Big Five Personality Test - Extroversion

In this talk, I go over extroversion (sometimes referred to as extraversion), which is one of five personality type traits in the Big Five personality test model. specifically, I go over how people who are high in extroversion vs. low in extroversion differ in lifestyle, career, and social preferences (as well as people somewhere in the middle of this spectrum).

Transcript

Hey,

This is Ishar,

And in today's talk,

I want to go over extraversion,

Which is one part of the Big Five personality type test.

So a helpful acronym to remember the Big Five traits is OCEAN.

And OCEAN stands for openness,

Conscientiousness,

Which is what I talked about in the previous talk,

Extraversion,

Which is what I'm going to talk about now,

Agreeableness,

And then also neuroticism.

And specifically in this talk,

I'll be going over what happens when you have very high levels of extraversion,

And what happens when you have very low levels of extraversion,

Also referred to as introversion,

And what happens when you're somewhere in between.

Where you fall in the spectrum will affect your daily choices,

How you live your lifestyle,

How you approach relationships,

And also friendships and different dating situations,

And also career choices as well.

And one thing I really like about the Big Five personality model is that they rate a certain facet on a spectrum.

So it's a sliding scale,

So you can fall anywhere in between zero to 100 of being extroverted.

This is a contrast to the Myers-Briggs approach,

Where they categorize you as either an introvert or an extrovert,

And they will give you advice based on your type,

If you're a certain type like an INFP like me.

And what they fail to understand is that people fall somewhere in between a spectrum,

So they're not only an introvert or only an extrovert.

And this is something I personally experienced because as an INFP personality type in the Myers-Briggs model,

I would hang around a lot of INFPs who would prefer to sit at home on a weekend and just read a book or play video games for the entire weekend and really not hang out with everyone,

And they would be fine with that.

And I feel really restless because I actually want to go out and meet people.

Yet at the same time,

I'm not an extrovert either because after a certain time period of hanging around with a lot of my friends,

I would feel really drained,

And I would need my alone time.

So this is one of the things that the Big Five personality type will help explain because you can fall in the low category of extroversion or medium or high,

And you would have a radically different approach to approaching different aspects of your life.

So as you can probably figure out,

Being extroverted means that you are energized by social interaction,

So the degree of which you are energized by it.

And there are six smaller categories that actually make up extroversion according to this model,

And they are excitability,

Sociability,

Talkativeness,

Emotional expressiveness,

And then also assertiveness.

Now,

I personally don't agree with the last point of assertiveness just because I have known a lot of extroverts who do not like to take control or take charge of social situations.

They're very happy to talk to people and engage a lot of people,

But they don't want to play that leadership role.

So that's one point in which I differ from this opinion.

But I definitely do agree on the other points where I've noticed a lot of extroverts in my life who have the qualities of being very excitable,

They're easy to excite,

They're very sociable,

Talkative,

They talk all the time,

And also very emotionally expressive as well.

So they tend to express whatever they're feeling emotionally,

While I've noticed a lot of introverts like myself tend to be a bit more reserved in that regard.

Now,

There is a bit of a nature versus nurture debate in terms of extroversion because a lot of people argue,

You know,

You're born an introvert and you can only stay an introvert or born an extrovert and you can only be that,

While other people will say that you can easily train yourself to become more sociable if you're an introvert,

Become more extroverted,

Or if you're an extrovert,

You can train yourself to become more reflective and become more introverted in nature.

And I think the answer lies somewhere in between,

But I do notice that there is some level of truth as far as introverts brains and extroverts brains functioning a bit differently.

So a great book I read recently is called The Introvert Advantage,

And this is by Marty Olson.

And in this book,

The author talks about the differences between how introverts and extroverts respond to stimulus and how that differs.

So for extroverts,

They are seeking more dopamine in their lives.

So their threshold for dopamine is very high,

And they will in fact feel restless if they don't have things going on.

So dopamine,

Just as a recap,

Is a neurotransmitter that is involved in pursuit of external stimulus,

And going after goals and motivation.

And dopamine in general makes you feel very excited.

