Eysenck meets Martindale: The relationship between extraversion and originality from the neuroscientific perspective

Based on Martindale’s low arousal theory of creativity the production of creative or original ideas more likely occurs in states of lower cortical arousal. According to Eysenck’s arousal theory, extraverted individuals are assumed to display a lower cortical arousal than their introverted counterparts. In combining predictions derived from both theories, we might then expect that brain activity in response to the production of novel, original ideas is moderated by individual differences in originality and in the personality dimension extraversion–introversion. In analyzing EEG alpha power during creative idea generation (n = 34) we found evidence in support with this assumption. Those extraverted individuals who produced highly original ideas during task performance exhibited the largest amount of alpha power, while in introverted individuals who produced less original ideas the lowest level of alpha power was observed. These results are consistent with the view of personality (i.e., extraversion) and performance (i.e., originality or in a broader sense, creativity) as inter-related rather than independent domains.