What Makes Someone an Extrovert: Definition, Personality Traits, and Self-Care Tips

What Is an Extrovert?

Extroverts tend to focus their interest and energy on the outer world of people and things, according to the American Psychological Association (APA). The term can be traced back more than a hundred years, to the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung, MD, who popularized it in his 1921 book Psychological Types.

It’s important to note that extroversion isn’t simply a synonym for being sociable — psychologists today see it as more than that, says Theresa M. Entringer, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, who studies personality traits.

Extroverts are outgoing, yes, but that’s only one in a constellation of characteristic feelings and behaviors. Extroverts also tend to be assertive, have agency, and express positive feelings, according to Dr. Entringer and the Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research.

What Does Science Say About the Extrovert Personality Type?

Extrovert Type vs. Trait

If you’re like lots of other people, you’ve probably taken the Jung-inspired Meyers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) test and been assigned a type that starts with an “E” for extrovert or “I” for introvert.

While the simplicity is appealing, that either/or attitude doesn’t exactly reflect current science. Research on the MBTI has found that most people don’t sort into distinct groups, says Gabriel Olaru, PhD, an assistant professor of developmental psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands who studies personality and its impact on well-being. Instead, he says, the results fall on a bell curve. “So you have a lot of average people, and then fewer and fewer people who are extremely extroverted and extremely introverted,” he explains.

Today, thanks to those findings and others, psychologists believe that extroversion exists on a continuum, meaning it’s a trait you can have more or less of, rather than a type of person you are or aren’t, says Entringer.

Research supports the idea that extroversion as a trait is largely scientifically valid, even if the extrovert personality type isn’t. In one study, researchers gave the Big Five Inventory (which measures extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) to nearly 18,000 participants in 56 countries. The results suggest that variations in these five traits account for people’s personalities all over the world.

What Causes Extroversion

Extroversion and other personality traits seem to be related to biological differences that are influenced by genetics, environment (including life experiences), and interactions between the two, says Manon van Scheppingen, PhD, who studies personality development and is an assistant professor of developmental psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands.

One set of evidence comes from heritability studies, which have found that people who are more genetically similar tend to be more alike in personality, says Dr. van Scheppingen. Just how alike varies a bit depending on the study, but overall it seems that your genes account for roughly half of the variation in your personality, according to van Scheppingen and a separate meta-analysis of 62 studies).

Other researchers who study brain activity have found that extroverted people may be wired differently, such that for extroverts, social situations and other experiences are perceived as more rewarding than for introverted individuals, according to a review published in the October 2022 Personality Science. This dopaminergic reward sensitivity theory could explain why extroverts have a drive for more social interactions, are more sensation-seeking, and experience more positive emotions than introverts, explains van Scheppingen. “What I like about the theory is that it would be a common cause for these different facets of extroversion,” she says.

Is It Okay to Call Yourself an Extrovert?

Even if personality type theory has fallen out of favor with researchers, can it still be helpful in the real world to think of yourself as an extrovert or introvert?

Yes, says Janaya Sadler, LCSW, the owner of Urban Healing Counseling in Raleigh, North Carolina, who takes a personality-informed approach to mental health. Knowing yourself and how you tend to respond to the world can help you thrive at work, in intimate relationships, and more, she says. “I think that it’s important in all arenas.”

Dr. Olaru agrees, adding that the terms extrovert or introvert also make it easy to share important information about yourself with others. It’s partly why things like the MBTI are so popular, he says. It’s easier to say “I’m an extrovert” than to say “I score 3.6 on a 1-to-5 scale,” he notes.

How to Tell if You’re an Extrovert

Two people who are extroverted can express it in totally different ways, says Olaru. One extrovert could be more assertive, while another may be more talkative, he notes. “For the sake of simplicity, we squeeze it into one dimension, but, in fact, it's very multifaceted,” he says. The upshot is that any given extrovert might have some characteristics of extroversion and not others.

Here are some of the most common indicators, according to Olaru and the Big Five Aspect Scale (BFAS) (a 100-item scale used in research that’s also available for free to the public).

Sociable
Makes friends easily
Warms up to others quickly
Shows feelings when happy
Cheerful
Has a positive worldview
Has a lot of fun
Laughs a lot
Takes charge
Has a strong personality
Knows how to captivate people
Sees self as a good leader
Is talkative
Can talk others into doing things
Is the first to act
Seeks excitement or sensation

Still not sure? Sometimes looking at the big picture clarifies things. The easiest way to tell whether you’re an extrovert is to ask yourself some simple questions, says Entringer. After you’re around other people, do you feel refreshed? If you do, it’s likely you tend toward extroversion, she says. You can also think about where you’re your truest self — around others or alone? If you feel most yourself in a group, that’s a sign you’re an extrovert, she says.

How Being an Extrovert Affects Your Health

Extroversion is a complex trait and doesn’t affect health and well-being in just one direction.

On the one hand, extroverts have strengths that promote wellness, particularly when it comes to the emotional side of things. Broadly speaking, greater extroversion is linked to greater psychological health and emotional well-being, says van Scheppingen. As evidence, she points out that people who rate themselves higher on extroversion also tend to report higher satisfaction throughout their lives, according to results of a study published in March 2023 that she coauthored with Olaru, for which they followed more than 9,000 people for 11 years.

On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be a clear finding when it comes to physical health and extroversion, says van Scheppingen. That may be because extroversion is linked to protective factors, like solid relationships with friends and family, and risk factors, like substance use, she says.

Here’s a look under the hood at specific ways being extroverted can impact health and well-being.

Extroverts May Have Larger Social Networks

By definition, extroverts are friendly, so it makes sense that research has found extroverts tend to have more social support. In one study, extroversion was linked with greater feelings of connection and belonging in addition to more practical support from others. More social support can promote greater well-being, says van Scheppingen. These relationships may also buffer against mental health issues (like anxiety and depression), though it’s not as powerful as the relationship between neuroticism and mental health issues, adds Olaru.

Extroverts May Be Happier

Extroverts experience more positive emotions and see the world in a more positive light, so they tend to report greater happiness than their introverted counterparts do, says van Scheppingen. One landmark study surveyed people on their personality traits and happiness levels during a 10-year period and found that, while all people experience ups and downs, in the long view, extroversion and happiness went hand in hand.

It’s important to note that this line of research doesn’t necessarily mean that extroverts experience less sadness. Positive and negative emotions can coexist, says Olaru. You can be an extrovert who experiences both emotional extremes — high highs and low lows — or an extrovert who’s happy more often than not. Extroversion doesn’t say anything about the frequency of these challenging states, which are captured by another personality trait called neuroticism, he says.

Extroverts May Take More Health Risks

Extroverts engage in more risk-taking behavior than introverts, which can have negative health consequences, says Olaru. One study on personality traits and teen alcohol use concluded that extroverted tendencies may make adolescents more susceptible to problem drinking. Another study, conducted during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, found that extroverts were more likely to ignore stay-at-home orders, which could have left them more vulnerable to getting sick.