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Extraversion, threat categorizations, and negative affect: a reaction time approach to avoidance motivation.
Michael D Robinson1, Brian P Meier, Patrick T Vargas
1Psychology Department, North Dakota State University, Fargo, 58105, USA. D.Robinson@ndsu.nodak.edu
Journal of Personality
|September 6, 2005
Summary
Introverts skilled at identifying threats experience more negative emotions. High extraversion may buffer against these negative affective consequences, suggesting a link between threat perception and emotional well-being.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Self-regulation systems, particularly avoidance, involve object appraisal.
- Individual differences in threat perception may influence emotional experiences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To measure a component of avoidance self-regulation related to object appraisal.
- To investigate the relationship between threat categorization performance and negative affect in introverts and extraverts.
Main Methods:
- Three studies with 236 undergraduates.
- Participants completed a choice reaction time task or a go/no go task.
- Task involved categorizing words (e.g., "knife") as threatening.
Main Results:
- Introverts skilled at threat categorization reported higher negative affect.
- Threat categorization performance did not predict negative affect in extraverts.
- Extraversion appeared to inhibit the affective consequences of implicit threat categorization.
Conclusions:
- Implicit threat categorization may increase vulnerability to negative affect.
- High levels of extraversion may serve a protective role against negative emotional outcomes.
- Findings contribute to understanding extraversion, avoidance motivation, and self-regulation.