Introverted Employees May Control How Much Extroverts Earn

It turns out that introverts have an important role in the workplace. Scientists have found that introverted employees are more likely to give low evaluations of job performance to extroverted co-workers, which give introverts a powerful role in workplaces that rely on peer-to-peer evaluation tools for awarding raises, bonuses or promotions.

In this case, the researchers studied how introverts rated co-workers. Time and time again, they found that introverts consistently rated extroverted co-workers as worse performers. Not only that, but they were less likely to give them credit for work performed or endorse them for advancement opportunities.

"The magnitude with which introverts underrated performance of extroverts was surprising," said Keith Leavitt, co-author of the new study, in a news release. "The results were very consistent across both studies."

So what does this mean for the workplace? The new research offers new understanding of the role that personality traits play in the workplace, where employees can have significant influence on their co-workers' careers.

"We found that introverted employees are especially sensitive to their co-workers interpersonal traits, in particular extraversion and disagreeableness," said Leavitt. "They make judgments and evaluate performance of others with those traits in mind."

The researchers suggest that extraverted employees might want to employ a "dimmer switch" when interacting with introverted peers. In addition, employers or supervisors may need to consider that the personality of evaluators could bring a degree a bias into evaluations, bonus awards or other personnel decisions.

The findings are published in the Academy of Management Journal.

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