Happiness is one of the most desired yet often elusive mental states one can experience. Just as many people differ in their personalities so do many differ in their level of happiness and contentment. This article will explore the link between personality and happiness and how this relationship may be mediated by other factors.
How are personality and happiness measured?
In the academic literature, personality is measured using the Big Five (or Five Factor) model. The Big Five is considered a more scientifically accurate measure of personality compared to other assessments, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Enneagram. The Big Five measures how high one scores in five traits: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (or its opposite, what we call “Equanimity”). To learn more about the Big Five personality model, feel free to read our article Overview of the Big Five.
The age old task of defining happiness deserves an article of its own. However, for the purposes of this analysis, it is crucial to have some understanding as to how happiness can be measured. A common way academics have measured happiness is through the use of questionnaires. One example is the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS).1 The SHS asks a person four different questions about their level of happiness. The higher one scores on the SHS, the higher their level of happiness.
The significance of Extroversion and Neuroticism
One of the traits that has been linked to higher happiness is Extroversion. Extroversion is a personality trait that is associated with higher positive affect.2 This means that Extroverts are more likely to experience emotions generally thought of as “positive”, such as energy, joy, enthusiasm, and cheerfulness. It is therefore unsurprising that Extroverts tend to report higher levels of happiness than Introverts.3 Extroversion also has a positive relationship with other forms of subjective well being, such as life satisfaction and quality of life.4
In contrast to Extroverts, those high in Neuroticism (or low in Equanimity) are more likely to report being unhappy with their lives.5 Neurotics are higher in negative affect.6 They are more likely to experience emotions generally thought of as “negative” such as fear, anxiety, lethargy, and hostility. Neuroticism is also associated with an increased risk of mental health issues such as depression.7
The happy personality types
Based on the evidence above, high Extroversion and Equanimity are predictive of higher levels of happiness. This would mean that types such as Healers and Monarchs are expected to be happier than more neurotic and introverted types such as Investigators and Blacksmiths. If you’re curious about whether this relationship applies to you, you can take our free Personality Test to find out your personality type and how high you score on the Big Five traits.
Are Introverts and Neurotics doomed?
Despite the research cited, it is important to note that just because a trait is associated with a certain outcome, it does not mean that the outcome is guaranteed. There are indeed happy introverts and happy neurotics. One study found that personality traits such as Extroversion and Neuroticism only explain about 48% of the variance in happiness.8 In addition, other factors have been shown to mediate the relationship between personality traits and happiness. For example, one study revealed that “positivity” fully mediated the effects of Extroversion on happiness and partially mediated the effects of Neuroticism.9 Other research suggests that it is the “extroverted” actions themselves, such as socializing, which brings about positive affect rather than the internal personality trait of Extroversion.10
We will explore in more detail how Introverts and Neurotics can increase their level of well-being and happiness in a future article. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel to be kept up to date on any new content.
- Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137-155. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. ↩︎
- Wilt J, Noftle EE, Fleeson W, Spain JS. The dynamic role of personality states in mediating the relationship between extraversion and positive affect. J Pers. 2012 Oct;80(5):1205-36. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00756.x. PMID: 22092066; PMCID: PMC3492883. ↩︎
- See Mandana Bagherian, Adis Kraskian Mojembari, Parviz Naghibian, Sanam Farshad Nik (2016) The Relationship between Happiness and Self-Awareness among Introverts and Extroverts. Psychology,07,1119-1125. doi: 10.4236/psych.2016.78112; Sousan Salary, Muhammad Reza Shaieri, Study of the Relationship between Happiness and Dimensions of Psychosis, Neurosis and Personality Extraversion, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 84, 2013, Pages 1143-1148, ISSN 1877-0428, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.716. ↩︎
- Steel, Schmidt & Shultz (2008) Steel P, Schmidt J, Shultz J. Refining the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin. 2008;134:138–161. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.1.138. ↩︎
- Lauriola, Marco, and Luca Iani. “Does positivity mediate the relation of extraversion and neuroticism with subjective happiness?.” PloS one 10.3 (2015): e0121991. ↩︎
- Schneider, Tamera R. “The role of neuroticism on psychological and physiological stress responses.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 40.6 (2004): 795-804. ↩︎
- Xia J, He Q, Li Y, Xie D, Zhu S, Chen J, Shen Y, Zhang N, Wei Y, Chen C, Shen J, Zhang Y, Gao C, Li Y, Ding J, Shen W, Wang Q, Cao M, Liu T, Zhang J, Duan H, Bao C, Ma P, Zhou C, Luo Y, Zhang F, Liu Y, Li Y, Jin G, Zhang Y, Liang W, Chen Y, Zhao C, Li H, Chen Y, Shi S, Kendler KS, Flint J, Wang X. The relationship between neuroticism, major depressive disorder and comorbid disorders in Chinese women. J Affect Disord. 2011 Dec;135(1-3):100-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2011.06.053. Epub 2011 Aug 6. PMID: 21824661; PMCID: PMC3220767. ↩︎
- Supra note 5. ↩︎
- Ibid. ↩︎
- Supra note 2. ↩︎
