IIRC, the marriage literature found that opposites do not attract, so you could just give everyone a Big Five and try to minimize distance. As far as seating goes, I’d guess that Extraversion is the most important factor, so put all the extroverts together and the introverts together?
I recall seeing opposite advice regarding extraverts and introverts on some TV show about dinner parties a long time ago. They suggested alternating them when arranging a table—the extroverts should be close enough to talk, but they have to talk around introverts. Introverts would have the opportunity to fluidly join conversations going on around them and have an easier time disengaging because someone else beside them will fill in the gap. Obviously, this would be miserable for an extreme introverts, but you can put those people in a corner.
Again, this is a half remembered piece of information, but it stuck with me because it seems to make sense.
I agree—when I’m in a group of quiet people (regardless of whether they are technically introverts or not), it tends to be a lot more fun if there’s at least one talkative person around.
edit: Though I guess things like quiet/talkative are more fluid than introverted/extroverted and partly depend on whether the people in question have anything in common (that’s common knowledge between them).
Shoot from the hip guesses: Sort by openness and conscientiousness in a like-with-like way for compatibility. Sanguine agreeables go in the hubs and high traffic areas so they can brighten people’s day while neurotics and disagreeables go to different corners and edges where they will have less connectivity to bother or be bothered by anyone other than people with similar problems. I had the same thought as Cog on trying to mix the extraverts and introverts so the outgoing people can draw out the shy ones sitting next to them.
Validated test items for these and many other dimensional breakdowns can be found in the International Personality Item Pool. If anyone is feeling creative (Like to solve complex problems, Ask questions that nobody else does, Know the answers to many questions, Challenge others’ points of view, Can easily link facts together), you might try try exploring the index of scales to see if any jump out :-)
IIRC, the marriage literature found that opposites do not attract, so you could just give everyone a Big Five and try to minimize distance. As far as seating goes, I’d guess that Extraversion is the most important factor, so put all the extroverts together and the introverts together?
I recall seeing opposite advice regarding extraverts and introverts on some TV show about dinner parties a long time ago. They suggested alternating them when arranging a table—the extroverts should be close enough to talk, but they have to talk around introverts. Introverts would have the opportunity to fluidly join conversations going on around them and have an easier time disengaging because someone else beside them will fill in the gap. Obviously, this would be miserable for an extreme introverts, but you can put those people in a corner.
Again, this is a half remembered piece of information, but it stuck with me because it seems to make sense.
I agree—when I’m in a group of quiet people (regardless of whether they are technically introverts or not), it tends to be a lot more fun if there’s at least one talkative person around.
edit: Though I guess things like quiet/talkative are more fluid than introverted/extroverted and partly depend on whether the people in question have anything in common (that’s common knowledge between them).
Shoot from the hip guesses: Sort by openness and conscientiousness in a like-with-like way for compatibility. Sanguine agreeables go in the hubs and high traffic areas so they can brighten people’s day while neurotics and disagreeables go to different corners and edges where they will have less connectivity to bother or be bothered by anyone other than people with similar problems. I had the same thought as Cog on trying to mix the extraverts and introverts so the outgoing people can draw out the shy ones sitting next to them.
Validated test items for these and many other dimensional breakdowns can be found in the International Personality Item Pool. If anyone is feeling creative (Like to solve complex problems, Ask questions that nobody else does, Know the answers to many questions, Challenge others’ points of view, Can easily link facts together), you might try try exploring the index of scales to see if any jump out :-)