If a person is extraverted at a party and quiet at a funeral, is extraversion still a trait?
A trait is a relatively stable dimension, not a frozen pose. Extraversion as a personality construct predicts a pattern across situations, with room for the situation to move the score (Myers & DeWall, 2021; Spielman et al., 2020). The Big Five is the intro map of those dimensions. Freud remains in the chapter as history; current measurement does not treat the id as an operational definition.
How is extraversion usually made observable in this survey?
Self-report: items a person answers about themselves. A projective test uses an ambiguous stimulus; its psychometrics are weaker, which Psychological Testing will treat. Figure 17.1 lists the Big Five so a later paper that says “personality” can be asked which dimension was scored.
| Trait | High pole (survey) |
|---|---|
| Openness | Curious, open to new experience |
| Conscientiousness | Organized, dependable |
| Extraversion | Sociable, assertive, positive affect |
| Agreeableness | Cooperative, trusting |
| Neuroticism | Tendency toward negative affect |
Check yourself with a quick quiz
A few questions on this lesson only. Questions you miss come back later. Progress stays in this browser and is shared with the full quiz.
References
- Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2021). Psychology (13th ed.). Worth.
- Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax.
Image and media credits
- Top image. A notebook and pencil on a desk under a lamp. It sets the scene for this lesson on personality. Source: Created for this site with Grok Imagine (xAI), an AI image generator. License: Original image made for mattgaugerx.com.
