The Correlation between Introversion-Extroversion and Measures of Happiness

Introversion-extroversion and the many measures of happiness are both much debated areas of psychological interest. Universally accepted conceptualizations of introversion-extroversion and happiness have, thus far, not been agreed upon. The present study reviewed and empirically examined the psychometric properties of Susan Cain’s recently constructed Quiet Introversion Questionnaire, the domains of introversion-extroversion (social, thinking, anxious, and restrained), and five aspects of happiness among a sample of five hundred and fifteen Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers. The study results indicated that Cain’s Quiet Scale is composed of two factor subscales: Social, Anxious, and Restrained Introversion and Introversive Absorption. The results also revealed modest differences between introverts and extroverts on measures of happiness. Nonetheless, the reproducibility of the study findings, the use of additional introversion-extroversion measures, and the use of additional happiness measures warrant exploration in further investigations into the correlations between personality and wellbeing. INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 4 Humans are inherently social creatures, and maintaining satisfying social relationships is a central aspect of happiness (Wilson, 1967). The formation and maintenance of strong social bonds is not only an important aspect of adolescence and adulthood, but it is also necessary for one’s psychological and physical well-being (Erikson, 1980; Maslow, 1968). Humans need to feel connected to one another; they need to feel as though they belong to a group of people who share their interests and value their presence. For this reason, people are intrinsically motivated to form close interpersonal relationships with individuals whom they can interact with frequently and positively (Murphy, 1954; Baumeister & Leary, 1995). According to Nicoll (1917), some individuals (extroverts) thrive when provided an abundance of social interactions, and others (introverts) thrive when able to orient themselves inward and withdraw from social situations. Therefore, though equally capable of being outgoing, sociable, or unsociable, introverts and extroverts generally choose to seek out and participate in social situations congruent with their personality type (Diener, Larsen, & Emmons, 1984). Extroverts report having more close interpersonal relationships than do introverts. Nevertheless, introverts and extroverts do not differ markedly in their reported frequency of contact with close companions (Hills & Argyle, 2001). Thus, research suggests that the quality rather than the quantity of meaningful social contact predicts well-being (Nezlek, 2000). Research also shows that the presence of close, mutually beneficial interpersonal relationships is a strong correlate with happiness, and the absence of close, mutually beneficial interpersonal relationships is related to depression (Argyle, 1987). Over the past 20 years, research has consistently shown that extroversion is positively related to positive affect, happiness, and subjective well-being (Costa & McCrae, 1980; Emmons & Diener, 1985; Emmons, Diener, & Larsen, 1986; Pavot, Diener, & Fujita, 1990, Watson & INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 5 Clark, 1997). Research also shows that “extraversion is the strongest predictor” of happiness and “happiness is also one of the strongest correlates of extraversion” (Argyle & Lu, 1990, p. 1011). For this reason, many researchers believe that extroverts are inherently happier than introverts. Nonetheless, the veracity of this belief is open to question. The mechanism of the relation between extroversion and happiness is unknown, and theories regarding the root of the relation are continuously debated among positive psychologist. With the intention of reviewing and adding to the extant literature on extroversion and well-being, the present study will empirically investigate the facets of introversion-extroversion and the aspects of subjective well-being to evaluate and eliminate the overlapping features of the two psychological constructs. Extroversion and Subjective Well-being Happiness is defined as a measure of psychological and physical well-being, positive affect, life satisfaction, and the absence of distress and negative affect (Argyle & Lu, 1990). The theoretical and empirical framework supporting the body of literature that relates extroversion and happiness is ages old. As early as 1928, Chassell showed that happiness is associated with one’s enjoyment of social interactions. Equally, Smith (1961) found that warmth, optimism, emotional stability, self-insight, and sociability are related to happiness. Thus, a consistent finding in the well-being literature is that social activity predicts happiness (Watson, 1930; Wilson, 1967; Veroff, Feld, & Gurin, 1962). Moreover, as extroversion is a personality dimension marked by high sociability, extroversion is frequently related to happiness. Research shows that extroverts are happier than introverts when alone, when working in social and nonsocial spaces, and when they living alone or cohabiting (Pavot et al., 1990; Diener, Sandvik, Pavot, & Fujita, 1992). Research also shows that extroversion correlates more strongly with positive affect than it does with negative affect (Costa & McCrae, 1980). Further, Bradburn INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 6 (1969) analyzed positive and negative affect as predictors of well-being and found that social interaction correlates more strongly with positive affect than it does with negative affect. Explaining the mechanism between extroversion and happiness. Much of the literature on personality and well-being is dominated by analyses of the relation between extroversion, neuroticism, and well-being (Costa & McCrae, 1980); the “BigFive” and well-being (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998); and sociability and well-being (Diener et al., 1984; Argyle & Lu, 1990). Many researchers agree that there is a link between personality and well-being, but their proposed explanations for mechanism of the relation between introversionextroversion and positive