Fahrenheit 451: The Effect of Personal Connection on Character Development

Abstract

Generally, introversion is associated with intelligence and extroversion is associated with outgoingness. However, a meta-analysis of the thousands of studies that exist on extroversion vs. intelligence show that correlations have changed over time and the correlations are weak and minimal. Most of the results also depended on the conditions in which the participants were under during their IQ test. This study explored the relationships between personality and intelligence by investigating the correlation between extroversion and IQ in a low-arousal environment with unlimited time given. The participants were recruited from an online AP Psychology class for high school students. Participants’ extroversion and IQ scores were correlated and it was found that extroversion and IQ have a weak negative correlation. This implies that while there may be small differences in intelligence caused by personality, the differences are minimal and intelligence is mostly correlated with other factors that were not tested in the study.

Background

Extroversion is generally associated with people who are more outgoing, while introversion is associated with people who are more shy. By definition, these traits are not associated with intelligence, but Eysenck proposed that levels of extroversion could be related to behaviors that affect test outcomes (Wolf et al., 2005). Wolf et al. pointed out that the arousal theory might explain test-taking behavior differences. The arousal theory states that introverts have higher basal arousal levels than extroverts, which means introverts need less stimulation than extroverts to feel the same amount of stimulation. This theory is effective at explaining why introverts get overstimulated more easily and take less risks. Therefore, it is suggested that introverts may take their time on tests and increase accuracy while extroverts may fly through it and increase speed (2005). 

Several studies that tested arousal theory and others have mixed results. In one study, participants were exposed to five different levels of auditory stimulation from low arousal (silence) to high arousal (horror movie playing in the background) while taking Raven’s Progressive Matrices. In low arousal, introverts performed the best and progressively performed worse as they did it in increasingly higher arousal environments. For extroverts, the results were the opposite. Another study that used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) revealed that extroverts perform better on timed subtests and introverts perform better on untimed subtests. In yet another study that used the same scale, extroverts did slightly better on performance subtests while introverts did slightly better on verbal subtests. Wolf et al. stated that the varying results caused Robinson to suggest a relationship between WAIS scores and EEG characteristics. Comparing the relationship between EEG characteristics and WAIS scores resulted in another finding that rather than introverts or extroverts, ambiverts perform best in intelligence tests (2005). The general consensus seems to be that the results are mixed. 

As discussed above, meta-analyses seem to demonstrate that results are very inconsistent or contradictory. In the past, the correlation between intelligence and extroversion seemed moderately positive, but most of the more recent studies have shown negative correlations between extroversion and intelligence. Figuring out the reason for this change in correlation may help us find the factor that caused the discrepancy in the results of extroversion-intelligence studies (Wolf et al., 2005). An examination of the ages of participants and the correlation between extroversion and intelligence revealed that the change in correlation may have resulted from the perceived personality of participants being different based on age rather than the change in intelligence test scores. Depending on how fast children develop, they may be perceived as more or less extroverted when they are older or younger. Overall, the results seem to show that the correlation between extroversion and intelligence changed from positive to negative which is caused by moderators that were not considered. 

Method

This study used a correlational design to collect the data. There were a total of 9 participants (n=9) who are high school students or TAs recruited from an online AP Psychology class. For the purposes of this study, extroversion is defined as the extroversion percentage on the 16personalities personality test (https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test) and IQ is defined as the score on a mock Raven’s Progressive Matrices test (https://psycho-tests.com/test/raven-matrixes-test). The participants were in a low-arousal environment for the IQ test, which is defined as a quiet place with no noise or other distractions. All participants were fully informed that they would take a personality and IQ test and signed consent forms to indicate that they understood the rules of the study and that they consent to their IQ and personality data being used for this report. 

For this study, each participant took the 16personalities personality test. Then, after getting their personality results, the participants also took the IQ test in a low-arousal environment with unlimited time available for completion. Once they were done with both tests, the participants sent their quantitative scores for both tests.

Results

The data collected indicated a weak negative correlation (r=-0.29) between extroverison and IQ.