So you notice that if you drink a cup of coffee,

Which raises your dopamine levels,

You feel a bit more productive,

You want to be doing things,

You tend to talk a bit more,

And you're more alert in general.

And you'll find that when an extrovert is in a situation where there's not a lot of stimulus going on or things around them,

They'll start to feel restless.

And this is because extroverts naturally just have a higher baseline of needing more dopamine.

So this is kind of the mentality where a lot of extroverts will seek a lot more thrills,

So they will like to go to like louder clubs.

A lot of my friends like going to clubs,

So they want to go to a club that has more lights and more music and hang around with more people.

So they always want more out of the external environment.

And when they don't have that,

They'll start to feel a bit restless or anxious.

And for introverts who are low in extroversion,

This means that they have the opposite.

So they are dopamine sensitive.

So they need less dopamine to feel alert.

And actually too much of it will overwhelm them.

So going to like a very loud club at like 3am could be an introvert's nightmare because there's just so much going on at them.

So they can achieve the same level of feeling alert by perhaps reading a book or doing something else.

So they're not motivated by dopamine as much,

But rather the more calming aspects of acetylcholine and GABA,

Which will really war them and make them feel good by turning inwards.

So whenever you have like a really nice idea from reading a book or doing some creative work or brainstorming or reflecting on things,

For me personally,

I like meditating.

So you'll notice that I'll meditate for a few hours a day.

I'll go on retreats every once in a while,

Meditate for like 12 hours.

And for me,

That's very calming because it activates a different set of networks rather than dopamine,

Which is very like go,

Go,

Go and going after stimulus.

So a little joke I like to make is like a lot of my extrovert friends would probably think it's just torture to sit for meditation for like five days or whatever the case is that I do.

But for me,

I'd tell them that it'd probably be torture for me to go to a club for like seven hours like they do.

And you can also see this difference played out between introverts and extroverts in career choices.

So I have had a lot of different jobs in my lifetime.

Just shopping from one job to the next,

Because I'm actually very curious about different jobs and different opportunities.

So I've taken a lot of jobs which are very extroverted in nature,

Such as being like a bar back and a bartender,

Or being a server,

For example.

And I've also taken very introverted jobs like admin work,

Where I'm not talking to anyone.

And I've had jobs in between.

So I've seen a whole gamut and range of introvert and extrovert jobs.

And specifically,

When I was in the restaurant industry,

I would work as a host.

And as a host,

It's a job where you stand front behind like a desk and you check people in.

So you're not moving around as much.

And you do get some social interaction,

But it's not a crazy amount like a bartender would or a server.

But it is pretty relaxing.

So after I had sat people down for their tables,

I would just sit back and read a book or do something in the meantime until another customer would come up.

And we would also have servers in there during the breaks or whenever I had some downtime,

Which was a lot,

I would talk to them and say,

How could you do your job?

You're running around all the time and you're stressed out and you're handling four different tables and running tickets back and dealing with angry customers like,

Aren't you stressed out?

And then they literally looked at me and said,

How could you do your job?

You're just standing there all day and you're not interacting with anyone.

You're not doing anything.

I would feel bored out of my mind.

I need activity.

I need to do something.

And that's a really great example of how an introvert and extrovert would approach a job because it is within the same industry,

But you'll notice extroverts will naturally gravitate towards certain fields within that industry and introvert will gravitate towards a different field within that industry.

So career wise,

People who are very high in extroversion would absolutely love to hang around with other people and have that fast paced opportunity and jobs.

So they really thrive in being an event planner,

For example,

Or a manager of any kind of organization where they get to manage and delegate with a group of people that they're working with.

Hanging in hospitality is perfect because you're interacting with people on a daily basis.

And if you're also high in agreeableness,

This would be perfect.

And agreeableness is a topic I'm going to talk about in the next talk about how friendly you are and how social you are.

Well,

If you have high extroversion and high agreeableness as well,

You'll do perfect and really thrive in these hospitality fields because you don't mind being very cooperative and trusting and very patient and sympathetic.

Meanwhile,

If you're very low in this quality,

It's the opposite.

So that will also,

This is why you also have to take into account the combinations of your other traits as well,

Not just extroversion or just agreeableness to find your perfect fit.

