The creation and consequences of the social world: an interactional analysis of extraversion

Eaton, Leslie G.; Funder, David C.

doi:10.1002/per.477

Cited by 95 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This hypothesis was formed on the basis that extraverts report more positive social experiences (e.g., Wilson et al, 2015), in part due to their extraverted behaviors (Eaton & Funder, 2003). In the present research, we focused on the mediating role of social impact processes, in hopes of clarifying the recent finding that perceptions of social contribution explained 70% of the effect of enacted extraversion on PA (Smillie, Wilt, et al, 2015).…”

Section: Clarifying the Social Contribution Effectmentioning

confidence: 88%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The pleasure of making a difference: Perceived social contribution explains the relation between extraverted behavior and positive affect.

Sun¹,

Stevenson²,

Kabbani³

et al. 2017

Emotion

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In all three studies, multiple-mediator models showed that social contribution, but not power, independently mediated the relations that trait and state extraversion had with positive affect. This suggests that perceptions of positive influence-more so than a general sense of power-help to explain why extraverts and extraverted moments are happier. We link these findings to emerging trends in the study of personality dynamics and the potential benefits of acting "out of character". Extraversion is one of five basic trait domains that describe the structure of personality (John, Naumann, & Soto, 2008), and can be defined as the tendency to be talkative, assertive, and sociable at the high end of the continuum, and quiet, passive, and reserved at the opposite ("introverted") end. The tendency for extraverts to experience higher levels of positive affect (PA) is often described as one of the most robust findings in personality psychology (Lucas & Fujita, 2000;Smillie, DeYoung, & Hall, 2015;Steel, Schmidt, & Shultz, 2008), and holds across several cultures (Lucas, Diener, Grob, Suh, & Shao, 2000). This relation is strongest when PA is defined, in line with Watson and Tellegen's (1985) factor model of affect, as the combination of pleasant valence and high activation (e.g., lively, excited; see Smillie, DeYoung, & Hall, 2015). Therefore, extraverts tend to be "happier"-a term we use as short-hand-in the sense that they experience higher levels of PA.The extraversion-PA relation also holds at the state level: individuals feel happier in the moments in which they behave in a more talkative and sociable way. Several experimental studies have provided causal evidence that participants who are instructed to act extraverted (e.g., talkative, bold, assertive) report higher levels of PA than those instructed to act introverted (e.g., quiet, passive, reserved) during interactive activities in the lab (Gallagher, Fleeson, & Hoyle, 2011;McNiel & Fleeson, 2006;McNiel, Lowman, & Fleeson, 2010;Smillie, Wilt, Kabbani, Garratt, & Revelle, 2015;Zelenski et al., 2013;Zelenski, Santoro, & Whelan, 2012) (Keyes, 1998) explained 32% of the relation between trait extraversion and PA. Of the five subscales, social contribution (believing that one has something valuable to give, and does give, to society) was the strongest mediator, independently explaining 29% of the trait extraversion-PA relation. To bolster this correlational study with experimental evidence, Smillie, Wilt, and colleagues (Study 2) then investigated whether state measures of social well-being and social contribution mediated the relation between enacted extraversion and increased PA. As a state measure of social contribution, participants reported the percentage to which they "contributed to the discussion tasks", relative to the other two participants. Mirroring the trait-level findings, single-mediator models showed that social well-being and social contribution both helped to explain the effect of acting extraverted on PA. However, social contribution again emerged as ...

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Section: Clarifying the Social Contribution Effectmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…These perceptions may emerge due to the impact of extraverted behavior on social processes (Eaton & Funder, 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The pleasure of making a difference: Perceived social contribution explains the relation between extraverted behavior and positive affect.

Sun¹,

Stevenson²,

Kabbani³

et al. 2017

Emotion

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Extraverted individuals seek out interactions with others and utilize social support to compensate for their lowered arousal, whereas introverts tend to withdraw from overstimulating social interactions (Swickert et al, 2002;Wilt & Revelle, 2009). For example, Eaton and Funder (2003) found that extraverts behaved more socially than introverts, and that extraverts influence the behavior, affect, and interpersonal judgment of those with whom they interacted, generally by creating a more positive social environment. Consistent with this research, we found that the indicators of the perceived supportive environment demonstrated relatively large commonalities in change with personality traits.…”

Section: Long-term Correlated Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Correlated Change Between Personality Traits and Perceived Social Support in Middle Adulthood

Allemand

Schaffhuser

Martin

2015

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

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This study investigated long-term correlated change between personality traits and perceived social support in middle adulthood. Two measurement occasions with an 8-year time interval from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on Adult Development (ILSE) were used. The sample consisted of 346 middle-aged adults (46-50 years at T1). Four different types of perceived social support were assessed. Personality traits were assessed with the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Longitudinal measurement invariance (MI) was established for both measures. The mean rank-order stabilities were .79 and .62 for personality traits and for perceived social support, respectively. The results demonstrated a mean-level increase for neuroticism and a decrease for extraversion and significant change variances for all constructs. The results of latent change models showed significant initial level correlations and correlated changes between personality traits and social support, implying that changes in these constructs show commonality. The results can expand our current thinking about correlated change in personality.

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“…Accordingly, research has shown that high extraversion scorers have a tendency to seek out rewarding social interactions (Eaton & Funder, 2003), respond more positively to rewards (Watson & Clark, 1997), and condition faster to rewards (Zinbarg & Revelle, 1989). The same research demonstrated that low extraversion scorers' positive emotion systems are less responsive and the psychological benefits of reward pursuit are fewer.…”

Section: -Two-dimensional Modelmentioning

confidence: 98%

Measuring Approach-Avoidance Motivation: Expanding Dimensionality and the Implied Outcomes Problem

Scott¹

2012

PsycEXTRA Dataset

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The creation and consequences of the social world: an interactional analysis of extraversion

Cited by 95 publications

References 53 publications

The pleasure of making a difference: Perceived social contribution explains the relation between extraverted behavior and positive affect.

The pleasure of making a difference: Perceived social contribution explains the relation between extraverted behavior and positive affect.

Long-Term Correlated Change Between Personality Traits and Perceived Social Support in Middle Adulthood

Measuring Approach-Avoidance Motivation: Expanding Dimensionality and the Implied Outcomes Problem

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