This document contains the two papers referenced below:

Grimes, J.O., Cheek, J.M., & Norem, J.K. (2011, January). Four meanings of introversion:
a
Social, thinking, anxious, and inhibited introversion. Presented at the annual meeting of
the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.

Cheek, J.M., Brown, C.A., & Grimes, J.O. (2014, Sept.). Personality Scales for Four Domains of
Introversion: Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Restrained Introversion. Preliminary
Research Manual, Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA. 02481-
8203 [email protected] 2nd ed. 2014, with update addendum September 28 2020 for
Revised Restrained Introversion Scale for STAR Introversion.

a
Note: After the 2011 paper, we renamed the Inhibited factor as Restrained Introversion, with
reference to the work of J.P. Guilford.

Available at: https://wellesley.academia.edu/JonathanCheek

*
 Four Meanings of Introversion: Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Inhibited Introversion

Jennifer O. Grimes Jonathan M. Cheek and Julie K. Norem

Wellesley College

Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology

Annual Meeting, January 2011, San Antonio, TX

Contact: Jennifer O. Grimes or Jonathan Cheek

Wellesley College Department of Psychology
[email protected] - [email protected]

Guilford demonstrated in the 1930s that the various attempts at transforming Jungian and
other conceptualizations of Introversion-Extroversion into personality questionnaires
were resulting in ambiguous multiple-factor scales. Proposed measurement models
subdividing introversion into components resulted in heated but inconclusive debate, as
exemplified by the exchange between Eysenck and Guilford in 1977 and seen again in
the critique of Lucas, Diener, Grob, Suh, and Shao (2000) by Ashton, Lee, and Paunonen
(2002). Carrigan (1960) argued that introversion was not effectively captured as a unitary
construct, and pressure to clearly define introversion with a comprehensive conceptual
and operational model continues (e.g., Block, 1995; 2010).

The many meanings of introversion leave contemporary researchers with an unresolved

dilemma: despite the persistent conceptual ambiguity and lack of a universally accepted
measurement model, interest in the topic and demand for measures seems to be
increasing (e.g., Laney, 2002; http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com ). The purpose of the
present research was to return to recommendations made by previous generations of
psychologists such as Guilford and Guilford (1934) and Murray (1938) that four or five
factors might be needed to account for the meaningful distinctions that exist within the
broad personality dimension termed “introversion-extraversion.” We identified
contemporary personality measures that can be usefully organized into measurement
domains that reflect coherent meanings of “introversion.”

METHOD

The nineteen personality scales presented in Table 1 were administered to 225 female
students. These measures were grouped by examination of intercorrelations and factor
loadings into four domains of introversion.
Table 1: Personality Measures Included in Each of the Four Domains of Introversion

Domain 1: Social Introversion

Preference for Solitude (Burger, 1995) [.83]
Positive Stimulation subscale of the Interpersonal Orientation Scale: (Hill, 1987) (R)
[.75]
Gregariousness Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R)
[.88]
Warmth Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R) [.80]

Domain 2: Thinking Introversion

Introspectiveness (Fenigstein, Scheier, & Buss, 1975; Guilford, 1959) [.64]
Fantasy subscale of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983) [.58]
Openness Scale of the Big Five Inventory (John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991) [.76]
Personal Identity Orientation (Cheek, 1989) [.69]
Rich Inner Life factor of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Aron & Aron, 1997; Cheek
et al., 2009) [.78]

Domain 3: Anxious Introversion

Shyness (Cheek & Melchior, 1985) [.83]
Rumination (Trapnell & Campbell, 1999) [.70]
Temperamental Sensitivity factor of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale (Aron & Aron,
1997; Cheek et al., 2009) [.77]
Hypersensitive Narcissism (Hendin & Cheek, 1997) [.77]
Positive Emotions Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R)
[.54]
Assertiveness Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R) [.68]

Domain 4: Inhibited* Introversion [* renamed Restrained Introversion in 2014]

Sensation-seeking subscale of EASI Impulsivity (Buss & Plomin, 1975) (R) [.70]
EASI Activity (Buss & Plomin, 1975) (R) [.84]
Excitement-seeking Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R)
[.70]
Activity Facet of the NEO-PI Extraversion scale (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (R) [.85]

Note: (R) indicates scales that were reverse-scored from the direction of extraversion to
the direction of introversion. Numbers in square brackets are the loadings for each scale
on the first unrotated factor of the measures within each domain (i.e., from four separate
principal component analyses).

2
RESULTS

Correlations among factor scores representing these domains indicated moderate

convergence among social, anxious, and inhibited introversion (rs averaging around .50).
Thinking introversion, however, did not correlate significantly with any of the other three
domains (see Table 2).

