habitual responses, such as partying on the weekend. Eysenck compared this trait to the four temperaments of ancient medicine, with choleric and sanguine temperaments equating to extraversion, and melancholic and phlegmatic temperaments equating to introversion. The relative importance of nature versus environment in determining
14280-511: Was found that extraverts only sometimes reported greater amounts of social activity than introverts, but in general extraverts and introverts do not differ in the quantity of their socialization. Similar finding was reported by Srivastava, Angelo, and Vallereux (2008), who found that extraverts and introverts both enjoy participating in social interactions, but extraverts participate socially more. Thirdly, studies have shown that both extraverts and introverts participate in social relations, but that
14400-438: Was more within-person variability than between-person variability in extraverted behaviors. The key feature that distinguishes extraverts and introverts was that extraverts tend to act moderately extraverted about 5–10% more often than introverts. From this perspective, extraverts and introverts are not "fundamentally different". Rather, an "extravert" is just someone who acts more extraverted more often, suggesting that extraversion
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