What does extroversion mean?
Extroversion is the quality of being outward-going: a disposition towards sociability, expressiveness, and drawing energy from the company of others. In everyday use it describes someone who thrives in conversation, enjoys groups, and tends towards enthusiasm and assertiveness. Within psychology, it carries a more precise meaning as one of the five major dimensions of personality, measured along a continuum from highly extroverted to highly introverted; most people fall somewhere between the two poles rather than at either extreme. The term entered English in the seventeenth century from Latin roots meaning "to turn outward", though it gained its modern psychological sense through the work of Carl Jung in the early twentieth century. Jung himself preferred the spelling "extraversion", which remains standard in much academic writing, but "extroversion" has become dominant in general usage. The word is useful precisely because it names a familiar pattern of behaviour without judging it: describing someone's extroversion says how they engage with the world, not whether they do well or badly.
nounThe quality of being outgoing and deriving energy from social interaction; in psychology, one of the major dimensions of personality characterized by sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness, and expressiveness.
- The personality trait or disposition of being outgoing, sociable, and energized by interaction with other people.
- In psychology, a measurable dimension of personality (one of the Big Five) on which individuals are rated for sociability, assertiveness, activity level, and positive emotionality.
"Her natural extroversion made her the obvious choice to host the conference."
"His extroversion was evident the moment he walked into the party and greeted everyone by name."
"On the questionnaire, participants scored high on both conscientiousness and extroversion."
"The role demanded a degree of extroversion that she had to consciously cultivate."
Rare. Extroversion is normally used as an uncountable noun; a plural occasionally appears in technical contexts referring to different types or degrees of the trait.
"Psychologists have distinguished several distinct extroversions within broader trait models."
Jung actually spelled it 'extraversion' — 'extroversion' is a later variant that became so popular it overtook its own original.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of extroversion
Extroversion derives from Latin elements: the prefix extra- ("outside", later re-formed by association with "extro-", "outward") combined with versio ("a turning"), from vertere, "to turn" — literally "a turning outward". It appears in English from around the mid-seventeenth century in general senses relating to directing attention or thought outwards. Its modern psychological sense was established through Carl Jung's typology of personality, published in the early twentieth century, in which he contrasted introversion with what he called extraversion; the extro- spelling arose as a popular variant and eventually prevailed outside specialist literature. Cognates sharing the root include introversion, version, conversion, and diversion.
Related word forms
How extroversion is actually used
"Extroversion" is now the more common everyday spelling, while "extraversion" persists in formal psychological literature. The word is neutral to mildly positive in connotation. It is a mass noun with no plural.
Easily confused with extroversion
Extraversion is an older spelling (favoured by Jung and still common in academic psychology) of the same concept that extroversion denotes; neither spelling changes the meaning.