Quiet Strengths: Adaptable Introversion in the Workplace

Abstract

A major theoretical and empirical advancement of recent work in personality science concerns the variability of personality traits and the impact on people’s lives. In this current climate, research has focused on how acting out of character can shape important life outcomes for dispositional introverts. For example, research in personality science has identified relations between acting extraverted and increases in positive affect for dispositional introverts, but also evidenced the costs. The specific nature of how individuals adapt their introversion and how they may experience the consequences in the workplace remains unexplored. We therefore review the nuances and complexities of the adaptiveness of introverts in the workplace through the lens of free-trait theory. Although we acknowledge that introversion is theoretically and empirically distinct to shyness, we see this as an opportunity to leverage a deeper understanding of introversion to provide a more well-rounded view on the adaptiveness of shyness in contexts such as the modern, dynamic workplace.