‘Lemon Test’ Reveals Introverts Produce More Saliva, As They Get ‘More Aroused’
Photo 118747773 © Volodymyr Tverdokhlib | Dreamstime.com
Still unsure which part of the introversion-extroversion spectrum you fall in? This test might give you a definite, biological answer.
As detailed in Psychology Today by byKevin Bennett, PhD, pioneering personality psychologist Hans Eysenck deduced back in the 1960s that introverts produce more saliva than extroverted individuals as they naturally get into higher states of cortical arousal. As a result, their heart rates go up, muscles get tensed, they’re more restless, and it relatively doesn’t take much for them to be overstimulated.
On the other hand, extroverts have a higher benchmark for arousal and would require additional stimulation to get out of their comfort zones.
Eysenck discovered that, when he asked a group of people to taste lemon juice, introverted people salivated more from the citrus than the outgoing participants had.
Here’s why. A part of the brain that reacts to stimuli like social contact also responds to food. Called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), it’s believed to be more reactive in the brains of introverted people than extraverts. This means they tend to have heightened bodily responses like increased saliva with food and, surprisingly by extension, social contexts.
Lemon juice happens to be great for testing a person’s RAS, since it makes the mouth water more. “It does so because your RAS is responding to the incoming lemon juice,” notes Bennett.
You can recreate this test at home and see how introverted you might be compared to your friends or family members.
Bennett suggests holding half a lemon over your tongue for 20 seconds, and then closing your mouth for a couple of seconds without swallowing. Put a cotton ball in your mouth and let it mop up the saliva for 10 seconds.
Finally, place the cotton ball on a weighing scale and see how its weight differs from those of friends and family. If yours is heavier, you might be more introverted than the rest.
[via Psychology Today, cover photo 118747773 © Volodymyr Tverdokhlib | Dreamstime.com]
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