The Effect of State Extraversion on Four Types of Affect

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effect of state extraversion on different types of affect. Ninety six participants were instructed to be extraverted or introverted in a 10-minute dyadic discussion. State extraversion had a strong effect on positive affect and smaller (but still strong) effects on pleasant and activated affect, with these latter two effects almost equal in magnitude. This pattern of findings appears to increase confidence that the effect of state extraversion is genuine rather than the result of construct overlap, in that extraversion's effect on positive affect is not dominated by its effect on activated effect. No support for reward sensitivity, as a potential explanatory mechanism was found. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.