Extraversion refers to a state of excitement derived from things outside one self. People who are extraverts enjoy high levels of socialization’s such; they are outgoing and make friends easily. Extraverts’ energy flows outwards. The need for achievement is defined as the desire that one has for significant accomplishment, skill mastering, high standards or control. Some of the actions associated with the term include: detailed, repeated and prolonged efforts towards accomplishment of something difficult. This is achieved by having a single purpose for one to achieve a higher goal. People who have low need for achievement will choose tasks which are much simpler. To minimize the risk of failure, a person will choose tasks which are highly rated where failure won’t cause any form of embarrassment. The ones with high need for achievement choose difficult tasks which seems challenging but within achievable level. Need for achievement originate early in life from parents who always encourage their children to be independent and through rewarding and praising them when they succeed in anything (Cheng & Furnham, 2003). Showing them positive feelings as a result of achievement and associating I with competence not luck enhances the growth of achievement oriented mind.
The need to achieve stems from the fact that they seek a high degree of independence. The independence enables them to take full responsibilities of their actions (Camperio, Capiluppi, Veronese & Sartori, 2006). This puts them at the spotlight especially if they have been put in a leadership position should failure occur. To avoid failure, embarrassment and shame, they identify what needs to be done and focuses in achieving the set goals. For this reason they are made good leaders who take organizations to great heights due to their devotion to achieve the set goals.Extroverts are ambitious, active, energetic and highly willing to engage in interpersonal skills. Their energetic nature drives them to seek activities that are highly involving. They therefore set challenging but achievable goals. They assert them so that their presence can be felt. Because they want to be noticed, and their effects felt, they see the need to achieve the set goals. Accomplishment of such goals always gives excitement to them. Mesolimbic dopamine system is a circuit of the brain that is stimulated by reward. Extraverts have been identified to have a sensitive mesolimbic dopamine system. This means that in situations likely to yield rewards, extraverts are highly motivated to achieve so that they can get the expected reward (Ryckman, 2004). Their ambitious nature enables them to control their schedules such that they remain within the course of fulfilling their achievement. To measure the level of their achievement, they need constant feedback which acts as an indicator of the level of achievement made. The greatest achievement for extraverts is a chance to have their efforts recognized. They like taking credit for their effort and material rewards do not really matter much. Intrinsic satisfaction and a chance to be at the centre stage is their biggest desire. Their need to be dominant in social settings, which is one of the characteristic that define their extraversion nature, gives them the need to achieve. Extraverts, as already seen are achievement motivated.
In conclusion it is evident that extraverts are to a great extent related to the need for achievement persons in many aspects. For extraverts to accomplish what they stand for they need to have the need to achieve motive. Likewise the need to achieve person needs to be extraverts so us to have characters such as outgoing and high intrinsic motivation.
References
Murray, H. A. (1938). Explorations in Personality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cheng, H. & Furnham, A. (2003). Personality, self-esteem, and demographic predictions of happiness and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 921–942.
Ryckman, R. (2004). Theories of Personality. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth.
Camperio, A. S., Capiluppi, C., Veronese, A., Sartori, G. (2006). The adaptive value of personality differences revealed by small island population dynamics, European Journal of Personality, 21, 3–22.