The Relationship Between Extraversion and Listening Comprehension Under High and Low-Salience Visual Distraction Conditions

The proposed study contributes to the pool of research examining the link between level of extraversion and sensory stimulation. Numerous studies have shown that introverts are more susceptible to forms of auditory distraction than extraverts when completing cognitive tasks requiring visual attention, but no study has examined the opposite relationship: the differing effects of visual distraction on auditory comprehension amongst introverts and extraverts. Using undergraduate college students as participants, this study tested three hypotheses: 1) there will be a negative correlation between level of extraversion and self-reported distraction while under high-salience visual distraction, 2) there will be a positive correlation between participants’ Extraversion score and performance on a listening comprehension task while under high-salience visual distraction and 3) the aforementioned correlation will be higher than the correlation between level of extraversion and performance on a listening comprehension task while under low-salience visual distraction. Though results did not lend support to the idea of these differences in sensory stimulation applying to different forms of visual distraction, we highlight the importance of these findings and provide important suggestions for future research into a critical phenomenon with implications in educational, workplace, and social settings