The relationship between extraversion, neuroticism and aspects of trait affect

Individual differences in the affective component of global personality traits such as extraversion and neuroticism can be described in terms of three different aspects: frequency, intensity and duration. Extraversion and neuroticism have been found to be related to the frequency and intensity of positive and negative emotions, respectively. However, it is unclear whether both personality traits are related to the duration of emotions and which aspect of trait affect most strongly characterizes the emotional life of extraverts and neurotics. For a period of 1 week, participants were asked to report at the end of each day the frequency, intensity and duration of the positive and negative emotions they experienced earlier that day. Correlational analyses revealed that extraversion is positively related to the frequency, intensity and duration of positive emotions whereas neuroticism is positively related to the frequency and duration of negative emotions. Regression analyses and a comparison of effect sizes further showed that the duration of positive emotions is the strongest predictor of extraversion whereas the frequency of negative emotions is the strongest predictor of neuroticism.