affect vary. Diener, Larsen, and Emmons (1984) proposed that personality correlates with well-being because people are active agents in selecting their life situations. To test their theory, the researchers observed the amount of time extroverts spent participating in social interactions. They found that extroversion did not correlate significantly with an individual’s decision to engage in social situations. Therefore, while the proposed mechanism was theoretically sound, the researchers’ hypothesis that one’s choice of social participation explains why extroverts report higher levels of positive affect compared to introverts is not sufficient. Indeed, the above mechanism can only partially account for the relation between personality and choice of activity because a number of external factors can impact one’s choice of social participation. Researchers, therefore, continue to suggest models for the relation between extroversion and positive affect. Researchers theorize that because extroverts are more sociable than introverts and because social activity is linked to well-being, extroversion is, by default, linked to happiness (Argyle & Lu, 1990; Ashton, Lee, & Paunonen, 2002). Researchers also suggest that because extroverts are more sensitive to rewards than introverts, they are more likely to have a pleasant INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 7 affect and to participate in social situations (Lucas, Diener, Grob, Suh, Shao, 2000). These ideas are merely suggestions. While many empirical studies have shown a moderate to strong link between personality and well-being, the proposed mechanisms justifying the relation between extroversion and happiness are theoretically rather than empirically founded. Accordingly, “it is possible (and even likely) that the association between extraversion and positive affect is multiply determined” (Lucas & Baird, 2004, p. 482). All of the above mechanisms and none of the above mechanisms may explain the link between extroversion and well-being. Holes in the Dominant Literature Extroversion and subjective well-being appear to be unrelated psychological constructs. Extroversion is a permanent personality trait characterized by sociability, activity, pleasant affect, gregariousness, warmth, assertiveness, and excitement seeking (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Subjective well-being is a construct encompassing positive affect, life satisfaction, and happiness (Argyle & Lu, 1990). From the above definitions, it is apparent that both extroversion and subjective well-being measure affectivity (a fleeting positive or negative emotional state) (Yik & Russell, 2001). For this reason, researchers propose that pleasant affect explains the link between extroversion and happiness (Tellegen 1985, Watson & Clark 1997). Specifically, researchers rationalize that because both constructs measure affectivity, by definition, they should correlate (Yik & Russell, 2001). Empirical analyses correlating extroversion and affect without removing affect from the measures of introversion-extroversion are questionably valid. If affect were to be extracted from measures of extroversion, researchers cannot predict whether or not a significant relation would still exist between happiness and extroversion. Therefore, the removal of positive affect from extroversion measures might not support the commonly held belief that extroverts are inherently INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 8 happier than introverts. Moreover, it might provoke researchers to investigate the relation between well-being and other aspects of personality. In particular, it could facilitate research into the happiness of individuals at the middle (ambivert) and opposite (introvert) loci of the introversion-extroversion personality dimension. Research validating the presence of the happy introverts is sparse. In 2001, Hill and Argyle proposed that introverts derived their happiness from their inner lives, from solitary leisure activities, and from social activities involving a few close companions. The researchers believed that introverts experienced a different type of happiness than extroverts. They found that happy introverts and happy extrovert did not report markedly different amounts of interactions with close companions. They also found that social behavior and a preference for leisure activities were either non-significant or practically non-significant between introverted and extroverted participants. In sum, the authors proposed the existence of the happy introvert, but the data showed no differences between introverts and extroverts on the study variables. While these findings were significant, they, like all introversion-extroversion research, are limited by the narrow operationalization of introversion-extroversion. Analyses of the relation between introversion-extroversion and subjective well-being are challenging. Both constructs are operationally defined in various ways. The lack of a universal definition for introversion, extroversion, and well-being make it exceedingly difficult for researchers to compare cross-study findings and gather a coherent body of evidence demonstrating the relation between introversion-extroversion and well-being. Moreover, it makes it hard for researchers to agree on a set of introversion-extroversion facets to model introversion-extroversion. Current introversion-extroversion facet models vary from four to five factors (e.g. Grimes, Cheek, and Norem, 2011; Cheek, Brown, and Grimes, 2014; Jung, 1923). INTROVERSION-EXTROVERSION AND WELL-BEING 9 Research indicates that the degree of correlation between extroversion and subjective well-being varies when analyzing different facets of extroversion and different types of subjective wellbeing (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998 as cited in Lucas & Fujita, 2000). Therefore, personality and happiness research must evaluate all meaningful facets of introversion-extroversion and all types of subjective well-being. Researchers must use an expansive body of literature to evaluate both the relation between introversion facets and well-being and the relation between extroversion facets and well-being. Furthermore, researchers must not disregard the possibility of the happy