Sample records for agreeableness conscientiousness neuroticism

  1. Negative Urgency: A Personality Predictor of Externalizing Behavior Characterized by Neuroticism, Low Conscientiousness, and Disagreeableness

    PubMed Central

    Settles, Regan E.; Fischer, Sarah; Cyders, Melissa A.; Combs, Jessica L.; Gunn, Rachel L.; Smith, Gregory T.

    2012-01-01

    Negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when distressed, is characterized by high Neuroticism, low Conscientiousness, and low Agreeableness. Because of this set of characteristics, the authors hypothesized that (1) negative urgency (NU) is a particularly important predictor of externalizing dysfunction; (2) traits that reflect primarily high Neuroticism predict internalizing dysfunction and (3) traits that reflect primarily low Conscientiousness predict those types of externalizing dysfunction that include intense affect less strongly than does NU. In three studies, the authors showed that negative urgency concurrently predicted alcohol dependence symptoms in disordered women, drinking problems and smoker status in pre-adolescents, and aggression, risky sex, illegal drug use, drinking problems, and conduct disordered behavior in college students. High Neuroticism traits predicted internalizing dysfunction but predicted none of these externalizing criteria beyond negative urgency. Low Conscientiousness did not add to prediction from negative urgency, except in a few cases. The tendency toward affect-driven rash action may underlie many externalizing behaviors. PMID:21859164

  2. Maladaptive variants of conscientiousness and agreeableness.

    PubMed

    Samuel, Douglas B; Gore, Whitney L

    2012-12-01

    Although reasonably strong support has been obtained for the Five-Factor Model's (FFM) ability to account for the existing personality disorder (PD) constructs, the support for obsessive-compulsive PD (OCPD) and dependent PD (DPD) has been relatively less consistent. Specifically, the expected correlation between OCPD and the FFM trait of Conscientiousness has varied in magnitude across studies while DPD has, at times, also evinced rather weak relationships with FFM Agreeableness. We determined that these inconsistencies were due primarily to the reliance on FFM measures that lack adequate fidelity to assess the maladaptive aspects of high Conscientiousness and Agreeableness. When alternative measures were utilized, the correlations were generally large and in line with expectations. We conclude that OCPD and DPD can be fruitfully conceptualized within the FFM but encourage the use of measures that provide a comprehensive assessment of both the adaptive and maladaptive aspects of the FFM traits. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Neuroticism and conscientiousness respectively constrain and facilitate short-term plasticity within the working memory neural network.

    PubMed

    Dima, Danai; Friston, Karl J; Stephan, Klaas E; Frangou, Sophia

    2015-10-01

    Individual differences in cognitive efficiency, particularly in relation to working memory (WM), have been associated both with personality dimensions that reflect enduring regularities in brain configuration, and with short-term neural plasticity, that reflects task-related changes in brain connectivity. To elucidate the relationship of these two divergent mechanisms, we tested the hypothesis that personality dimensions, which reflect enduring aspects of brain configuration, inform about the neurobiological framework within which short-term, task-related plasticity, as measured by effective connectivity, can be facilitated or constrained. As WM consistently engages the dorsolateral prefrontal (DLPFC), parietal (PAR), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), we specified a WM network model with bidirectional, ipsilateral, and contralateral connections between these regions from a functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset obtained from 40 healthy adults while performing the 3-back WM task. Task-related effective connectivity changes within this network were estimated using Dynamic Causal Modelling. Personality was evaluated along the major dimensions of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Only two dimensions were relevant to task-dependent effective connectivity. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness respectively constrained and facilitated neuroplastic responses within the WM network. These results suggest individual differences in cognitive efficiency arise from the interplay between enduring and short-term plasticity in brain configuration. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness as Moderators of the Relation Between Social Withdrawal and Internalizing Problems in Adolescence

    PubMed Central

    Smith, Kelly A.; Barstead, Matthew G.; Rubin, Kenneth H.

    2016-01-01

    Social withdrawal, or refraining from social interaction in the presence of peers, places adolescents at risk of developing emotional problems like anxiety and depression. The personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness also relate to emotional difficulties. For example, high conscientiousness predicts lower incidence of anxiety disorders and depression, while high neuroticism relates to greater likelihood of these problems. Based on these associations, socially withdrawn adolescents high in conscientiousness or low in neuroticism were expected to have lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Participants included 103 adolescents (59% female) who reported on their personality traits in 8th grade and their anxiety and depressive symptoms in 9th grade. Peer ratings of social withdrawal were collected within schools in 8th grade. A structural equation model revealed that 8th grade withdrawal positively predicted 9th grade anxiety and depressive symptoms controlling for 8th grade anxiety and depressive symptoms, but neuroticism did not. Conscientiousness moderated the relation of withdrawal with depressive symptoms but not anxiety, such that high levels of conscientiousness attenuated the association between withdrawal and depressive symptoms. This buffering effect may stem from the conceptual relation between conscientiousness and self-regulation. Conscientiousness did not, however, moderate the association between withdrawal and anxiety, which may be partly due to the role anxiety plays in driving withdrawal. Thus, a conscientious, well-regulated personality partially protects withdrawn adolescents from the increased risk of emotional difficulties. PMID:27844459

  5. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness as Moderators of the Relation Between Social Withdrawal and Internalizing Problems in Adolescence.

    PubMed

    Smith, Kelly A; Barstead, Matthew G; Rubin, Kenneth H

    2017-04-01

    Social withdrawal, or refraining from social interaction in the presence of peers, places adolescents at risk of developing emotional problems like anxiety and depression. The personality traits of neuroticism and conscientiousness also relate to emotional difficulties. For example, high conscientiousness predicts lower incidence of anxiety disorders and depression, while high neuroticism relates to greater likelihood of these problems. Based on these associations, socially withdrawn adolescents high in conscientiousness or low in neuroticism were expected to have lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Participants included 103 adolescents (59 % female) who reported on their personality traits in 8th grade and their anxiety and depressive symptoms in 9th grade. Peer ratings of social withdrawal were collected within schools in 8th grade. A structural equation model revealed that 8th grade withdrawal positively predicted 9th grade anxiety and depressive symptoms controlling for 8th grade anxiety and depressive symptoms, but neuroticism did not. Conscientiousness moderated the relation of withdrawal with depressive symptoms but not anxiety, such that high levels of conscientiousness attenuated the association between withdrawal and depressive symptoms. This buffering effect may stem from the conceptual relation between conscientiousness and self-regulation. Conscientiousness did not, however, moderate the association between withdrawal and anxiety, which may be partly due to the role anxiety plays in driving withdrawal. Thus, a conscientious, well-regulated personality partially protects withdrawn adolescents from the increased risk of emotional difficulties.

  6. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness as Predictors of University Students' Self/Peer-Assessment Rating Error

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birjandi, Parviz; Siyyari, Masood

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents the results of an investigation into the role of two personality traits (i.e. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness from the Big Five personality traits) in predicting rating error in the self-assessment and peer-assessment of composition writing. The average self/peer-rating errors of 136 Iranian English major undergraduates…

  7. Employee conscientiousness, agreeableness, and supervisor justice rule compliance: A three-study investigation.

    PubMed

    Huang, Jason L; Cropanzano, Russell; Li, Andrew; Shao, Ping; Zhang, Xin-An; Li, Yuhui

    2017-11-01

    Researchers have paid limited attention to what makes organizational authority figures decide to treat their employees either justly or unjustly. Drawing from the actor-focused model of justice, as well as the stereotype content model, we argue that employee conscientiousness and agreeableness can impact the extent to which supervisors adhere to normative rules for distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal justice, as a result of supervisors' evaluations of their employees' effort and their liking of the employees. Supervisory compliance with justice rules may, in turn, impact the extent to which employees judge themselves to be treated either justly or unjustly. We tested these possibilities in 3 studies. In Study 1, we utilized a meta-analysis to demonstrate positive relationships between employees' conscientiousness, agreeableness, and their justice perceptions. In Study 2, we conducted 3 experiments to test the causal relationship between employee personality and supervisor intentions to comply with justice rules. In Study 3, we conducted an employee-supervisor dyadic field survey to examine the entire mediation model. Results are discussed in terms of the potential roles that both employees and supervisors may play in shaping employees' justice perceptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  8. Neuroticism, conscientiousness and fruit consumption: exploring mediator and moderator effects in the theory of planned behaviour.

    PubMed

    de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Brug, Johannes; Van Lenthe, Frank J

    2009-11-01

    Integrating the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with the five-factor model (FFM) of personality may provide insight into the cognitive and motivational mechanisms linking personality with health behaviour, but this issue has received very little attention regarding fruit consumption. Mediator effects of TPB concepts in the personality-fruit consumption link, as well as moderator effects of personality in the intention-fruit consumption link, were therefore investigated in the present study. Data on fruit consumption, TPB concepts and FFM dimensions were gathered among 405 respondents in face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the mediator and moderator effects. The direct effect of conscientiousness on fruit consumption was mediated by attitude and perceived behavioural control, while no direct effect of neuroticism on fruit consumption was found. Neuroticism moderated the intention-fruit consumption relationship with the weakest relationship for those scoring high on neuroticism. Conscientiousness did not moderate the intention-fruit consumption relationship. TPB variables are mediators in the conscientiousness-fruit consumption link. Whether fruit consumption is intentional may be dependent upon the personality dimension neuroticism. Personality dimensions may be a useful addition to the TPB and should be considered in health behaviour change interventions.