Table 2: Correlations among Factor Scores for Measures of Each Introversion Domain

Social Thinking Anxious

Introversion Introversion Introversion
Thinking -.05
Introversion
Anxious .46* -.01
Introversion
Inhibited * .57* -.15 .49*
Introversion

N = 225 * p  .01. [*Note: Inhibited Introversion was renamed Restrained Introversion in 2014.]

CONCLUSION

The results for the Thinking factor raise the question of whether or not it should be
considered a domain of introversion at all. The constructors of one of the scales defining
that domain asserted that “the private dimension of self-consciousness is similar to the
Jungian conception of introversion” (Fenigstein et al., 1975, p. 525). Moreover, after
more than 40 years of research on the measurement of personality dimensions, Guilford
(1977) argued that thinking introversion was essential to the definition of the higher order
factor of introversion-extraversion. The status of thinking introversion would be a
promising target for further research.

We agree with Carrigan’s conclusion that when researchers use the term introversion
“care must be taken to specify its conceptual and operational referent” (1960, p. 358).
Rather than using the word by itself, researchers should put a specific modifier in front of
it, whether it be Jungian introversion, or Eysenckian, or Big Five, or one of the four
domains presented in the present research: social, thinking, anxious, or inhibited
introversion.

REFERENCES

Ashton, M. C., Lee, K., & Paunonen, S. V. (2002). What is the central feature of
extraversion? Social attention versus reward sensitivity. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 83, 245-252.

3
Block, J. (2010). The five-factor framing of personality and beyond: Some ruminations.
Psychological Inquiry, 21, 2-25.

Block, J. (1995). A contrarian view of the five-factor approach to personality description.

Psychological Bulletin, 117, 187-215.

Carrigan, P. M. (1960). Extraversion-introversion as a dimension of personality: A

reappraisal. Psychological Bulletin, 57, 329-360.

Eysenck, H. J. (1977). Personality and factor analysis: A reply to Guilford. Psychological

Bulletin, 84, 405-411.

Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-
consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
43, 522-527.

Guilford, J. P. (1977). Will the real factor of extraversion-introversion please stand up? A
reply to Eysenck. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 412-416.

Guilford, J. P. & Guilford, R. B. (1934). An analysis of the factors in a typical test of

introversion-extroversion. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 28, 377-399.

Laney, M. O. (2002). The introvert advantage. New York: Workman Publishing.

Lucas, R. E., Diener, E., Grob, A., Suh, E. M., & Shao, L. (2000). Cross-cultural
evidence for the fundamental features of extraversion. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 52, 452-468.

Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in personality. New York: Oxford University Press.

References for Measures Cited in Table 1

Aron, E., & Aron, A. (1997). Sensory processing sensitivity and its relation to
introversion and emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73,
345-368.

Burger, J. (1995). Individual differences in preference for solitude. Journal of Research

in Personality, 29, 85-108.

Buss, A.H., & Plomin, R. (1975). A temperament theory of personality development.

New York: John Wiley & Sons.

4
Cheek, J.M. (1989). Identity orientations and self-interpretation. In D.M. Buss & N.
Cantor (Eds.), Personality psychology: Recent trends and emerging directions
(pp. 275-285). New York: Springer-Verlag.
https://www.academia.edu/4491708/Identity_Orientations_and_Self-
Interpretation

Cheek, J.M., Bourgeois, M.L., Theran, S.A., Grimes, J.O., & Norem, J.K. (2009,
February). Interpreting the factors of the Highly Sensitive Person Scale. Annual
meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.

Cheek, J.M., & Melchior, L.A. (1985). Measuring the three components of shyness. In
M.H. Davis & S.L. Franzoi (Co-chairs), Emotion, Personality, and Personal Well-
Being II. Symposium conducted at the annual convention of the American
Psychological Association, Los Angeles.
http://www.wellesley.edu/Psychology/Cheek/research.html

Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Professional manual for the revised NEO
Personality Inventory. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a

multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44,
113-126.

Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-
consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 43, 522-527.

Guilford, J.P. (1959). Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Hendin, H. M., & Cheek, J.M. (1997). Assessing hypersensitive narcissism: A

Reexamination of Murray’s Narcism Scale. Journal of Research in Personality,
31, 588-599.

Hill, C. A. (1987). Affiliation motivation: People who need people…but in different

ways. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 1008-1018.

John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The “Big Five” Inventory—
Versions 4a and 54 (Technical Report). Berkeley, California: University of
California, Institute of Personality Assessment and Research.

Trapnell, P.D., & Campbell, J.D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor
model of personality: Distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284-304.

