1995). Extraverts excel at behavioral tasks which mirror the cognitive de-
mands of social encounters, such as speech production, verbal short-term
memory, retrieval of verbal material from memory, resistance to distraction,
and rapid response. The extravert seems to be designed to be an effective con-
versationalist: speaking quickly and fluently, keeping track of the conversa-
tion, and retrieving topics to speak about. Indeed, these skills might be seen
as an emotional intelligence for handling demanding social encounters
(Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2003). Furthermore, social encounters with
strangers are prone to be stressful and arousing, so that extraverts’ superior
intellectual abilities in arousing environments (Revelle, 1993) may also sup-
port the higher-level adaptation.^2 Motivational and emotional attributes of
extraversion may support similar functional roles, including, of course, the
social interests of extraverts. Positive affect has also been linked to sociability
(Argyle & Lu, 1990).
By contrast, the cognitive strengths of introversion, including good sus-
tained attention and reflective problem solving, are supportive of more soli-
tary, reflective activities. In terms of intellectual functioning, introverts are
well-equipped to persist in efforts at problem solving that may eventually
lead to problem solution (Matthews, 1997). Introverts’ capacity to resist
boredom and sustain attention in monotonous environments supports this
adaptation. These cognitive and motivational qualities of introversion may
be advantageous in higher education. Several studies (see Furnham &
Heaven, 1999) concur that introverts tend to attain higher academic grades
than do extraverts, perhaps because college requires solitary study. Extra-
verted children may do better in school, because of the greater emphasis on
classroom participation. Consistent with these hypotheses, introverted stu-
dents do well at essay writing, but extraverts are more likely to participate in
oral seminar activities (Furnham & Medhurst, 1995). Thus, extraversion–in-
troversion influences the academic strengths and weaknesses of the student.
So far, we have just the general observation that the various correlates of
extraversion seem like they should help the extraverted individual to adapt
to socially demanding environments. How can we take this idea further,
by understanding how self-regulation relates to personality dynamically?
Matthews (1999) pointed out that, for the most part, adaptation to real-life
pressures and demands depends on acquired skills rather than fundamental
components of information processing. Furthermore, skills are linked to spe-
cific contexts: Verbal skills for making friends and influencing people at a
party may not generalize to other social settings, such as seeking a loan from
one’s bank manager.
- TRAITS, STATES, AND INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING 149
2 2 Matthews and Harley (1993) suggest that circadian variation in extraversion effects reflects
an adaptive mechanism that maintains cognitive efficiency in the evening hours during which
much social interaction takes place.