Representatives of various personality types enter the labor market and occupy various positions according to their preferences. For example, an extroverted ethicist who loves those with whom he works side by side will prefer to keep his current position rather than go for a promotion solely because of money. Personal characteristics can play a huge role in deciding who to promote, who to praise, and who to give a raise to.
A new study adds even more evidence in favor of this idea. According to an upcoming publication in the journal Applied Psychology, authored by Michael P. Wilmot of the University of Toronto Scarborough, extroverts, for the most part, have clear advantages over other colleagues. Extroverts are more interested in a potential reward for their performance, for example, an increase in their status. Plus, they achieve these goals with more confidence. Extroverts love social contacts and succeed in communicating with people at meetings and corporate parties. They can perform several tasks simultaneously without loss of quality, quickly formulate ideas and grasp their implementation on the fly.
Extroverts tend to experience positive emotions more often, which can be advantageous in several cases. For example, such positive feelings protect a person from negative phenomena, such as burnout or a violation of the balance between work and personal life. Extroverts are good at verbal and nonverbal communication, not to mention that they are perfectly able to convince people in situations such as interviews or negotiations. The study’s authors argue that, most likely, this is why extroverts are more likely to become leaders. As the study found, extroverts receive higher ratings in various areas of work performance assessment. One of the key reasons explaining this pattern is their proactivity in shaping their careers and openly discussing organizational change strategies.