PUBLICATIONS

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

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

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

Why Does It Feel Good To Act Like an Extravert?

Research into enacted personality provides a novel perspective on the tendency for extraverted individuals to experience high levels of positive affect. Several studies now show that behaving in an extraverted way – thereby enacting an extraverted ‘personality state’ – is sufficient for elevating levels of positive affect. A question that remains, however, is why extraverted behavior has this robust impact on affective experience. In this paper, I consider several potential e

Aspects of extraversion are unrelated to pleasant affective-reactivity: Further examination of the a

Two experiments examined whether aspects of extraversion concerned with agency (leadership, dominance) and affiliation (friendliness, positive emotion) reflect susceptibility to positive affect (PA). In experiment 1, both aspects of extraversion predicted increased activated PA (vigor, excitement) following an appetitive mood induction, replicating our recent findings in this area (Smillie, Cooper, Wilt, & Revelle, 2012). Neither agentic nor affiliative extraversion predicted

Do extraverts get more bang for the buck? Refining the affective-reactivity hypothesis of extraversi

One of the most robust observations in personality and emotion research is the finding that extraverts are happier than introverts. Some theorists have attributed this to differential reactivity of the brain reward system, which is central to many biologically inspired models of extraversion. This affective-reactivity hypothesis, which suggests that extraverts should be more susceptible to the induction of positive affect, has so far received very mixed empirical support. In

PERSONALITY PROCESSES LAB

The University of Melbourne

PUBLICATIONS