PUBLICATIONS

Personality and competitiveness: Extraversion, agreeableness, and their aspects, predict self-report

How are basic personality traits linked with individual differences in competitiveness? We examined extraversion and agreeableness, as well as their lower-level aspects (i.e., assertiveness, enthusiasm; compassion, politeness), in relation to both self-reported competitiveness and competitive bidding within two auction games. Participants (N = 304, 56% female) completed comprehensive assessments of personality and competitiveness, along with two hypothetical auction games (a

Extraversion and reward-processing: Consolidating evidence from an electroencephalographic index of

Trait extraversion has been theorized to emerge from functioning of the dopaminergic reward system. Recent evidence for this view shows that extraversion modulates the scalp-recorded Reward Positivity, a putative marker of dopaminergic signaling of reward-prediction-error. We attempt to replicate this association amid several improvements on previous studies in this area, including an adequately-powered sample (N = 100) and thorough examination of convergent-divergent validit

To fear or fly to the unknown: Tolerance for ambiguity and Big Five personality traits

The present study investigated whether ambiguity tolerance relates to personality traits that are theoretically grounded in fear (neuroticism) or attraction (openness to experience; extraversion) for the unknown. Our hypotheses were supported for self-report measures (and openness to experience predicted ambiguity tolerance controlling for intelligence), but behavioral choice measures of ambiguity tolerance demonstrated poor reliability and were unrelated to self-reported amb

Costs and Benefits of Acting Extraverted: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Evidence suggests that extraverted (i.e., bold, agentic) behavior increases positive affect (PA), and could be targeted in wellbeing interventions. However, this evidence is either causally ambiguous or has questionable ecological validity, and the potential costs of sustained extraverted behavior have received minimal attention. To address these limitations, we conducted the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining the wellbeing benefits and costs of an extraverted

The pleasure of making a difference: Perceived social contribution explains the relation between ext

Why are trait extraversion and extraverted behaviors both associated with greater positive affect? Across 3 studies, we examined whether 2 aspects of social experience-perceived social contribution and social power-mediate the relation between extraversion and positive affect. Study 1 (N = 205) showed that trait measures of social contribution and power mediated the relation between trait extraversion and trait positive affect. Study 2 (N = 78) showed that state social contri

Openness and other Big Five traits in relation to dispositional mixed emotions

Despite accumulating evidence for concurrent feelings of positivity and negativity (e.g., simultaneous happiness and sadness), little is known about individual differences in these mixed emotions experiences. We examined relations between a novel measure of dispositional mixed emotions (the Trait Mixed Emotions Scale; TMES) and the Big Five trait domains and aspects. We derived two a-priori predictions: (1) Openness/Intellect—reflecting cognitive flexibility and exploration—w

Quality of social experience explains the relation between extraversion and positive affect

The personality trait extraversion is associated with higher positive affect, and individuals who behave in an extraverted way experience increased positive affect. Across 2 studies, we examine whether the positive affectivity of extraverts can be explained in terms of qualitative aspects of social experience resulting from extraverted (i.e., bold, assertive) behavior. In our first study (N = 225, 58% female), we found that social well-being, a broad measure of quality of soc

The Role of Interpersonal Traits in Social Decision Making: Exploring Sources of Behavioral Heteroge

Economic games are well-established experimental paradigms for modeling social decision making. A large body of literature has pointed to the heterogeneity of behavior within many of these games, which might be partly explained by broad interpersonal trait dispositions. Using the Big Five and HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience) personality frameworks, we review the role of personality in two main clas

Dopaminergic foundations of personality and individual differences

For several years, theory and research in Personality Neuroscience has linked dopamine function with various aspects of personality and individual differences. This literature builds on research in basic neuroscience concerning the role of dopamine in behavior and experience, with the aim of understanding the ways in which this neurotransmitter system influences regularities in behavior and experience. We organized this special issue on “Dopaminergic Foundations of Personalit

Clarifying the Relation Between Extraversion and Positive Affect

This article clarifies two sources of ambiguity surrounding the relation between extraversion and positive affect. First, positive affect is defined differently across major models of the structure of affect. Second, no previous research has examined potentially diverging associations of lower‐order aspects of extraversion (i.e., assertiveness and enthusiasm) with positive affect. Australian (Study 1: N = 437, 78% female, M(age) = 20.41) and American (Study 2: N = 262, 39% fe

PERSONALITY PROCESSES LAB

The University of Melbourne

PUBLICATIONS