Neuroticism > Extroversion

If you’ve ever heard of the big 5 personality theory, you already know that most people view neuroticism as negative and extroversion as positive. The OCEAN model is the biggest promoter of this concept, but mass media supports it. OCEAN stands for Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. These 5 traits are said to measure the key dimensions of an individual’s personality.

The OCEAN test “scores” people on each of the 5 categories. A high openness score means that a person is accepting of new experiences, creative, and imaginative. A high conscientiousness score means that a person acts predictably and tends to be reliable, as well as persevering. A high extroversion score is consistent with social confidence and assertiveness. A high agreeableness score indicates that the person is patient, trusting, and empathetic. And finally, a high neuroticism score means a person is anxious, testy, and self critical. In every instance of the test, a high score is a good thing- except with regards to neuroticism. But evaluating the character traits against one another- I would choose to work with (and for) a highly neurotic person over a highly extroverted person any day. Here’s why:

Extroverts are needy

Extroverts, by definition, get their “energy” from outside stimulus. They need to interact with other people…