The present study will investigate the relationship between introverted and extroverted personality types, overall wellness, and grade point average (GPA) in college students. It was hypothesized that extroverted college students had higher wellness and quality of life, and higher GPAs.
Participants (N = 50) will be self-selected from Hilbert College in Hamburg, New York. Participants will be required to complete an extensive Google Forms Survey to easily obtain information such as age, gender, GPA, personality type, and all of the following questionnaires. Participants will be asked to complete an adaptation of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Test (MBTI) from the website 16 Personalities to determine if they are extroverted or introverted personality types. Participants will then complete the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) Self-Care Inventory to assess self-care practices associated with wellness, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) Mental Health Quality of Life Questionnaire (MHQoL-7D) to assess overall quality of life.
A Pearson’s correlation analysis will determine that extroversion is positively associated with wellness. Introversion will be found to be negatively associated with wellness. It will also be found that extroverts have higher GPAs than introverts.
The study will find that college life is more favorable for extroverted individuals than introverted individuals. The constant rigor and socialization are ideal for extroverted students, but leaves introverted students feeling overwhelmed, unhappy, and less academically successful than their counterparts. Research suggests that colleges and universities should take more consideration of their introverted population in areas such as on-campus living, student activities, or the classroom environment. Moving toward more introvert-friendly conditions on college campuses would lead to higher levels of wellness and academic success in introverted college students, benefitting both the students themselves as well as the institutions.