Extraversion is one of the five dimensions of personality in the Big Five model (McCrae & Costa, 1987). It describes a person's tendency to prefer a socially rich environment rather than feeling comfortable in quiet settings and solitude. Extraversion consists of traits such as sociability, activity, and reserve (Costa & McCrae, 1985).
It was previously assumed that reserved versus energetic forms of extraversion represented two opposing categories, with each person clearly assigned to one or the other. Today, however, reticent and full of energy are seen as two poles of a continuum for the extraversion dimension. Each person's value can therefore be located at one point on the following scale:
Reticent
People who reliably display more reserved behavior and don't constantly seek the company of others are typically characterized by the following qualities:
- reticent
- passively
- reserved
However, this should not be seen as a disadvantage. Reserved people often prefer to work alone in a quiet setting and usually feel more comfortable in such situations than their more energetic counterparts. They are therefore particularly effective in occupations that require less social interaction, such as engineering or scientific research (Denissen et al., 2017).
Full of energy
People who are more energetic and usually seek interaction and company with others can be described by the following characteristics:
- actively
- vividly
- assertive
They flourish in social situations and actively seek contact with other people. This is also noticeable in a professional context: energetic people are particularly successful in fields such as marketing, management, or sales (Barrick & Mount, 1991), where acting assertively and proactively pays off.
Benefits in a professional context
As you can see, the best fit for a vacancy depends not only on a person's extraversion, but also on the characteristics of the role. In traditional test methods, however, applicants who are more energetic often have an advantage: thanks to their open, sociable nature, they tend to score higher in application processes (e.g. Spector et al., 2000). This often leads to mis-hires in roles where a more reserved person would actually be the better fit. With personality assessments, you can therefore reduce the risk of mis-hires while increasing diversity in the workplace!
How do you record extraversion?
Do you want to record the extraversion of your applicants? Aivy is happy to help you with this!
Our mini-game “Self-Knowledge” gives users the opportunity to complete a brief self-assessment and discover their individual score. This includes not only extraversion, but also the four other areas of the Big Five:
Sources
- Barrick, M.R., & Mount, M.K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: a meta‐analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44 (1), 1-26.
- Costa, P.T., & McCrae, R.R. (1985). The NEO personality inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
- Denissen, J.J., Bleidorn, W., Hennecke, M., Luhmann, M., Orth, U., Specht, J., & Zimmermann, J. (2018). Uncovering the power of personality to shape income. Psychological Science, 29 (1), 3-13.
- McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T. (1987). Validation of the five-factor model of personality across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52 (1), 81.
- Spector, P.E., Schneider, J.R., Vance, C.A., & Hezlett, S.A. (2000). The relation of cognitive ability and personality traits to assessment center performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30 (7), 1474-1491.
Extraversion is one of the traits Aivy captures in its personality assessment.
Make a better pre-selection — even before the first interview
In just a few minutes, Aivy shows you which candidates really fit the role. Beyond resumes based on strengths.
