What Can Science Tell US About Extroverts

According to multiple studies, our society values and rewards extroverts more than introverts. Yet, there is also a downside to such a lopsided preference.

?What Do Mothers Want?

?According to a study by Sophie von Stumm published in Personality and Individual Differences, ? new mothers rated extroversion as the most crucial characteristic despite strong evidence that intelligence and conscientiousness are essential predictors of academic and career success and stable marital relationships. Professor von Stumm said, “Given that higher levels of intelligence and conscientiousness are linked to positive life outcomes such as success at school, at work, and in relationships, it’s surprising that only 1 in 10 mothers valued them as the most important characteristics for their child. While extraversion can have many benefits, it is also associated with negative behaviours in adulthood, such as higher alcohol consumption and illegal drug use. Understanding how mothers view personality is vital as their values influence their parenting and how their child’s personality traits develop.”

What Are The Benefits in the Workplace?

A 2019 review of 97 meta-analyses of studies by M.P. Wilmot and colleagues published in? Applied Psychology ,? which examined the line between extraversion scores and workplace success concluded that the trait “confers a pervasive and robust advantage.” The study reported that compared with introverts, extroverts were more motivated to do well, got on better with others, felt more positive about life (including challenges at work), and got better employer evaluations.

However, the study reported a negative finding: while some were linked to greater workplace success—for example, enthusiasm, assertiveness, positive emotion and dominance, other aspects of extroversion, such as more sociability and sensation-seeking, were not. So, though being highly sociable is arguably the best-known characteristic of extraversion, this was not as important for getting a job or doing well at it as some of the other facets of work performance.

In another study on extroversion at work, Seth Margolis and Sonja Lyubomirsky?published a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology that concluded that extroverts tend not only to do better at work but also tend to be happier.

However, there is a dark lining to this bright cloud. Another study by Rowan Jacques-Hamilton found that for particularly introverted people, acting “like an extravert” — which meant trying to be more excited, lively and enthusiastic — can be so exhausting that it increases negative emotions.

Are Extroverts Better Leaders?

There is no question that the prevailing view is that extroverts make better leaders, particularly at the C-Suite level. Yet, research indicates that may not be true. ?A new?study ?published in the?Journal of Applied Psychology?contradicts that notion?—?showing that communication, not extroversion, may be the most important driver of leadership perceptions.

“Yes, people with superior communication skills have a leadership advantage,” says James Lemoine, Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources at the University at Buffalo School of Management and co-author of the study. “But no, it’s not extroversion that’s important since extroverts aren’t necessarily any better at interpersonal communication than introverts or ambiverts.”

Author of the best-selling book?Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, S usan Cain says American culture is dominated by what she calls the “Extrovert Ideal”, described as “the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha and comfortable in the spotlight”.?

According to Karl Moore, an associate professor of management at McGill University and an associate fellow at Oxford University who has studied ambiverts for years, based on interviews with 350 C-suite executives, 40% of top business leaders are extroverts, 40% are introverts, and 20% are “true ambiverts.” But he thinks that the pandemic’s unique conditions have compelled leaders of all stripes to attempt and behave more like ambiverts.

In a study published in?Psychological Science ,?Daniel C. Feiler of Dartmouth University found that extroverts tend to be overrepresented in social networks. Because outgoing, popular people tend to have many friends, they are disproportionately represented in social networks. “If you’re more extroverted, you may have a skewed view of how extraverted other people are in general,” explained Feiler, ?“If you’re very introverted, you might have a pretty accurate idea.”

A?study ,?“Reversing the Extraverted Leadership Advantage: The Role of Employee Proactivity”, published in?Academy of Management Journal, conducted by Adam Grant, Francesca Gino, and David Hofmann found the following in their research:

• Quiet bosses with proactive teams can be highly successful because introverted leaders carefully listen to what their followers say.
• Extraverted leaders can be a liability if their followers are extroverts who like to take the initiative and make suggestions. This is because extroverted leaders are generally less receptive to proactivity. As Gino puts it, extroverted leaders often “do a lot of the talking and not listen to any of the ideas the followers are trying to provide.”?They’re more effective with passive subordinates comfortable with being told what to do.

Existing team dynamics can also affect the influence of a CEO introvert or CEO extravert.?According to a 2016 study ?published in the?Journal of Organizational Behavior,?extroverts tend to be an energizing force in an already agreeable group. However, when there is a lot of disagreement, extroverts tend to cause more conflict. They are often seen as sharing their opinions domineering and aggressively.

Are extroverts trusted more than introverts?

Olga Stavrova and colleagues published a study in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, which found that extroverts are not trusted more than introverts. In fact, according to this study, only one of the Big Five personality traits was linked with perceived trustworthiness: agreeableness. Other research goes even further, linking extraversion with a negative perception of their honesty.

Extroverts Don’t See Themselves as Others Do

We tend to view extroverts as caring about their relationships and having superior social skills. However, studies have shown that’s not how other people see them. A US study by Francis J. Flynn and colleagues published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, found that more extroverted people were perceived by others to be poor listeners. The researchers said, ?“To observers, this signal of malleable self-presentation suggests that extraverts are more interested in ‘looking the part’ than attending to what others have to say.”

A study by Rachel Bachner-Melman and Ada H. Zohar describes how extroverts also tend to experience more excitement-seeking, impulsivity, overconfidence, recklessness, and intolerance of boredom.

Extroversion is a Continuum

There are degrees of extroversion. One study by Hu and colleagues published in Applied Psychology found that extroverted leaders tended to be better liked and seen as better sources of advice — but only up to a point. Those who rated themselves as extremely warm and friendly were liked less than those with somewhat lower self-ratings. The team thinks many of us might find warm and enthusiastic people overwhelming.?

?Our Changing Views of Personality

?A traditional view of personality is that it is established and unchanged in adolescence or adulthood. More recent research by Christian Jarrett published in his book Be Who You Want: Unlocking the Science of Personality Change describes how personality can change during adulthood, although perhaps not radically. Introverts can learn how to be more extroverted, and some become what is known as ambiverts. And extroverts can learn how to be more introverted.

?Summary

?The research makes it clear that despite our preference for extroverts in society, it’s not a completely unmitigated good thing, and we underestimate the importance and success of introverts.

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