Excerpt:
“In sum, the results support the notion of differential neurobiological processes associated with two distinct personality profiles characterized by social approach and social withdrawal. Although a causal relationship cannot be inferred from these results (i.e., it is unclear whether one’s extraversion/introversion might lead to specific alterations in neural circuitry via different lifetime experiences, including more or less social contact, or whether differential brain circuitry determines one’s extraversion), these findings suggest that individual differences in personality are related to meaningful individual differences in neural responses to social stimuli. Future research may utilize this methodology to further explore the impact of intrinsic biology vs. the cumulative effect of experience on personality development during earlier life stages.
Finally, given the recent evidence of the LC-NE system involvement in generation of the P300 (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2005; see also Polich, 2007), it is conceivable that this system might be implicated in the expression of the personality dimension descriptively captured as extraversion (and its main facet of social engagement).4 Although highly speculative, it may be worth considering the possibility that the P300 may serve as a probe of the processing pathways sustaining the extraverts’ bias toward seeking and enjoying social interactions. That is, within a few hundred milliseconds of being exposed to a social stimulus, the nervous system is already passing along a signal that is consistent with differential behavioral patterns encapsulated by the personality trait of extraversion: In extraverts this signal is biased towards allowing preferential access to the limited pool of attentional resources, while in introverts social stimuli are not granted such preferential status. Thus, given the currently discussed LC-NE hypothesis of the P300 etiology and the variability of the P300 elicited by social stimuli observed along the extraversion continuum in the present study, the LC-NE system might be another fundamental explanation for the difference in nervous system function between extraverts and introverts, perhaps originating with overall arousal, as has been suggested by early personality theorists (Eysenck, 1967; Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985).”
Relevance:
Reference:
Tan, H. H., & Tan, C. S. (2002). Tempered radicalism as key to women’s advancement in organizations. Academy of Management Perspectives, 16(2), 118-126. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.2002.7173564