5
 Personality Scales for Four Domains of Introversion:

Social, Thinking, Anxious, and Restrained Introversion --

Preliminary Research Manual

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.2173.5685

2nd edition, September 2014 [with 2020 update Revised RI scale] *

Jonathan M. Cheek, Courtney A. Brown, and Jennifer O. Grimes

Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley MA 02481-8203

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265728649

These 10-item scales were developed based on a study (n = 225) that had originally been

analyzed as four factor scores composed of 19 personality scales representing these domains

of introversion (Grimes, Cheek, & Norem, 2011; see http://www.academia.edu/7353616/ )

Table 1: Correlations among Introversion Factors and Domain Scales

Social Thinking Anxious Restrained

Introversion Introversion Introversion Introversion

Social (.84)

Introversion

Thinking -.05 / .09 (.77)

Introversion

Anxious .46* / .39* -.01 / .18* (.87)

Introversion

Restrained .57* /.45* -.15 / -.01 .49* / .29* (.85)

Introversion

Note: n= 225 college women, * p <.01; Numbers in parentheses indicate the correlations
between the scale and the factor. Also, for each pair of correlations reported above, the first
number is the correlation between the two factors, and the second number is the correlation
between the two domain scales.
A second sample was obtained using Amazon MTurk:

Correlations among Introversion Domain Scales

Social Thinking Anxious Restrained

Introversion Introversion Introversion Introversion

Social (.84)
Introversion

Thinking .01 (.86)

Introversion

Anxious .53* .07 (.90)

Introversion

Restrained .38* -.15* .29* (.73)

Introversion

Note: n=516, *p<.01; Numbers in parentheses indicate the alpha coefficients of internal
consistency reliability for the 10-item introversion domain scales.

Scoring the 4 STAR (Social, Thinking, Anxious, Restrained) Domains of Introversion

RECODE the Reverse-Worded items before computing Scale scores: (1=5) (2=4) (4=2) (5=1)

Social Introversion items: 2, 4, & 7

Thinking Introversion item: 5

Anxious Introversion items: 4, 6, & 7

Restrained Introversion items: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 [differs for Revised Restrained #]

See last page of this document
Alpha coefficients of internal consistency reliability for 10-item scales:
n= 225 Wellesley College n=516 Internet Respondents
Women

Social Introversion .73 .84

Thinking Introversion .77 .86

Anxious Introversion .83 .90

Restrained Introversion .74 .73

Means and Standard Deviations for the 10-item scales in a sample of college women and in
a sample of internet respondents:
Mean Standard Deviation

Social Introversion (S):

College Women 30.23 5.58

Internet Respondents a 6.94

35.80

Thinking Introversion (T):

College Women b 5.10

38.98

Internet Respondents 37.01 6.83

Anxious Introversion (A):

College Women 29.35 7.11

Internet Respondents 29.87 8.85

Restrained Introversion (R):

College Women 31.13 5.84

Internet Respondents 32.16 6.05

n=225 College Women

n= 516 internet respondents
a
MTurk internet workers might be expected to score higher in social introversion than the
general population.
b
Mean scale scores for Thinking Introversion might be lower in samples not composed entirely
of college students.
T-tests for Gender Groups on STAR Introversion domain scales in the internet sample
Gender Mean t p d

Social Female 36.07

Introversion
.76 .45 .07

Male 35.61

Thinking Female 36.97

Introversion
-.13 .89 .01

Male 37.05

Anxious Female 30.76

Introversion
2.23 .03 .20

Male 29.03

Restrained Female 33.25

Introversion
See Revised 4.04 .001 .36
Restrained
Male 31.13
Introversion
Scale on last page
n=251 Females
n=265 Males
Effect sizes calculated using the following calculator:
http://www.campbellcollaboration.org/escalc/html/EffectSizeCalculator-SMD8.php

Cheek, J.M., Brown, C.A & Grimes, J.O. (2014, September). Preliminary research manual for
personality scales for four domains of introversion: Social, Thinking, Anxious, and
Restrained Introversion (2nd ed.). Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology,
Wellesley College, Wellesley MA 02481. (Available from [email protected] )
 STAR-INT-S [Social]
Please answer the following questions by deciding to what extent each item is characteristic
of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from
the scale printed below.

1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree

2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree

____ 1. I like to share special occasions with just one person or a few close friends, rather than

have big celebrations.

____ 2. I think it would be satisfying if I could have very close friendships with many people.

____ 3. I try to structure my day so that I always have some time to myself.

____ 4. I like to vacation in places where there are a lot of people around and a lot of activities

going on.

____ 5. After spending a few hours surrounded by a lot of people, I am usually eager to get

away by myself.