  9. Protective personality traits: High openness and low neuroticism linked to better memory in multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Leavitt, Victoria M; Buyukturkoglu, Korhan; Inglese, Matilde; Sumowski, James F

    2017-11-01

    Memory impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common, although few risk/protective factors are known. To examine relationships of personality to memory/non-memory cognition in MS. 80 patients completed a cognitive battery and a personality scale measuring the "Big 5" traits: openness, neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Memory was most related to openness, with higher openness linked to better memory and lower risk for memory impairment, controlling for age, atrophy, education, and intelligence quotient (IQ). Lower neuroticism was also related to better memory, and lower conscientiousness to memory impairment. Non-memory cognition was unrelated to personality. Personality may inform predictive models of memory impairment in MS.

  10. Trait conscientiousness and the personality meta-trait stability are associated with regional white matter microstructure.

    PubMed

    Lewis, Gary J; Cox, Simon R; Booth, Tom; Muñoz Maniega, Susana; Royle, Natalie A; Valdés Hernández, Maria; Wardlaw, Joanna M; Bastin, Mark E; Deary, Ian J

    2016-08-01

    Establishing the neural bases of individual differences in personality has been an enduring topic of interest. However, while a growing literature has sought to characterize grey matter correlates of personality traits, little attention to date has been focused on regional white matter correlates of personality, especially for the personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness. To rectify this gap in knowledge we used a large sample (n > 550) of older adults who provided data on both personality (International Personality Item Pool) and white matter tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion tensor MRI. Results indicated that conscientiousness was associated with greater FA in the left uncinate fasciculus (β = 0.17, P < 0.001). We also examined links between FA and the personality meta-trait 'stability', which is defined as the common variance underlying agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism/emotional stability. We observed an association between left uncinate fasciculus FA and stability (β = 0.27, P < 0.001), which fully accounted for the link between left uncinate fasciculus FA and conscientiousness. In sum, these results provide novel evidence for links between regional white matter microstructure and key traits of human personality, specifically conscientiousness and the meta-trait, stability. Future research is recommended to replicate and address the causal directions of these associations. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press.

  11. Personality traits and long-term health status. The influence of neuroticism and conscientiousness on renal deterioration in type-1 diabetes.

    PubMed

    Brickman, A L; Yount, S E; Blaney, N T; Rothberg, S T; De-Nour, A K

    1996-01-01

    Stringent long-term control of blood glucose concentration in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) can decrease albuminuria, presumably forestalling development of renal insufficiency. Personality characteristics may influence a diabetic patient's ability and willingness to follow a prescribed regimen to achieve glycemic control. This study investigated the relationship of 2 personality factors to renal deterioration time (from initiation of insulin therapy to renal failure) in 85 patients with IDDM and end-stage renal disease. Persons moderate in the personality trait of neuroticism and high in conscientiousness had renal deterioration times that were 12 years longer than persons with either high or low neuroticism and low conscientiousness, presumably because of better self-care. The implications of this study's findings are discussed.

  12. The five-factor model of personality and borderline personality disorder: a genetic analysis of comorbidity.

    PubMed

    Distel, Marijn A; Trull, Timothy J; Willemsen, Gonneke; Vink, Jacqueline M; Derom, Catherine A; Lynskey, Michael; Martin, Nicholas G; Boomsma, Dorret I

    2009-12-15

    Recently, the nature of personality disorders and their relationship with normal personality traits has received extensive attention. The five-factor model (FFM) of personality, consisting of the personality traits neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, is one of the proposed models to conceptualize personality disorders as maladaptive variants of continuously distributed personality traits. The present study examined the phenotypic and genetic association between borderline personality and FFM personality traits. Data were available for 4403 monozygotic twins, 4425 dizygotic twins, and 1661 siblings from 6140 Dutch, Belgian, and Australian families. Broad-sense heritability estimates for neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and borderline personality were 43%, 36%, 43%, 47%, 54%, and 45%, respectively. Phenotypic correlations between borderline personality and the FFM personality traits ranged from .06 for openness to experience to .68 for neuroticism. Multiple regression analyses showed that a combination of high neuroticism and low agreeableness best predicted borderline personality. Multivariate genetic analyses showed the genetic factors that influence individual differences in neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion account for all genetic liability to borderline personality. Unique environmental effects on borderline personality, however, were not completely shared with those for the FFM traits (33% is unique to borderline personality). Borderline personality shares all genetic variation with neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion. The unique environmental influences specific to borderline personality may cause individuals with a specific pattern of personality traits to cross a threshold and develop borderline personality.

  13. Gene by Neuroticism Interaction and Cognitive Function among Older Adults

    PubMed Central

    Dar-Nimrod, Ilan; Chapman, Benjamin P.; Robbins, John A.; Porsteinsson, Anton; Mapstone, Mark; Duberstein, Paul R.

    2012-01-01

    Objectives Both ApoE (apolipoprotein E) ε-4 allele(s) and elevated trait neuroticism, the tendency to experience distress, are associated with cognitive function among older adults. We predicted that neuroticism moderates the association between ApoE and cognitive function and also explored whether other personality dimensions (openness to experience, agreeableness, extraversion, and conscientiousness) affect the association between ApoE status and cognitive function. Method Five-hundred and ninety-seven older adults (mean age of 78) enrolled in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory (GEM) study completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory of personality. Cognitive function was assessed via the cognitive portion of the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog), and a blood sample for ApoE genotyping was drawn. Results As hypothesized, regression analysis indicated that neuroticism moderated the relationship between the presence of ApoE ε-4 and cognitive function. Individuals with high neuroticism scores had significantly lower ADAS-cog scores compared with individual with low neuroticism scores, but this was true only among carriers of ApoE ε-4 (interaction effect β = .124, p = .028). There was scant evidence that other personality dimensions moderate the association between ApoE ε-4 and cognitive function. Conclusions Cognitive function may be affected by ApoE and neuroticism acting in tandem. Research on the underlying physiological mechanisms by which neuroticism amplifies the effect of ApoE ε-4 is warranted. The study of genotype by phenotype interactions provides an important and useful direction for the study of cognitive function among older adults and for the development of novel prevention programs. PMID:23042108

  14. Person-city personality fit and entrepreneurial success: An explorative study in China.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Mingjie; Zhou, Yixin; Zhang, Jianxin; Obschonka, Martin; Silbereisen, Rainer K

    2017-08-13

    While the study of personality differences is a traditional psychological approach in entrepreneurship research, economic research directs attention towards the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which entrepreneurial activity are embedded. We combine both approaches and quantify the interplay between the individual personality make-up of entrepreneurs and the local personality composition of ecosystems, with a special focus on person-city personality fit. Specifically, we analyse personality data from N = 26,405 Chinese residents across 42 major Chinese cities, including N = 1091 Chinese entrepreneurs. Multi-level polynomial regression and response surface plots revealed that: (a) individual-level conscientiousness had a positive effect and individual-level agreeableness and neuroticism had a negative effect on entrepreneurial success, (b) city-level conscientiousness had a positive, and city-level neuroticism had a negative effect on entrepreneurial success, and (c) additional person-city personality fit effects existed for agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism. For example, entrepreneurs who are high in agreeableness and conduct their business in a city with a low agreeableness level show the lowest entrepreneurial success. In contrast, entrepreneurs who are low in agreeableness and conduct their business in a city with a high agreeableness level show relatively high entrepreneurial success. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2017 International Union of Psychological Science.

  15. Glutamate Concentration in the Superior Temporal Sulcus Relates to Neuroticism in Schizophrenia.

    PubMed

    Balz, Johanna; Roa Romero, Yadira; Keil, Julian; Schubert, Florian; Ittermann, Bernd; Mekle, Ralf; Montag, Christiane; Gallinat, Jürgen; Senkowski, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    Clinical studies suggest aberrant neurotransmitter concentrations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). Numerous studies have indicated deviant glutamate concentrations in SCZ, although the findings are inconsistent. Moreover, alterations in glutamate concentrations could be linked to personality traits in SCZ. Here, we examined the relationships between personality dimensions and glutamate concentrations in a voxel encompassing the occipital cortex (OCC) and another voxel encompassing the left superior temporal sulcus (STS). We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine glutamate concentrations in the OCC and the STS in 19 SCZ and 21 non-psychiatric healthy control (HC) participants. Personality dimensions neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness were assessed using the NEO-FFI questionnaire. SCZ compared to HC showed higher glutamate concentrations in the STS, reduced extraversion scores, and enhanced neuroticism scores. No group differences were observed for the other personality traits and for glutamate concentrations in the OCC. For the SCZ group, glutamate concentrations in STS were negatively correlated with the neuroticism scores [ r = -0.537, p = 0.018] but this was not found in HC [ r (19) = 0.011, p = 0.962]. No other significant correlations were found. Our study showed an inverse relationship between glutamate concentrations in the STS and neuroticism scores in SCZ. Elevated glutamate in the STS might serve as a compensatory mechanism that enables patients with enhanced concentrations to control and prevent the expression of neuroticism.