But generally speaking,

Anything where you're interacting with people,

If you're high in extroversion,

You like that.

Sales as well is also good.

So sales is on the other hand,

If you're low in agreeableness,

That'll also work well with you because it's hyper competitive.

So this is an opportunity where you're competing and making more money and generating more revenue,

And you're competing against yourself and other people and meeting metrics.

So if you tend to be low in agreeableness also and high in extroversion,

You'll do really well.

And certainly you can also look in other fields like real estate or anything where you're just interacting with people and having more of that stimulus so you don't get bored as well.

Now if you are an introvert,

So someone who's low in extroversion,

This would be the opposite.

So you want your alone time.

So this would be anything in the tech fields like coding,

For example,

Or being a software developer engineer.

In these types of professions,

You're in front of your computer for most of the day,

And you're not really talking to anyone,

Especially nowadays since everything's gone remote.

So this would be an introvert's paradise,

Especially if you're very low in extroversion,

Because you just have yourself and you have your own time,

Own space,

And you don't have to be bothered to interact with other people.

So you just have your own little bubble.

So anything in the tech industry related to coding,

Being like an admin assistant is also another one or an artist or writer.

These are all career choices where you spend a lot of your time alone.

So this is something that is refreshing for an introverts.

And like I was mentioning earlier,

When I was exploring different career options,

I did take UX design and coding and all that in the beginning.

But since I'm not like 100% introvert,

Like if I took the test,

I would not score 0% in extroversion,

I'd probably score somewhere in like the 50% range or something like that,

Or 40 something range,

40% range.

And essentially,

What that means is that these introverted jobs,

Like very introverted jobs,

Like coding,

For example,

For me,

I felt restless after a while,

Because I wasn't interacting with anyone.

So this is where if you're somewhere in the middle,

You will need to find a job where you are interacting with people on a daily basis,

But it's not high intensity or high volume.

So customer service might not be the best kind of deal,

Because you're working a lot of volume of people.

But for me personally,

I do recruiting and I like that because I only make three calls a day and those calls only last five to 10 minutes.

So really not a huge chunk of my day.

And the rest of the time,

I'm spending a lot of my time doing introvert activities,

Like writing things up or doing admin work and other things like that.

So if you're somewhere in between,

You want to find that perfect medium between the two where you can be social,

But then also have your alone time.

And it's not very high pressure if you're more on the introverted side.

Now,

If you're an extrovert side,

You want more of that,

So go get that.

Now moving on to lifestyle choices,

I certainly can't generalize and say all introverts should go here,

All extroverts do this or anything like that.

However,

You will notice that there are certain pockets in which more introverts will hang out in certain cities compared to extroverts.

And this is where you can use your own knowledge and discernment to see which environments will fit you a bit best.

So as far as where to live,

You can choose to live in a city or a small town or even a rural environment if you're more introverted.

So it really just depends on your personal preferences and what you're looking for.

But I have read somewhere that there are certain US cities like Miami or New York that are very extroverted.

And if you step there and ever visit those places,

You'll notice that there's always people like talking,

Moving around,

Especially in New York,

People are just running from one place to the next,

It's loud,

Like loud sounds and all that.

So one thing I've personally noticed when I lived in New Jersey and I would occasionally commute up to Manhattan,

It is definitely like our place for introverts to be living right in Manhattan,

Like the busy areas,

Because I just felt really drained because a lot of that stimulus,

Like I mentioned earlier,

Where introverts can handle less of that.

But if you're an extrovert,

You actually want more of that.

So you want to be more in those busy environments.

So if you are living in a big city and you tend to be very extroverted,

You can live right in city center and you'll have a good time.

If you're more introverted,

You can still live in a big city,

But you might prefer to live maybe a few streets away or perhaps on the outskirts where you can still go to the city if you need to,

But you're not like in the hub or craziness of the big city.

So again,

That's all personal preferences.

As far as friendships,

People who score higher on extroversion love to be surrounded by people.

So that's almost a non-negotiable that on a daily basis,

They need to be hanging around with people.

So I've met with a lot of people who score very high in extroversion,

Like somewhere in the nineties,

So obviously very high.

