Personality and activity preference

Abstract

Previous research in different fields has indicated that people choose various jobs, learning institutions and leisure‐time activities in terms of their personality structure, and to satisfy various needs. This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the two commonly distinguished personality variables of extraversion and neuroticism and the choice and avoidance of specifically social situations. Subjects were requested to indicate how much time they had spent in leisure situations over the past week; to rank order their preference for activities which reflected Murray's major needs and presses; and to rate their choice or avoidance of other abstractly described, and then stressful, anxiety‐provoking, social situations on a five‐point scale. It was shown, using two‐way analysis of variance on factor scores derived from the factor analysis of different but related scales, that extraverts have a significantly and meaningfully different pattern of activity preferences from introverts. This finding was also true of high and low neurotics but not to the same extent. The results are discussed in terms of a major criticism of the methodology and conclusion in the person–situation debate, subject assignment in laboratory experiments and social skills training, and assessment.

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