  16. Association between childhood maltreatment and normal adult personality traits: exploration of an understudied field.

    PubMed

    Hengartner, Michael P; Cohen, Lisa J; Rodgers, Stephanie; Müller, Mario; Rössler, Wulf; Ajdacic-Gross, Vladeta

    2015-02-01

    We assessed normal personality traits and childhood trauma in approximately 1170 subjects from a general population-based community sample. In bivariate analyses emotional abuse was most pervasively related to personality, showing significant detrimental associations with neuroticism, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. Neuroticism was significantly related to emotional abuse and neglect, physical abuse and neglect, and sexual abuse. Emotional abuse was related to neuroticism in men more profoundly than in women (β = 0.095). Adjusting for the covariance between childhood maltreatment variables, neuroticism was mainly related to emotional abuse (β = 0.193), extraversion to emotional neglect (β = -0.259), openness to emotional abuse (β = 0.175), conscientiousness to emotional abuse (β = -0.110), and agreeableness to emotional neglect (β = -0.153). The proportion of variance explained was highest in neuroticism (5.6%) and lowest in openness (1.9%) and conscientiousness (1.8%). These findings help to understand the complex association between childhood maltreatment and both normal and pathological personality.

  17. Personality and Healthy Sleep: The Importance of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism

    PubMed Central

    Duggan, Katherine A.; Friedman, Howard S.; McDevitt, Elizabeth A.; Mednick, Sara C.

    2014-01-01

    Although previous research has shown personality and sleep are each substantial predictors of health throughout the lifespan, little is known about links between personality and healthy sleep patterns. This study examined Big Five personality traits and a range of factors related to sleep health in 436 university students (M age = 19.88, SD = 1.50, 50% Male). Valid self-report measures of personality, chronotype, sleep hygiene, sleep quality, and sleepiness were analyzed. To remove multicollinearity between personality factors, each sleep domain was regressed on relevant demographic and principal component-derived personality factors in multiple linear regressions. Results showed that low conscientiousness and high neuroticism were the best predictors of poor sleep (poor sleep hygiene, low sleep quality, and increased sleepiness), consistent with other research on predictors of poor health and mortality risk. In this first comprehensive study of the topic, the findings suggest that personality has a significant association with sleep health, and researchers could profitably examine both personality and sleep in models of health and well-being. PMID:24651274

  18. The agreeableness asymmetry in first impressions: perceivers' impulse to (mis)judge agreeableness and how it is moderated by power.

    PubMed

    Ames, Daniel R; Bianchi, Emily C

    2008-12-01

    Prior research shows that perceivers can judge some traits better than others in first impressions of targets. However, questions remain about which traits perceivers naturally do infer. Here, the authors develop an account of the "agreeableness asymmetry": Although perceivers show little ability to accurately gauge target agreeableness in first impressions, they find that agreeableness is generally the most commonly inferred disposition among the Big Five dimensions of personality (agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and emotional stability). Using open-ended impressions based on photographs, videos, and face-to-face encounters, three studies show agreeableness as the most prevalently judged of the Big Five, although it is also poorly judged in both absolute and relative terms. The authors use interpersonal power to reveal an underlying mechanism. Manipulating the power of perceivers relative to targets substantially shifts impression content, suggesting that habitual interaction and relational concerns may partially explain perceiver's chronic interest in assessing agreeableness despite their limited ability to do so.

  19. Glutamate Concentration in the Superior Temporal Sulcus Relates to Neuroticism in Schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Balz, Johanna; Roa Romero, Yadira; Keil, Julian; Schubert, Florian; Ittermann, Bernd; Mekle, Ralf; Montag, Christiane; Gallinat, Jürgen; Senkowski, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    Clinical studies suggest aberrant neurotransmitter concentrations in the brains of patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). Numerous studies have indicated deviant glutamate concentrations in SCZ, although the findings are inconsistent. Moreover, alterations in glutamate concentrations could be linked to personality traits in SCZ. Here, we examined the relationships between personality dimensions and glutamate concentrations in a voxel encompassing the occipital cortex (OCC) and another voxel encompassing the left superior temporal sulcus (STS). We used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy to examine glutamate concentrations in the OCC and the STS in 19 SCZ and 21 non-psychiatric healthy control (HC) participants. Personality dimensions neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness were assessed using the NEO-FFI questionnaire. SCZ compared to HC showed higher glutamate concentrations in the STS, reduced extraversion scores, and enhanced neuroticism scores. No group differences were observed for the other personality traits and for glutamate concentrations in the OCC. For the SCZ group, glutamate concentrations in STS were negatively correlated with the neuroticism scores [r = -0.537, p = 0.018] but this was not found in HC [r(19) = 0.011, p = 0.962]. No other significant correlations were found. Our study showed an inverse relationship between glutamate concentrations in the STS and neuroticism scores in SCZ. Elevated glutamate in the STS might serve as a compensatory mechanism that enables patients with enhanced concentrations to control and prevent the expression of neuroticism. PMID:29867621

  20. The Personality Domains and Styles of the Five-Factor Model are Related to Incident Depression in Medicare Recipients Aged 65 to 100

    PubMed Central

    Weiss, Alexander; Sutin, Angelina R.; Duberstein, Paul R.; Friedman, Bruce; Bagby, R. Michael; Costa, Paul T.

    2009-01-01

    Objectives Few prospective studies have examined personality and depression in older adults. We investigated whether the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality traits --- Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness --- and trait combinations (styles) are related to incident major or minor depression. Participants/Setting Prospective data were gathered on a community sample of 512 older adults with disability and a history of significant health care utilization who were enrolled in a Medicare Demonstration Project. Measurements Depression and personality traits and styles were assessed at baseline; depression was assessed again at approximately 12 and 22 months. Design Participants who developed incident major depression were compared to those free of depression at all three assessments. Similar analyses were done for minor depression. Results High Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness were risk factors for both major and minor depression. Combinations of high Neuroticism with low or high Extraversion or high Openness conferred risk for major depression. Other novel findings for major depression revealed new trait combinations of low Conscientiousness with low or high Extraversion, high Openness, or low Agreeableness. Three trait combinations, all involving low Conscientiousness, predicted risk for minor depression: high Neuroticism, high Agreeableness, and low Openness. Conclusion The present findings highlight the importance of examining combinations of personality traits or personality styles when identifying those who are most at-risk for geriatric depression. Since other personality domains may modify the risk related to high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness, the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of depression could be greatly improved by assessing older patients not only on all five domains of personality but in terms of their combinations. PMID:19554673

  1. Basic Religious Beliefs and Personality Traits

    PubMed Central

    Rajaei, Ali Reza; Sarvarazemy, Ahmad

    2012-01-01

    Objective Spiritual beliefs can help people find meaning of life, and can also influence their feelings, behaviors and mental health. The present research studied the relationship between basic religious beliefs (Human, Existence and God) and five personality factors: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness. Method One hundred seventy eight students of Islamic Azad University in Torbat-jam were randomly selected and completed the basic religious beliefs and NEO Questionnaires. Results Data showed that basic religious beliefs have a significant negative correlation with neuroticism (r=-0.29),and a significant positive relationship with extraversion(r=0.28),openness(r=0.14),agreeableness (r=0.29),and conscientiousness (r=0.48). Also, the results of the regression analysis showed that basic religious beliefs can anticipate neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness, but they cannot anticipate the openness factor significantly. Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate that basic religious beliefs have a positive relationship with good characteristics that help people resolve the challenges of their lives and identity crisis. Thus, the results of this study support the idea of Religious Cognitive–Emotional Theory that religiosity is correlated with positive personality traits. PMID:22952550

  2. A Big-Five Personality Profile of the Adaptor and Innovator.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kwang, Ng Aik; Rodrigues, Daphne

    2002-01-01

    A study explored the relationship between two creative types (adaptor and innovator) and the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience), in 164 teachers in Singapore. Adaptors were significantly more conscientious than innovators, while innovators were significantly more…

  3. [The assessment of personality traits and coping style level among the patients with functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome].

    PubMed

    Wrzesińska, Magdalena Agnieszka; Kocur, Józef

    2008-01-01

    The aim of the study was the assessment of personality traits level (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences, agreeableness, conscientiousness) and coping styles among patients with functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. The Neo-Five Factor Inventory of Personality (NEO-FFI) and Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (CISS) were used in the study. The subjects had a high level of agreeableness and conscientiousness and an average level of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experiences. Moreover, the avoidance--oriented coping style dominated among the patients with functional dyspepsia and the highest level of the emotional-oriented coping style was characteristic for the irritable bowel syndrome patients. Lack of the effective coping is characteristic for patients with functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Significant differences between groups were noted in the conscientiousness level. Patients with functional dyspepsia had a high and patients with irritable bowel syndrome--an average level of conscientiousness.

