Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Paralinguistic Expression

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the associations among neuroticism, extraversion, and paralinguistic expression. The relevant literature provides ample information on the association between personality traits and voice intensity, pitch, pace of speaking, frequency of pauses, slips of the tongue, and other speech impediments. The author attempted to verify and supplement work reported previously. Scores for 100 persons (56 women, 44 men; M age = 21.5 yr., SD = 1.5) were analyzed with respect to two aspects of personality, neuroticism and introversion-extraversion. To analyze the paralinguistic properties of speech, elicited oral messages were examined, i.e., a fairy tale told by the examinees. While the analysis did not give unambiguous evidence that the assumptions were correct, it indicated singular and statistically significant relations of introversion and neuroticism with speech fluency impediments.