The Adapting Game in the U.S. and Japan: Do Introverts, Extraverts, or Ambiverts Experience the Greatest Wellbeing During the Global Transition Toward Virtual Living?

Abstract

This study investigated individuals falling along the Extraversion-Introversion continuum, with ambiverts falling in the center, and how they are adapting mentally to technological advancement and virtual living (e.g., increasing online access to products, education, socialization, virtual events, and entertainment), which are being made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants in both the United States and Japan, recruited using social media posts, voluntarily completed: the Flourishing Scale; Satisfaction with Life Scale; General Well-Being Schedule; Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Short Form; NERIS Type Explorer; Media and Technology Usage and Attitudes Scale; and a series of open-ended experiential questions on technology usage. The main hypothesis of the study was that true ambiverts (as close to the center of the EI continuum as possible) will be the ultimate adapters—in both Japan and the United States— leading them to exhibit higher wellbeing and coping abilities. That ambiverts might be the best adjusted is related to the notions that with increased technological advancement and convenience comes increased physical isolation, and ambiverts embody the characteristics of both introverts (who thrive when focusing their energy on their internal world) and extraverts (who thrive on the outside world). The findings did not support the main hypothesis concerning potential advantages in favor of ambiverts. It did, however, yield significant findings, which shed light on the general problem of adaptation to current cultural changes. First, the findings revealed two main effects, one for personality and a second for sociocultural context. That is, extraverts exhibit greater wellbeing than introverts and ambiverts. Further, Japanese participants report higher levels of wellbeing than American participants. Second, there was also a significant interaction between personality type and perceived adaptation to technological advancement. That is, introverts who report not adapting well to technological advancement experience the lowest wellbeing, and extraverts who report not adapting well to technological advancement experience the highest wellbeing, relative to the other groups. Although the study did not uncover significant findings with respect to ambiversion, the investigation suggested that routine work should explore EI as a continuum rather than as discreet categories.