  4. Psychometric Evaluation of Chinese-Language 44-Item and 10-Item Big Five Personality Inventories, Including Correlations with Chronotype, Mindfulness and Mind Wandering

    PubMed Central

    Carciofo, Richard; Yang, Jiaoyan; Song, Nan; Du, Feng; Zhang, Kan

    2016-01-01

    The 44-item and 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality scales are widely used, but there is a lack of psychometric data for Chinese versions. Eight surveys (total N = 2,496, aged 18–82), assessed a Chinese-language BFI-44 and/or an independently translated Chinese-language BFI-10. Most BFI-44 items loaded strongly or predominantly on the expected dimension, and values of Cronbach's alpha ranged .698-.807. Test-retest coefficients ranged .694-.770 (BFI-44), and .515-.873 (BFI-10). The BFI-44 and BFI-10 showed good convergent and discriminant correlations, and expected associations with gender (females higher for agreeableness and neuroticism), and age (older age associated with more conscientiousness and agreeableness, and also less neuroticism and openness). Additionally, predicted correlations were found with chronotype (morningness positive with conscientiousness), mindfulness (negative with neuroticism, positive with conscientiousness), and mind wandering/daydreaming frequency (negative with conscientiousness, positive with neuroticism). Exploratory analysis found that the Self-discipline facet of conscientiousness positively correlated with morningness and mindfulness, and negatively correlated with mind wandering/daydreaming frequency. Furthermore, Self-discipline was found to be a mediator in the relationships between chronotype and mindfulness, and chronotype and mind wandering/daydreaming frequency. Overall, the results support the utility of the BFI-44 and BFI-10 for Chinese-language big five personality research. PMID:26918618

  5. Psychometric Evaluation of Chinese-Language 44-Item and 10-Item Big Five Personality Inventories, Including Correlations with Chronotype, Mindfulness and Mind Wandering.

    PubMed

    Carciofo, Richard; Yang, Jiaoyan; Song, Nan; Du, Feng; Zhang, Kan

    2016-01-01

    The 44-item and 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality scales are widely used, but there is a lack of psychometric data for Chinese versions. Eight surveys (total N = 2,496, aged 18-82), assessed a Chinese-language BFI-44 and/or an independently translated Chinese-language BFI-10. Most BFI-44 items loaded strongly or predominantly on the expected dimension, and values of Cronbach's alpha ranged .698-.807. Test-retest coefficients ranged .694-.770 (BFI-44), and .515-.873 (BFI-10). The BFI-44 and BFI-10 showed good convergent and discriminant correlations, and expected associations with gender (females higher for agreeableness and neuroticism), and age (older age associated with more conscientiousness and agreeableness, and also less neuroticism and openness). Additionally, predicted correlations were found with chronotype (morningness positive with conscientiousness), mindfulness (negative with neuroticism, positive with conscientiousness), and mind wandering/daydreaming frequency (negative with conscientiousness, positive with neuroticism). Exploratory analysis found that the Self-discipline facet of conscientiousness positively correlated with morningness and mindfulness, and negatively correlated with mind wandering/daydreaming frequency. Furthermore, Self-discipline was found to be a mediator in the relationships between chronotype and mindfulness, and chronotype and mind wandering/daydreaming frequency. Overall, the results support the utility of the BFI-44 and BFI-10 for Chinese-language big five personality research.

  6. The Genetic and Environmental Sources of Resemblance Between Normative Personality and Personality Disorder Traits.

    PubMed

    Kendler, K S; Aggen, S H; Gillespie, Nathan; Neale, M C; Knudsen, G P; Krueger, R F; Czajkowski, Nikolai; Ystrom, Eivind; Reichborn-Kjennerud, T

    2017-04-01

    Recent work has suggested a high level of congruence between normative personality, most typically represented by the "big five" factors, and abnormal personality traits. In 2,293 Norwegian adult twins ascertained from a population-based registry, the authors evaluated the degree of sharing of genetic and environmental influences on normative personality, assessed by the Big Five Inventory (BFI), and personality disorder traits (PDTs), assessed by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5-Norwegian Brief Form (PID-5-NBF). For four of the five BFI dimensions, the strongest genetic correlation was observed with the expected PID-5-NBF dimension (e.g., neuroticism with negative affectivity [+], conscientiousness with disinhibition [-]). However, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness had substantial genetic correlations with other PID-5-NBF dimensions (e.g., neuroticism with compulsivity [+], agreeableness with detachment [-]). Openness had no substantial genetic correlations with any PID-5-NBF dimension. The proportion of genetic risk factors shared in aggregate between the BFI traits and the PID-5-NBF dimensions was quite high for conscientiousness and neuroticism, relatively robust for extraversion and agreeableness, but quite low for openness. Of the six PID-5-NBF dimensions, three (negative affectivity, detachment, and disinhibition) shared, in aggregate, most of their genetic risk factors with normative personality traits. Genetic factors underlying psychoticism, antagonism, and compulsivity were shared to a lesser extent, suggesting that they are influenced by etiological factors not well indexed by the BFI.

  7. Neuroticism modulates brain visuo-vestibular and anxiety systems during a virtual rollercoaster task.

    PubMed

    Riccelli, Roberta; Indovina, Iole; Staab, Jeffrey P; Nigro, Salvatore; Augimeri, Antonio; Lacquaniti, Francesco; Passamonti, Luca

    2017-02-01

    Different lines of research suggest that anxiety-related personality traits may influence the visual and vestibular control of balance, although the brain mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. To our knowledge, this is the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study that investigates how individual differences in neuroticism and introversion, two key personality traits linked to anxiety, modulate brain regional responses and functional connectivity patterns during a fMRI task simulating self-motion. Twenty-four healthy individuals with variable levels of neuroticism and introversion underwent fMRI while performing a virtual reality rollercoaster task that included two main types of trials: (1) trials simulating downward or upward self-motion (vertical motion), and (2) trials simulating self-motion in horizontal planes (horizontal motion). Regional brain activity and functional connectivity patterns when comparing vertical versus horizontal motion trials were correlated with personality traits of the Five Factor Model (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion-introversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). When comparing vertical to horizontal motion trials, we found a positive correlation between neuroticism scores and regional activity in the left parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC). For the same contrast, increased functional connectivity between the left PIVC and right amygdala was also detected as a function of higher neuroticism scores. Together, these findings provide new evidence that individual differences in personality traits linked to anxiety are significantly associated with changes in the activity and functional connectivity patterns within visuo-vestibular and anxiety-related systems during simulated vertical self-motion. Hum Brain Mapp 38:715-726, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Evaluating the interplay between spirituality, personality and stress.

    PubMed

    Labbé, Elise E; Fobes, Ashley

    2010-06-01

    Spirituality and the big five personality traits may be risk or protective factors for coping with stress. We hypothesized young adults who reported higher spirituality ratings would demonstrate lower sympathetic nervous system arousal and better emotional coping when exposed to a laboratory stressor compared to those who rated themselves lower in spirituality. We also compared spirituality groups on trait anger, neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and openness to experience. Eighty participants completed trait-state anger, personality and spirituality questionnaires and were grouped into low, average and high spirituality. Participants' physiological responses were monitored before and during a stressful event. Significant differences were found between low, average and high spirituality groups' respiration rate and emotional response to the stressor. Significant differences were also found between spirituality groups in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, trait anger and neuroticism. Females reported higher levels of spirituality and conscientiousness than males.

  9. The five-factor model of personality, work stress and professional quality of life in neonatal intensive care unit nurses.

    PubMed

    Barr, Peter

    2018-06-01

    The study aim was to determine the direct and indirect relations of the five-factor model of personality traits and work stress with professional quality of life in neonatal nurses. Neonatal intensive care nursing has positive and negative effects on neonatal nurses' psychological well-being. Although individual and situational factors interact to influence professional quality of life, there have been few studies of these relationships in neonatal nurses. A cross-sectional study conducted in 2016. Self-report questionnaires were used to measure professional quality of life (burnout, secondary traumatic stress and compassion satisfaction), five-factor model of personality traits (neuroticism, agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness and openness) and work stress (role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload). One hundred and forty (34%) of 405 eligible neonatal nurses provided the data. After controlling for work stress, neuroticism and agreeableness were related to burnout, neuroticism was related to secondary traumatic stress, and extraversion was related to compassion satisfaction. Work stress controlled for personality traits was related to burnout and secondary traumatic stress, but not to compassion satisfaction. Neuroticism moderated the effect of work stress on secondary traumatic stress and agreeableness and openness moderated the effect of work stress on compassion satisfaction. Work stress mediated the effect of neuroticism and extraversion on burnout and the effects of extraversion and conscientiousness on compassion satisfaction. Strategies to reduce work stress may not lessen burnout and secondary traumatic stress or increase compassion satisfaction in neonatal nurses who are prone to high neuroticism, low agreeableness and low extraversion. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. The associations between personality characteristics and absenteeism: a cross-sectional study in workers with and without depressive and anxiety disorders.

