IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0219839.html

Neural correlates of eye contact in face-to-face verbal interaction: An EEG-based study of the extraversion personality trait

Author

Listed:
  • Nur Syahirah Roslan
  • Lila Iznita Izhar
  • Ibrahima Faye
  • Hafeez Ullah Amin
  • Mohamad Naufal Mohamad Saad
  • Subarna Sivapalan
  • Samsul Ariffin Abdul Karim
  • Mohammad Abdul Rahman

Abstract

The extraversion personality trait has a positive correlation with social interaction. In neuroimaging studies, investigations on extraversion in face-to-face verbal interactions are still scarce. This study presents an electroencephalography (EEG)-based investigation of the extraversion personality trait in relation to eye contact during face-to-face interactions, as this is a vital signal in social interactions. A sample of healthy male participants were selected (consisting of sixteen more extraverted and sixteen less extraverted individuals) and evaluated with the Eysenck's Personality Inventory (EPI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) tools. EEG alpha oscillations in the occipital region were measured to investigate extraversion personality trait correlates of eye contact during a face-to-face interaction task and an eyes-open condition. The results revealed that the extraversion personality trait has a significant positive correlation with EEG alpha coherence in the occipital region, presumably due to its relationship with eye contact during the interaction task. Furthermore, the decrease in EEG alpha power during the interaction task compared to the eyes-open condition was found to be greater in the less extraverted participants; however, no significant difference was observed between the less and more extraverted participants. Overall, these findings encourage further research towards the understanding of neural mechanism correlates of the extraversion personality trait—particularly in social interaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Nur Syahirah Roslan & Lila Iznita Izhar & Ibrahima Faye & Hafeez Ullah Amin & Mohamad Naufal Mohamad Saad & Subarna Sivapalan & Samsul Ariffin Abdul Karim & Mohammad Abdul Rahman, 2019. "Neural correlates of eye contact in face-to-face verbal interaction: An EEG-based study of the extraversion personality trait," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(7), pages 1-15, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0219839
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219839
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0219839
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0219839&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0219839?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jule Specht & Boris Egloff & Stefan C. Schmukle, 2011. "Stability and Change of Personality across the Life Course: The Impact of Age and Major Life Events on Mean-Level and Rank-Order Stability of the Big Five," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 377, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Nicolas Burra & Dirk Kerzel & Nathalie George, 2016. "Early Left Parietal Activity Elicited by Direct Gaze: A High-Density EEG Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(11), pages 1-23, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Beatrice Rammstedt & Frank M. Spinath & David Richter & Jürgen Schupp, 2013. "Personality Changes in Couples: Partnership Longevity and Personality Congruence in Couples," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 585, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Shelly Lundberg, 2013. "The College Type: Personality and Educational Inequality," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(3), pages 421-441.
    3. Erica Ordali & Chiara Rapallini, 2024. "Aging and financial risk-taking: A meta-analysis," Working Papers - Economics wp2024_27.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    4. Esteban García-Miralles & Miriam Gensowski, 2025. "Are Children’s Socio-Emotional Skills Shaped by Parental Health Shocks?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(5), pages 1560-1596.
    5. Borau, Sylvie & Couprie, Hélène & Hopfensitz, Astrid, 2022. "The prosociality of married people: Evidence from a large multinational sample," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    6. Ioanna Giannoukou, 2023. "Personality Traits and Charismatic Leader: An Innovative Perspective on Leadership," Technium Business and Management, Technium Science, vol. 6(1), pages 105-125.
    7. Dasgupta, Utteeyo & Gangadharan, Lata & Maitra, Pushkar & Mani, Subha, 2017. "Searching for preference stability in a state dependent world," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 17-32.
    8. Hille, Adrian & Schupp, Jürgen, 2015. "How Learning a Musical Instrument Affects the Development of Skills," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 44, pages 56-82.
    9. Chadi, Adrian & Hetschko, Clemens, 2013. "Flexibilisation without hesitation? Temporary contracts and workers' satisfaction," Discussion Papers 2013/3, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    10. Adamecz, Anna & Kiss, Hubert János, 2025. "Adolescent Core Self-Evaluation and Adult Interpersonal Trust: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study," IZA Discussion Papers 18086, IZA Network @ LISER.
    11. Schurer, Stefanie & Yong, Jongsay, 2012. "Personality, well-being and the marginal utility of income: What can we learn from random coefficient models?," Working Paper Series 18617, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    12. Cabane, Charlotte & Hille, Adrian & Lechner, Michael, 2016. "Mozart or Pelé? The effects of adolescents' participation in music and sports," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 90-103.
    13. Obschonka, Martin & Lee, Neil & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Eichstaedt, johannes Christopher & Ebert, Tobias, 2018. "Big Data, artificial intelligence and the geography of entrepreneurship in the United States," OSF Preprints c62tn, Center for Open Science.
    14. repec:plo:pone00:0146716 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. DeLoach, Stephen B. & Kurt, Mark & Sansale, Rebecca, 2022. "Non-cognitive mismatch and occupational switching," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    16. Aida Ćumurović & Walter Hyll, 2019. "Financial Literacy and Self‐Employment," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 455-487, June.
    17. Schäfer, Konrad C., 2017. "An Investigation Into the Stability of the Big-Five in Germany," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-600, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    18. Reher, Leonie & Runst, Petrik & Thomä, Jörg, 2024. "Personality and regional innovativeness: An empirical analysis of German patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(6).
    19. Jule Specht & Boris Egloff & Stefan C. Schmukle, 2012. "Everything under Control?: The Effects of Age, Gender, and Education on Trajectories of Perceived Control in a Nationally Representative German Sample," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 445, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    20. A. Kool & M. T. Mainhard & A. D. C. Jaarsma & P. Beukelen & M. Brekelmans, 2018. "Do Students with Varying Academic Ability Benefit Equally from Personal Qualities? Applying a Trait and State Perspective," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(8), pages 1021-1034, December.
    21. Binder, Martin, 2024. "Entrepreneurial worries: Self-employment and potential loss of well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0219839. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.