And they constantly tell me that I need to be hanging around people,

Making plans.

I need to call someone on the phone.

And that's one thing you'll notice that people who are high in extroversion tend to prefer to call people on the phone.

And this is an introvert's nightmare.

Introverts are like,

Please don't call me.

Just text me if you need to,

Because it takes up their social energy.

So that's something to keep in mind.

If you are an extrovert who is talking to an introvert,

You do need to be mindful that they do prefer their solitude and space and speaking will actually kind of rob them of the energy that we discussed earlier.

So extroverts in general like to be surrounded by people,

No brainer,

And they also tend to have a wider network of acquaintances.

It's a lot of people that they know and fewer very close friends compared to an introvert who will have a smaller network,

But the friends that they do have,

They'll tend to hang around them a bit more and deepen their relationship.

So for introverts,

You have a lot of your close friends,

But at the same time,

You do need to go out there and meet more people.

Because if you're just in your house,

You're not interacting with anyone,

How are you going to have that social life that you need?

How are you going to get those opportunities if you don't actually step out and leave your house?

In terms of dating,

People who are higher in extroversion tend to initiate more relationships and have more partners,

Especially if they're also very high in openness,

Which is another quality that I've talked about earlier in the Big Five model.

So if you're high in openness,

So you're new to experiences and trying new things out,

And you're also very high in extroversion,

And one category of extroversion,

Which I talked about earlier is excitability and sociability.

So if you're excited about new opportunities and new dating opportunities,

And you're also open,

Well,

You'll be exploring the field and saying,

Oh,

I can date this person,

I can date this person,

And you have this little playground of just like hanging around like all these dates and you're unable to commit.

So that's usually if you're very high in extroversion,

High in openness as well.

And if you are also very low in extroversion,

So like you're an introvert,

And you're also like tend to be lower in openness,

For example,

Then you have fewer relationships,

But they tend to be more meaningful.

So you might be aiming to have more long term relationships.

A lot of introverts that I do talk to say that dating is a hassle,

They don't want to go out there,

They don't want to meet people.

That's a common sentiment that is discussed often,

Because introverts don't like to expend too much energy.

And they like to have more meaning.

Because when you enter any kind of a dating situation,

It is in a sense a volume and numbers game because you want to number one screen who is actually a good fit for you,

And then also go deeper to see if they would actually fit in your lifestyle as well.

So you have to first meet people and that may require you to talk to a lot of different people.

And then from there narrow down who you connect with.

And then from there,

See if they actually have chemistry with you and then go like start dating them.

So it's a different approach.

And if you're very introverted,

You may not have that opportunity in place.

But the pros of being introverted is you tend to move at a slower pace.

So if you do find a relationship,

You will stay with that a bit longer.

So I hope you like this talk on extraversion.

And understanding where you fall within this scale of extraversion can help you immensely on a lot of different categories in your life.

So if you score very high in extraversion,

You don't want to be in a job that requires you to just be by yourself the whole day and not talk to anyone because you'll feel very restless.

And likewise,

If you score very low in extraversion and introvert,

You don't want to be in a job that is high pressure and you're surrounded by a lot of people and you talk to people and manage people and have a lot of stimulus thrown your way because as introverts,

You get your energy from looking inwards and more reflective tasks.

So understanding these results about yourself can help you not just in career,

But lifestyle choices,

What city to live,

What friends to hang out with,

What types of relationships would you like,

And then also using extraversion combined with the other traits learned in these series to help you narrow in on your perfect life rather than just following around someone else's script of how your life should be or following society's lifestyle choices.

It's really up to you and understanding this about yourself can help you narrow down and really find the ideal life for yourself.

So I hope you like this talk and in the next talk,

I'll be going over agreeableness,

Which is the next facet of the Big Five personality type test.

And once again,

A helpful acronym to remember the Big Five traits is OCEAN.

So openness,

Conscientiousness,

Extroversion,

Which is what I just talked about,

Agreeableness,

Which will be in the next talk,

And then lastly,

Neuro-artism.

So hope you like this and stay tuned for more.

Reviews

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