    PubMed

    Vlasveld, Moniek C; van der Feltz-Cornelis, Christina M; Anema, Johannes R; van Mechelen, Willem; Beekman, Aartjan T F; van Marwijk, Harm W J; Penninx, Brenda W J H

    2013-09-01

    Although numerous studies have identified risk factors for sickness absence, few studies have addressed the role of personality characteristics in absenteeism. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of the Big 5 personality characteristics (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness) and locus of control with absenteeism, taking the presence of depressive and anxiety disorders into account. Cross-sectional data from the baseline measurement of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) were examined. NESDA includes persons with current or remitted depressive and anxiety disorders and healthy controls, of which 1883 working participants were selected. Personality characteristics were included as predictor variables, short-term (0-2 weeks) and long-term (>2 weeks) absenteeism as outcome measure. The presence of depressive and anxiety disorders was considered as modifying covariate. In healthy workers, high neuroticism, external locus of control, low extraversion, low agreeableness and low conscientiousness were associated with short-term absenteeism. In addition, high neuroticism, low extraversion and low openness were related to long-term absenteeism in healthy workers. In workers with psychopathology, similar associations were found for persons with this profile (high neuroticism, external locus of control, low extraversion and low conscientiousness) with long-term absenteeism, but no associations of these characteristics were found with short-term absenteeism. Personality characteristics were significantly associated with work absenteeism in both workers with and without anxiety or depression. Interventions aimed at preventing sickness absence may focus on reducing neuroticism and strengthening extraversion, conscientiousness and locus of control.

  11. The state effect of depressive and anxiety disorders on big five personality traits.

    PubMed

    Karsten, Julie; Penninx, Brenda W J H; Riese, Hariëtte; Ormel, Johan; Nolen, Willem A; Hartman, Catharina A

    2012-05-01

    Neuroticism and extraversion are affected by depressive disorder state. Less is known about depressive state effects on conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness. Furthermore, state effects of anxiety disorders on personality have been far less studied than those of depressive disorder. Here, we aim to determine the extent of change in all five personality traits associated with the occurrence of or recovery from depressive and anxiety disorders. Using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) at baseline and two-year follow-up, respondents from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA) were divided into four groups: unaffected at baseline and follow-up, occurrence, recovery, and affected at baseline and follow-up. Personality change (NEO-five factor inventory) was examined in the occurrence and recovery groups relative to the unaffected and affected groups, respectively. Analyses were repeated, differentiating between (specific) depressive and anxiety disorders. We found small state effects of affective disorders on neuroticism, extraversion and conscientiousness. Corrected for each other, both depressive and anxiety disorders showed small state effects on neuroticism, but effects on extraversion and conscientiousness were mainly associated with depressive disorders. State effects were small. When assessing neuroticism, the presence of both depressive and anxiety disorders should be taken into account, as both may independently increase neuroticism scores. However, when assessing extraversion and conscientiousness, depressive disorders but not anxiety disorders are likely to be of influence. Agreeableness and openness are influenced by neither. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Conscientiousness is modified by genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase to reduce symptom complaints in IBS patients.

    PubMed

    Hall, Kathryn T; Tolkin, Benjamin R; Chinn, Garrett M; Kirsch, Irving; Kelley, John M; Lembo, Anthony J; Kaptchuk, Ted J; Kokkotou, Efi; Davis, Roger B; Conboy, Lisa A

    2015-01-01

    Attention to and perception of physical sensations and somatic states can significantly influence reporting of complaints and symptoms in the context of clinical care and randomized trials. Although anxiety and high neuroticism are known to increase the frequency and severity of complaints, it is not known if other personality dimensions or genes associated with cognitive function or sympathetic tone can influence complaints. Genetic variation in catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is associated with anxiety, personality, pain, and response to placebo treatment. We hypothesized that the association of complaint reporting with personality might be modified by variation in the COMT val158met genotype. We administered a standard 25-item complaint survey weekly over 3-weeks to a convenience sample of 187 irritable bowel syndrome patients enrolled in a placebo intervention trial and conducted a repeated measures analysis. We found that complaint severity rating, our primary outcome, was negatively associated with the personality measures of conscientiousness (β = -0.31 SE 0.11, P = 0.003) and agreeableness (β = -0.38 SE 0.12, P = 0.002) and was positively associated with neuroticism (β = 0.24 SE 0.09, P = 0.005) and anxiety (β = 0.48 SE 0.09, P < 0.0001). We also found a significant interaction effect of COMT met alleles (β = -32.5 SE 14.1, P = 0.021). in patients genotyped for COMT val158met (N  = 87) specifically COMT × conscientiousness (β = 0.73 SE 0.26, P = 0.0042) and COMT × anxiety (β = -0.42 SE 0.16, P = 0.0078) interaction effects. These findings potentially broaden our understanding of the factors underlying clinical complaints to include the personality dimension of conscientiousness and its modification by COMT.

  13. Big 5 personality traits and interleukin-6: evidence for "healthy Neuroticism" in a US population sample.

    PubMed

    Turiano, Nicholas A; Mroczek, Daniel K; Moynihan, Jan; Chapman, Benjamin P

    2013-02-01

    The current study investigated if the Big 5 personality traits predicted interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in a national sample over the course of 5years. In addition, interactions among the Big 5 were tested to provide a more accurate understanding of how personality traits may influence an inflammatory biomarker. Data included 1054 participants in the Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) biomarkers subproject. The Big 5 personality traits were assessed in 2005-2006 as part of the main MIDUS survey. Medication use, comorbid conditions, smoking behavior, alcohol use, body mass index, and serum levels of IL-6 were assessed in 2005-2009 as part of the biomarkers subproject. Linear regression analyses examined personality associations with IL-6. A significant Conscientiousness*Neuroticism interaction revealed that those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism had lower circulating IL-6 levels than people with all other configurations of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Adjustment for health behaviors diminished the magnitude of this association but did not eliminate it, suggesting that lower comorbid conditions and obesity may partly explain the lower inflammation of those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Our findings suggest, consistent with prior speculation, that average to higher levels of Neuroticism can in some cases be associated with health benefits - in this case when it is accompanied by high Conscientiousness. Using personality to identify those at risk may lead to greater personalization in the prevention and remediation of chronic inflammation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetries in Personality Pathology

    PubMed Central

    Carlson, Erika N.; Vazire, Simine; Oltmanns, Thomas F.

    2012-01-01

    Objective Self-reports of personality provide valid information about personality disorders (PDs). However, informant-reports provide information about PDs that self-reports alone do not provide. The current paper examines if and when one perspective is more valid than the other in identifying PDs. Method Using a representative sample of adults 55 to 65 year of age (N = 991; 45% males), we compared the validity of self- and informant- (e.g., spouse, family, or friend) reports of the FFM traits in predicting PD scores (i.e., composite of interviewer, self-, and informant-reports of PDs). Results Self-reports (particularly of neuroticism) were more valid than informant-reports for most internalizing PDs (i.e., PDs defined by high neuroticism). Informant-reports (particularly of agreeableness and conscientiousness) were more valid than self-reports for externalizing and/or antagonistic PDs (i.e., PDs defined by low agreeableness, conscientiousness). Neither report was consistently more valid for thought disorder PDs (i.e., PDs defined by low extraversion). However, informant-reports (particularly of agreeableness) were more valid than self-reports for PDs that were both internalizing and externalizing (i.e., PDs defined by high neuroticism and low agreeableness). Conclusions The intrapersonal and interpersonal manifestations of PDs differ, and these differences influence who knows more about pathology. PMID:22583054

  15. FFM description of the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy in men and women.

    PubMed

    Poy, Rosario; Segarra, Pilar; Esteller, Àngels; López, Raúl; Moltó, Javier

    2014-03-01

    This study examined differential associations between phenotypic domains of the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition; Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009), as assessed by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (Patrick, 2010b), and the five-factor model (FFM) of normal personality, as indexed by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992; Spanish version, Costa & McCrae, 1999), in 349 undergraduates (96 men). Distinctive patterns of correlations for psychopathy components did not differ significantly across gender, although relations between Meanness and Agreeableness were stronger for men than for women. Our findings are largely consistent with the conceptualization of psychopathy in terms of FFM constructs and provide discriminant evidence in support of all 3 triarchic domains. Thus, meanness is marked by low Agreeableness and some degree of low Conscientiousness, whereas disinhibition is characterized both by low Conscientiousness and low Agreeableness along with high Neuroticism and Extraversion. Notably, the constellation of low Neuroticism, high Extraversion, and high Openness, with facets of low Agreeableness, supports the idea that boldness encompasses some adaptive features of psychological adjustment while depicting the interpersonal features of psychopathy. 2014 APA

  16. ADHD and personality: a meta-analytic review.

    PubMed

    Gomez, Rapson; Corr, Philip J

    2014-07-01

    We report a meta-analysis of up to 40 data sets that examined the personality dimensions in the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and the integrated Five-Factor Model (IFFM) in relation to ADHD symptom domains of inattention (IA) and hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI). The IFFM incorporated the dimensions of other personality models (in particular, those of Eysenck, Tellegen, and Cloninger, as well as the FFM). Major findings were: (1) IA and HI were both associated with low conscientious inhibition/conscientiousness, and low agreeable inhibition/agreeableness, and with high negative emotionality/neuroticism; (2) conscientious inhibition and conscientiousness were more strongly related to IA than HI; (3) agreeable inhibition and agreeableness were more strongly related to HI than IA; and (4) the association of conscientious inhibition and conscientiousness with HI was moderated by age group and source from where participants were recruited (associations were stronger in children than adults, and clinical samples than community samples). These findings are discussed in relation to single and multiple pathway theories, underlying factors and processes for the personality-ADHD link, and clinical implications. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Personality traits and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia.