____ 6. I do not have a strong need to be around other people.

____ 7. Just being around others and finding out about them is one of the most interesting things

I can think of doing.

____ 8. I usually prefer to do things alone.

____ 9. Other people tend to misunderstand me—forming a mistaken impression of what kind

of person I am because I don’t say much about myself.

____ 10. I feel drained after social situations, even when I enjoyed myself.
 STAR-INT-T [Thinking]

Please answer the following questions by deciding to what extent each item is characteristic
of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from
the scale printed below.

1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree

2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree

____ 1. I enjoy analyzing my own thoughts and ideas about myself.

____ 2. I have a rich, complex inner life.

____ 3. I frequently think about what kind of person I am.

____ 4. When I am reading an interesting story or novel or when I am watching a good movie, I

imagine how I would feel if the events in the story were happening to me.

____ 5. I seldom think about myself.

____ 6. I generally pay attention to my inner feelings.

____ 7. I value my personal self-evaluation, that is, the private opinion I have of myself.

____ 8. I sometimes step back (in my mind) in order to examine myself from a distance.

____ 9. I daydream and fantasize, with some regularity, about things that might happen to me.

____ 10. I am inclined to be introspective, that is, to analyze myself.

 STAR-INT-A [Anxious]

Please answer the following questions by deciding to what extent each item is characteristic
of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from
the scale printed below.

1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree

2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree

____ 1. When I enter a room I often become self-conscious and feel that the eyes of others are

upon me.

____ 2. My thoughts are often focused on episodes of my life that I wish I’d stop thinking about.

____ 3. My nervous system sometimes feels so frazzled that I just have to get off by myself.

____ 4. I am confident about my social skills.

____ 5. Defeat or disappointment usually shame or anger me, but I try not to show it.

____ 6. It does not take me long to overcome my shyness in new situations.

____ 7. I feel relaxed even in unfamiliar social situations.

____ 8. Even when I am in a group of friends, I often feel very alone and uneasy.

____ 9. My secret thoughts, feelings, and actions would horrify some of my friends.

____ 10. I feel painfully self-conscious when I am around strangers.

 Original STAR-INT-R [Restrained scale; items/scale has been revised; see next page] ***

Please answer the following questions by deciding to what extent each item is characteristic
of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from
the scale printed below.

1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree

2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree

____ 1. I like to be off and running as soon as I wake up in the morning.

____ 2. I’ll try anything once.

____ 3. For relaxation I like to slow down and take things easy.

____ 4. I like to wear myself out with exertion.

____ 5. I often say the first thing that comes into my head.

____ 6. I generally seek new and exciting experiences and sensations.

____ 7. I like to keep busy all the time.

____ 8. I often act on the spur of the moment.

____ 9. I sometimes do “crazy” things just to be different.

____ 10. I often feel sluggish.

*** See replacement RI - Revised Restrained Introversion Scale

on next page >>>
 STAR-INT-R [Revised Restrained Introversion Scale; replaces the original RI]

Please answer the following questions by deciding to what extent each item is characteristic
of your feelings and behavior. Fill in the blank next to each item by choosing a number from
the scale printed below.

1 = very uncharacteristic or untrue, strongly disagree

2 = uncharacteristic
3 = neutral
4 = characteristic
5 = very characteristic or true, strongly agree

____ 1. I tend to make decisions slowly and carefully.

____ 2. I take my time to "look before I leap" into new things.

____ 3. I often say the first thing that comes into my head.

____ 4. I like to plan ahead for upcoming things in my life.

____ 5. I generally seek new and exciting experiences and sensations.

____ 6. Emotion or impulse hardly ever cause me to act without thinking.

____ 7. I like to think through all the alternatives before taking action.

____ 8. I’ll try anything once.

____ 9. I usually take things in my life pretty seriously.

____ 10. I often act on the spur of the moment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes:

RECODE the Reverse-Worded items before computing Scale scores: (1=5) (2=4) (4=2) (5=1)

Restrained Introversion – revised scale items to recode: 3, 5, 8, & 10

In an internet sample (N = 274) the Revised Restrained Introversion Scale had an alpha
coefficient of internal consistency reliability of .81 and it correlated with the original STAR RI
scale r = .64. The 10-item Revised RI Scale contains 4 of the original 10 RI scale items, and its
mean was 36.96 (sd = 6.31; N = 274). Respondents who identified as male (N = 123) had a mean
of 36.37 (sd = 6.52) and those who identified as female (N = 146) had a mean of 37.50 (sd =
6.15) [t(67) = -1.13, p = .15]. (for further details email [email protected])