Film-induced incentive motivation and positive activation in relation to agentic and affiliative components of extraversion

Recently we argued that a core process underlying the trait of extraversion is positive incentive motivation, an association that particularly characterizes the agentic as opposed to the affiliative component of extraversion (Depue & Collins, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 1–79, 1999). Due to a paucity of methods that specifically induce incentive motivation–positive activation (as opposed to solely amusement and pleasantness), this study developed dynamic film material that activates such subjective experience. Moreover, the films represent three levels of magnitude of induced incentive motivation–positive activation, ranging from minimal to moderate to strong. Therefore, individual differences in film-induced positive activation could be expressed as a stimulus intensity–response function via the slope of positive activation ratings across the range of incentive magnitudes. Film-induced reactivity in positive activation, as opposed to pre-film basal positive activation, was preferentially related to extraversion. Moreover, the slope of post-film positive activation across films, reflecting a stimulus intensity–response function, was more robustly related to overall estimates of extraversion (r=0.34, p<0.01) than response to any single film. Most importantly, film-induced positive activation was specifically correlated with the agentic (r=0.32, p<0.01) as opposed to the affiliative (r=0.18, p=0.09) component of extraversion. The findings suggest that a unitary concept of extraversion may be incorrect, and that further research is necessary to characterize the nature of agentic and affiliative components of the trait. The film method reported herein provides one means of investigating the incentive motivation–positive activation nature of extraversion.