    PubMed

    Terracciano, Antonio; Stephan, Yannick; Luchetti, Martina; Albanese, Emiliano; Sutin, Angelina R

    2017-06-01

    We investigated the association between five factor model personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and risk of dementia, cognitive impairment not dementia (CIND), and conversion from CIND to dementia in a large national cohort. Participants from the Health and Retirement Study (N > 10,000) completed a personality scale in 2006-2008 and their cognitive status was tracked for up to 8 years using the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICSm). Adjusting for age, sex, education, race, and ethnicity, lower conscientiousness and agreeableness and higher neuroticism were independently associated with increased risk of dementia. These associations remained significant after adjusting for other risk factors for dementia, including income, wealth, smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and blood biomarkers. These associations were not modified by age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education, suggesting that the associations of personality with risk of dementia were similar across demographic groups. Neuroticism and conscientiousness were also associated with risk of CIND. Low conscientiousness predicted conversion from CIND to dementia. Using brief assessments of personality and cognition, we found robust evidence that personality is associated with risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in a large national sample. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. SNP-based heritability estimates of the personality dimensions and polygenic prediction of both neuroticism and major depression: findings from CONVERGE.

    PubMed

    Docherty, A R; Moscati, A; Peterson, R; Edwards, A C; Adkins, D E; Bacanu, S A; Bigdeli, T B; Webb, B T; Flint, J; Kendler, K S

    2016-10-25

    Biometrical genetic studies suggest that the personality dimensions, including neuroticism, are moderately heritable (~0.4 to 0.6). Quantitative analyses that aggregate the effects of many common variants have recently further informed genetic research on European samples. However, there has been limited research to date on non-European populations. This study examined the personality dimensions in a large sample of Han Chinese descent (N=10 064) from the China, Oxford, and VCU Experimental Research on Genetic Epidemiology study, aimed at identifying genetic risk factors for recurrent major depression among a rigorously ascertained cohort. Heritability of neuroticism as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) was estimated to be low but statistically significant at 10% (s.e.=0.03, P=0.0001). In addition to EPQ, neuroticism based on a three-factor model, data for the Big Five (BF) personality dimensions (neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness) measured by the Big Five Inventory were available for controls (n=5596). Heritability estimates of the BF were not statistically significant despite high power (>0.85) to detect heritabilities of 0.10. Polygenic risk scores constructed by best linear unbiased prediction weights applied to split-half samples failed to significantly predict any of the personality traits, but polygenic risk for neuroticism, calculated with LDpred and based on predictive variants previously identified from European populations (N=171 911), significantly predicted major depressive disorder case-control status (P=0.0004) after false discovery rate correction. The scores also significantly predicted EPQ neuroticism (P=6.3 × 10 -6 ). Factor analytic results of the measures indicated that any differences in heritabilities across samples may be due to genetic variation or variation in haplotype structure between samples, rather than measurement non-invariance. Findings demonstrate that neuroticism

  19. Conscientiousness Moderates the Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among U.S. Chinese Older Adults.

    PubMed

    Chen, Yiwei; Peng, Yisheng; Ma, Xiaodong; Dong, Xinqi

    2017-07-01

    The present study examined whether individuals' personality traits, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, moderated the relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms among U.S. Chinese older adults. Data analysis was based on the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE). Three thousand one hundred and fifty-nine Chinese adults aged 60 years and older participated in the PINE study. They completed scales that assessed their personality (ie, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory), perceived stress (the Chinese Perceived Stress Scale), and depressive symptoms (the Patient Health Questionnaire). Perceived stress was positively related to depressive symptoms among U.S. Chinese older adults. No moderation effects were found for Neuroticism. Conscientiousness significantly moderated the perceived stress-depressive symptom relationship. The positive relationship between perceived stress and depressive symptoms was weaker for people who were higher in Conscientiousness than those who were lower in Conscientiousness. Conscientiousness mitigated the stress-depressive symptom relationship among U.S. Chinese older adults. Future research is needed to identify the psychological and sociocultural profiles of individuals who show stress resilience and those who are vulnerable. Social services and psychological interventions are needed to promote health and well-being among U.S. Chinese older adults. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Neuroticism (not depressive symptoms) predicts memory complaints in some community-dwelling older adults.

    PubMed

    Merema, Matt R; Speelman, Craig P; Foster, Jonathan K; Kaczmarek, Elizabeth A

    2013-08-01

    To examine whether depressive symptoms are useful predictors of subjective memory complaints in community-dwelling older adults, beyond the predictive utility already provided by memory performance and characteristics of personality. Using hierarchical regression, we examined the relationship between depressive symptoms and subjective memory complaints, controlling for age, gender, education, memory performance, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. Community-dwelling older adults aged 66 to 90 years (N = 177) who responded to a newspaper advertisement for a memory study in Perth, Western Australia. The General Frequency of Forgetting scale (for memory complaints), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (for depressive symptoms), NEO-Five Factor Inventory (for conscientiousness and neuroticism), and the Visual Reproduction and Logical Memory subtests from the Wechsler Memory Scale-4th Edition (for visual and verbal memory). The hierarchical regression analysis indicated that while depressive symptoms significantly predicted memory complaints after variance associated with age, gender, education, memory performance, and conscientiousness was partialled out, they accounted for almost none of the variance in complaints when neuroticism was partialled out. The well-established relationship between depression and memory complaints may exist in some community-dwelling older adult populations only on account of the manner in which both are associated with neuroticism. Copyright © 2013 American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Personality and adolescent pregnancy outcomes

    PubMed Central

    Harville, Emily W.; Madkour, Aubrey Spriggs; Xie, Yiqiong

    2014-01-01

    Aims To examine the relationship between personality, pregnancy and birth outcomes in adolescents Background Personality has been shown to be a strong predictor of many health outcomes. Adolescents who become pregnant have worse birth outcomes than adults. Design Cross-sectional study using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (baseline, 1994-1995; follow-up, 2007-2008). Methods The study sample was 6529 girls, 820 of whom reported on pregnancy outcomes for a teenage birth. Personality data was taken from the Mini International Personality Item Pool personality tool, which measures the five-factor personality traits of neuroticism, conscientiousness, intellect/imagination, extraversion and agreeableness. Logistic regression was used to predict teen pregnancy and linear regression was used to predict birth weight and gestational age with adjustment for confounders and stratification by race. Results Agreeableness and intellect/imagination were associated with a reduced likelihood of becoming pregnant as an adolescent, while neuroticism, conscientiousness and extraversion were all associated with an increased likelihood of becoming pregnant. Higher neuroticism was associated with lower birth weight and gestational age among Black girls, but not non-Black. Conscientiousness was associated with lower gestational age among non-Black girls. No relationships were found with extraversion or agreeableness and birth outcomes. Receiving late or no prenatal care was associated with higher intellect/imagination. Conclusions Personality is understudied with respect to pregnancy and birth outcomes compared with other health outcomes. Such research could help professionals and clinicians design and target programs that best fit the characteristics of the population most likely to need them, such as those with high neuroticism. PMID:25040691

  2. The Little Six Personality Dimensions From Early Childhood to Early Adulthood: Mean-Level Age and Gender Differences in Parents' Reports.

    PubMed

    Soto, Christopher J

    2016-08-01

    The present research pursues three major goals. First, we develop scales to measure the Little Six youth personality dimensions: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Activity. Second, we examine mean-level age and gender differences in the Little Six from early childhood into early adulthood. Third, we examine the development of more specific nuance traits. We analyze parent reports, made using the common-language California Child Q-Set (CCQ), for a cross-sectional sample of 16,000 target children ranging from 3 to 20 years old. We construct CCQ-Little Six scales that reliably measure each Little Six dimension. Using these scales, we find (a) curvilinear, U-shaped age trends for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness, with declines followed by subsequent inclines; (b) monotonic, negative age trends for Extraversion and Activity; (c) higher levels of Conscientiousness and Agreeableness among girls than boys, as well as higher levels of Activity among boys than girls; and (d) gender-specific age trends for Neuroticism, with girls scoring higher than boys by mid-adolescence. Finally, we find that several nuance traits show distinctive developmental trends that differ from their superordinate Little Six dimension. These results highlight childhood and adolescence as key periods of personality development. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Testing the Classroom Citizenship Behaviors Scale: Exploring the Association of Classroom Citizenship Behaviors and Student Traits

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Katt, James; Miller, Ann Neville; Brown, Tim

    2017-01-01

    This study investigated the reliability and validity of Myers and colleagues' Classroom Citizenship Behavior scale, as well as the relationship between student personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and communication apprehension) and CCBs. Two hundred and thirteen students completed…

  4. Social anxiety and the Big Five personality traits: the interactive relationship of trust and openness.

    PubMed

    Kaplan, Simona C; Levinson, Cheri A; Rodebaugh, Thomas L; Menatti, Andrew; Weeks, Justin W

    2015-01-01

    It is well established that social anxiety (SA) has a positive relationship with neuroticism and a negative relationship with extraversion. However, findings on the relationships between SA and agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience are mixed. In regard to facet-level personality traits, SA is negatively correlated with trust (a facet of agreeableness) and self-efficacy (a facet of conscientiousness). No research has examined interactions among the Big Five personality traits (e.g., extraversion) and facet levels of personality in relation to SA. In two studies using undergraduate samples (N = 502; N = 698), we examined the relationships between trust, self-efficacy, the Big Five, and SA. SA correlated positively with neuroticism, negatively with extraversion, and had weaker relationships with agreeableness, openness, and trust. In linear regression predicting SA, there was a significant interaction between trust and openness over and above gender. In addition to supporting previous research on SA and the Big Five, we found that openness is related to SA for individuals low in trust. Our results suggest that high openness may protect against the higher SA levels associated with low trust.

