Social Interaction Processes and Personality

Social interactions are one of the most relevant contexts of our lives and they are intimately connected to the conceptualization, dynamics, development, and consequences of personality. In this chapter, I will first analyze the way social interactions unfold via interaction states of all interaction partners and describe how people differ in social interaction processes. Following the PERSOC model, I will argue that these individual differences are a key window to understanding the nature of some of the most popular personality traits (e.g., extraversion, dominance, shyness, agreeableness, narcissism), as well as their effects on and development in social relationships. Empirical research on individual differences in interaction state levels, contingencies, and fluctuations is summarized. In closing, I describe a couple of current limitations, and outline perspectives for understanding and assessing personality traits as dynamic social interaction systems.