Tests of two hypotheses on extraversion

Three samples give mixed results on a hypothesis that higher extraversion is associated with greater tendency to assume similarity between oneself and others. Results consistently support a second hypothesis that group judgements of the socially desirable personality on an American college campus will show that personality to be highly extraverted. The average actual student is in fact substantially less extraverted than what is considered desirable. These findings are discussed in terms of possible tensions produced by the discrepancy between the ideal and the real.