  5. The relationship between spiritual intelligence and personality traits among Jordanian university students

    PubMed Central

    Mahasneh, Ahmad M; Shammout, Nizar A; Alkhazaleh, Ziad M; Al-Alwan, Ahmed F; Abu-Eita, Jawhara D

    2015-01-01

    This study was aimed at identifying the level of spiritual intelligence and its correlation with personality traits among a group of Jordanian undergraduate students. A purposive sample of 716 male and female students was chosen from different faculties at the Hashemite University. Two questionnaires on spiritual intelligence and personality traits were distributed to members of the sample during the academic year 2013–2014. Results illustrated a medium level of spiritual intelligence in students, and indicated a positive and statistically significant relationship between spiritual intelligence dimensions (critical existential thinking, personal meaning production, transcendental awareness, and conscious state expansion) and personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), but no significant correlation between personal meaning production and transcendental awareness dimensions and neuroticism personality traits. Finally, regression analysis results indicate that critical existential thinking is the first predictor dimension of spiritual intelligence in terms of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. In the light of the results of this study, many recommendations were written by the researchers. PMID:25834470

  6. The surgical personality: does it exist?

    PubMed

    Whitaker, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    Introduction This study aims to answer the question of whether surgeons have different personalities to non-surgeons. Methods Members of the Royal College of Surgeons of England were sent an email survey containing 50 standard questions from the Five Factor personality assessment, which scores each respondent in five key personality traits (conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, extroversion). Results were analysed and compared with a population-level data set from a survey conducted by the BBC. Results Five hundred and ninety-nine surgeons completed the survey. Analysis showed that surgeons scored significantly higher for conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness and neuroticism than non-surgeons (P < 0.05). Further analysis showed that female surgeons scored higher in openness and extroversion relative to the population average and that surgeons become more prone to neuroticism than non-surgeons as they age. Conclusions The results support the notion of a surgical personality, as well as indicating that female surgeons have significantly different personality profiles from male surgeons, and that age affects surgeons' personalities in different ways to non-surgeons.

  7. Personality risk profile for conduct disorder and substance use disorders in youth.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Kristen G; Tapert, Susan F; Moadab, Ida; Crowley, Thomas J; Brown, Sandra A

    2007-10-01

    The five factor model of personality is a useful metric to describe personality profiles associated with maladaptive functioning. Using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), we examined a conceptually based profile of high neuroticism, low agreeableness and low conscientiousness among 243 youth (aged 13-18 years) with varying degrees of conduct disorder (CD) and substance use disorders (SUD). Comparisons of the NEO-FFI personality dimensions between CD/SUD youth and adolescent siblings (N=173), and relations between the personality dimensions and behavioral indicators of conduct disorder and substance involvement were examined. Youth with CD and SUD had greater neuroticism, lower agreeableness, and lower conscientiousness than siblings of a similar age. The NEO-FFI scales predicted aggression and substance involvement for both probands and siblings in this cross-sectional investigation. These findings support the role for personality in models of the etiology and persistence of conduct disorder and substance use disorders.

  8. Uncovering the Affective Core of Conscientiousness: The Role of Self-Conscious Emotions

    PubMed Central

    Fayard, Jennifer V.; Roberts, Brent W.; Robins, Richard W.; Watson, David

    2013-01-01

    We conducted 3 studies to test the idea that guilt is a key affective component of Conscientiousness and that it can account for the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 1 used meta-analysis to show that Conscientiousness was associated with specific emotions and overall negative affect but was most strongly associated with guilt. Conscientiousness was negatively related to guilt experience but positively related to guilt proneness. Also, guilt experience mediated the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 2 (N = 142) examined the relation between facets of Conscientiousness and guilt. We replicated results from Study 1 and showed that the relation between Conscientiousness and guilt was not due to overlap with Extraversion and Neuroticism. Study 3 (n = 176) examined the interplay between Conscientiousness and guilt on grades in a short-term longitudinal study. These studies showed that Conscientiousness is primarily related to guilt and highlighted the importance of examining the emotional substrate of Conscientiousness. PMID:21241309

  9. Factors That Influence Students to Participate in Team Decision Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forrester, William R.; Tashchian, Armen

    2011-01-01

    This study investigated the effects of personality on participation in decision making in a sample of 225 business students. The Neo-FFI scale was used to measure the five personality dimensions of openness, agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism. Analysis indicated that personality dimensions, extroversion and…

  10. Origins of Media Exposure: Linking Personality Traits to TV, Radio, Print, and Film Use.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finn, Seth

    1997-01-01

    Investigates the five-factor model of personality (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) as a correlate of mass media use. Shows strongest relationships for mass media use between openness and pleasure reading, extroversion and negative pleasure reading, and openness and negative TV viewing. Finds that…

  11. Age Differences in Personality: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Australian Sample

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lucas, Richard E.; Donnellan, M. Brent

    2009-01-01

    Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were examined in a nationally representative sample of Australians (N = 12,618; age range = 15-84). Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness were negatively associated with age, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were positively associated with age. Effect sizes comparing…

  12. Linking "Big" Personality Traits to Anxiety, Depressive, and Substance Use Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kotov, Roman; Gamez, Wakiza; Schmidt, Frank; Watson, David

    2010-01-01

    We performed a quantitative review of associations between the higher order personality traits in the Big Three and Big Five models (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, disinhibition, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness) and specific depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders (SUD) in adults. This approach resulted in 66…

  13. Relationship between Personality and Behavioral Intention in Student Teams

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forrester, William R.; Tashchian, Armen; Shore, Ted H.

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the applicability of the Big Five and FIRO-B frameworks as predictors of group process outcomes in the context of student teams. The personality dimensions of Agreeableness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism were correlated with the interpersonal behavior dimensions of Inclusion, Affection, and Control. The…

  14. Personality, relationship conflict, and teamwork-related mental models.

    PubMed

    Vîrgă, Delia; Curşeu, Petru Lucian; CurŞeu, Petru Lucian; Maricuţoiu, Laurenţiu; Sava, Florin A; Macsinga, Irina; Măgurean, Silvia

    2014-01-01

    This study seeks to explore whether neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness moderate the influence of relationship conflict experienced in groups on changes in group members' evaluative cognitions related to teamwork quality (teamwork-related mental models). Data from 216 students, nested in 48 groups were analyzed using a multilevel modeling approach. Our results show that the experience of relationship conflict leads to a negative shift from the pre-task to the post-task teamwork-related mental models. Moreover, the results indicate that conscientiousness buffered the negative association between relationship conflict and the change in teamwork-related mental models. Our results did not support the hypothesized moderating effect of agreeableness and show that the detrimental effect of relationship conflict on the shift in teamwork-related mental models is accentuated for group members scoring low rather than high on neuroticism. These findings open new research venues for exploring the association between personality, coping styles and change in teamwork-related mental models.

  15. Parenting and social competence in school: The role of preadolescents' personality traits.

    PubMed

    Lianos, Panayiotis G

    2015-06-01

    In a study of 230 preadolescent students (mean age 11.3 years) from the wider area of Athens, Greece, the role of Big Five personality traits (i.e. Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Extraversion) in the relation between parenting dimensions (overprotection, emotional warmth, rejection, anxious rearing) and social competence in school was examined. Multiple sets of regression analyses were performed. Main effects of Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were identified. Limited evidence for moderation and some support of gender-specific parenting was found. Agreeableness and Extraversion interacted with paternal overprotection, whereas Neuroticism interacted with maternal and paternal rejection in predicting social competence. Mean differences in gender and educational grade were reported. The relationship between environmental effects (such as parenting during early adolescence) and social adjustment in school is discussed in terms of the plasticity and malleability of the preadolescents' personality characteristics. Copyright © 2015 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Personality, Relationship Conflict, and Teamwork-Related Mental Models

    PubMed Central

    Vîrgă, Delia; CurŞeu, Petru Lucian; Maricuţoiu, Laurenţiu; Sava, Florin A.; Macsinga, Irina; Măgurean, Silvia

    2014-01-01

    This study seeks to explore whether neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness moderate the influence of relationship conflict experienced in groups on changes in group members' evaluative cognitions related to teamwork quality (teamwork-related mental models). Data from 216 students, nested in 48 groups were analyzed using a multilevel modeling approach. Our results show that the experience of relationship conflict leads to a negative shift from the pre-task to the post-task teamwork-related mental models. Moreover, the results indicate that conscientiousness buffered the negative association between relationship conflict and the change in teamwork-related mental models. Our results did not support the hypothesized moderating effect of agreeableness and show that the detrimental effect of relationship conflict on the shift in teamwork-related mental models is accentuated for group members scoring low rather than high on neuroticism. These findings open new research venues for exploring the association between personality, coping styles and change in teamwork-related mental models. PMID:25372143

  17. Uncovering the affective core of conscientiousness: the role of self-conscious emotions.

    PubMed

    Fayard, Jennifer V; Roberts, Brent W; Robins, Richard W; Watson, David

    2012-02-01

    We conducted 3 studies to test the idea that guilt is a key affective component of Conscientiousness and that it can account for the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 1 used meta-analysis to show that Conscientiousness was associated with specific emotions and overall negative affect but was most strongly associated with guilt. Conscientiousness was negatively related to guilt experience but positively related to guilt proneness. Also, guilt experience mediated the relation between Conscientiousness and negative affect. Study 2 (N = 142) examined the relation between facets of Conscientiousness and guilt. We replicated results from Study 1 and showed that the relation between Conscientiousness and guilt was not due to overlap with Extraversion and Neuroticism. Study 3 (n = 176) examined the interplay between Conscientiousness and guilt on grades in a short-term longitudinal study. These studies showed that Conscientiousness is primarily related to guilt and highlighted the importance of examining the emotional substrate of Conscientiousness. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Personality Traits of Centenarians’ Offspring

    PubMed Central

    Givens, Jane L; Frederick, Maureen; Silverman, Leanne; Anderson, Stacy; Senville, Joanna; Silver, Margery; Sebastiani, Paola; Terry, Dellara F; Costa, Paul T.; Perls, Thomas T.

