Approaching extraverts: Socially excluded men prefer extraverted faces

Social exclusion creates a powerful motivation for individuals to seek affiliation with others. Satisfying this affiliative motive would be facilitated by the ability to detect cues in others indicative of their own affiliative propensity. Given the association of extraverted personality with affiliative interest and social access, gravitating toward more extraverted others could serve to ensure satisfaction of one's own affiliation goals. Consistent with past research, we hypothesized that social exclusion (relative to social inclusion) would heighten preferences for faces that veridically connote extraversion. Results partially supported this primary hypothesis as socially excluded men upregulated their preferences for extraverted faces following an exclusionary experience, whereas no difference emerged for women's extraversion preferences based on inclusionary status. These findings suggest men favored the affiliative benefits of extraversion over its potential interpersonal costs following exclusion. Conversely, socially included men did not prefer extraverted faces, which could reflect greater wariness of dominant conspecifics, despite the potential gregariousness communicated in target faces, when such men's affiliative needs are adequately met. We frame these results using an evolutionary framework discussing how salient needs influence interpersonal preferences.