    2010-01-01

    OBJECTIVES To determine whether the offspring of centenarians have personality characteristics that are distinct from the general population. DESIGN Case-control. SETTING Nationwide U.S. sample. PARTICIPANTS Unrelated offspring of centenarians (n = 246, mean age 75) were compared with published norms. MEASUREMENTS Using the NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) questionnaire, measures of the personality traits neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were obtained. T-scores and percentiles were calculated according to sex and used to interpret the results. RESULTS Male and female offspring of centenarians scored in the low range of published norms for neuroticism and in the high range for extraversion. The women also scored comparatively high in agreeableness. Otherwise, both sexes scored within normal range for conscientiousness and openness, and the men scored within normal range for agreeableness. CONCLUSION Specific personality traits may be important to the relative successful aging demonstrated by the offspring of centenarians. Similarities across four of the five domains between male and female offspring is noteworthy and may relate to their successful aging. Measures of personality are an important phenotype to include in studies that assess genetic and environmental influences of longevity and successful aging. PMID:19392961

  19. Are emotionally attached companion animal caregivers conscientious and neurotic? Factors that affect the human-companion animal relationship.

    PubMed

    Reevy, Gretchen M; Delgado, Mikel M

    2015-01-01

    Few studies have examined how personality traits may be related to the amounts and types of attachments humans have toward companion animals (pets). In this study, 1,098 companion animal guardians (owners) completed a survey that included the Big Five Inventory, the Lexington Attachment to Pets Scale, and the Pet Attachment Questionnaire. Each participant chose whether he or she identified as a Cat Person, Dog Person, Both, or Neither. Results indicated that neuroticism, conscientiousness, choosing a dog as a favorite pet, and identifying as a Cat Person, Dog Person, or Both predicted affection for a pet. Conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness decreased avoidant attachment to pets, and neuroticism increased anxious attachment to pets. Both dogs and cats could benefit from pet owners who are conscientious, and there may be some benefits of neuroticism in pet owners. The findings of this study will advance understanding of the human-animal bond. As this understanding increases, measurements of human attachment and personality may be useful for the development of tools that could assist shelter employees and veterinarians in counseling people about pet ownership.

  20. Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events.

    PubMed

    Costa, P T; Herbst, J H; McCrae, R R; Siegler, I C

    2000-12-01

    Although developmental theories and popular accounts suggest that midlife is a time of turmoil and change, longitudinal studies of personality traits have generally found stability of rank order and little or no change in mean levels. Using data from 2,274 men and women in their 40s retested after 6 to 9 years, the present study examined two hypotheses: (a) that retest correlations should be no higher than about .60 and (b) that there should be small decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness, and small increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The study also explored the effects of recalled life events on subsequent personality scores. Results did not support the first hypothesis; uncorrected retest correlations uniformly exceeded .60. This was true for all personality traits, including facets of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness not previously included in longitudinal studies. The hypothesized decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness were found, but Conscientiousness showed a small decrease instead of the predicted increase. Life events in general showed very little influence on the levels of personality traits, although some effects were seen for changes in job and marital status that warrant further research.

  1. Effect of chronic escitalopram versus placebo on personality traits in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with depression: a randomized trial.

    PubMed

    Knorr, Ulla; Vinberg, Maj; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Winkel, Per; Gluud, Christian; Wetterslev, Jørn; Gether, Ulrik; Kessing, Lars Vedel

    2012-01-01

    The serotonergic neurotransmitter system is closely linked to depression and personality traits. It is not known if selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have an effect on neuroticism that is independent of their effect on depression. Healthy individuals with a genetic liability for depression represent a group of particular interest when investigating if intervention with SSRIs affects personality. The present trial is the first to test the hypothesis that escitalopram may reduce neuroticism in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (MD). The trial used a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled parallel-group design. We examined the effect of four weeks escitalopram 10 mg daily versus matching placebo on personality in 80 people who had a biological parent or sibling with a history of MD. The outcome measure on personality traits was change in self-reported neuroticism scores on the Revised Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPQ) from entry until end of four weeks of intervention. When compared with placebo, escitalopram did not significantly affect self-reported NEO-PI-R and EPQ neuroticism and extroversion, EPQ psychoticism, NEO-PI-R openness, or NEO-PI-R conscientiousness (p all above 0.05). However, escitalopram increased NEO-PI-R agreeableness scores significantly compared with placebo (mean; SD) (2.38; 8.09) versus (-1.32; 7.94), p = 0.046), but not following correction for multiplicity. A trend was shown for increased conscientiousness (p = 0.07). There was no significant effect on subclinical depressive symptoms (p = 0.6). In healthy first-degree relatives of patients with MD, there is no effect of escitalopram on neuroticism, but it is possible that escitalopram may increase the personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00386841.

  2. Effect of Chronic Escitalopram versus Placebo on Personality Traits in Healthy First-Degree Relatives of Patients with Depression: A Randomized Trial

    PubMed Central

    Knorr, Ulla; Vinberg, Maj; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Winkel, Per; Gluud, Christian; Wetterslev, Jørn; Gether, Ulrik; Kessing, Lars Vedel

    2012-01-01

    Introduction The serotonergic neurotransmitter system is closely linked to depression and personality traits. It is not known if selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) have an effect on neuroticism that is independent of their effect on depression. Healthy individuals with a genetic liability for depression represent a group of particular interest when investigating if intervention with SSRIs affects personality. The present trial is the first to test the hypothesis that escitalopram may reduce neuroticism in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with major depressive disorder (MD). Methods The trial used a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled parallel-group design. We examined the effect of four weeks escitalopram 10 mg daily versus matching placebo on personality in 80 people who had a biological parent or sibling with a history of MD. The outcome measure on personality traits was change in self-reported neuroticism scores on the Revised Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPQ) from entry until end of four weeks of intervention. Results When compared with placebo, escitalopram did not significantly affect self-reported NEO-PI-R and EPQ neuroticism and extroversion, EPQ psychoticism, NEO-PI-R openness, or NEO-PI-R conscientiousness (p all above 0.05). However, escitalopram increased NEO-PI-R agreeableness scores significantly compared with placebo (mean; SD) (2.38; 8.09) versus (−1.32; 7.94), p = 0.046), but not following correction for multiplicity. A trend was shown for increased conscientiousness (p = 0.07). There was no significant effect on subclinical depressive symptoms (p = 0.6). Conclusion In healthy first-degree relatives of patients with MD, there is no effect of escitalopram on neuroticism, but it is possible that escitalopram may increase the personality traits of agreeableness and conscientiousness. Trial Registration Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00386841

  3. The Relationship between Cognitive Dissonance and the Big-5 Factors Model of the Personality and the Academic Achievement in a Sample of Female Students at the University of Umm Al-Qura

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al Otaibi, Sameera Moharib B.

    2012-01-01

    The aim of this study is to try to determine the relationship between the cognitive dissonance, the Big-Five Factors (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and the academic achievement. The study also aim to identify differences between female students with high cognitive dissonance and students with low…

  4. The mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship between Big five personality and depressive symptoms among Chinese unemployed population: a cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yang; Yao, Lutian; Liu, Li; Yang, Xiaoshi; Wu, Hui; Wang, Jiana; Wang, Lie

    2014-03-03

    Besides the rapid growth of economy, unemployment becomes a severe socio-economic problem in China. The huge population base in China makes the unemployed population a tremendously huge number. However, health status of unemployed population was ignored and few studies were conducted to describe the depressive symptoms of unemployed individuals in China. This study aims to examine the relationship between Big five personality and depressive symptoms and the mediating role of self-efficacy in this relationship. This cross-sectional study was performed during the period of July to September 2011. Questionnaires consisting of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), the Big Five Inventory (BFI) and the General Self-efficacy Scale (GSE), as well as demographic factors, were used to collect information of unemployed population. A total of 1,832 individuals (effective response rate: 73.28%) became our subjects. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to explore the mediating role of self-efficacy. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 67.7% among Chinese unemployed individuals. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness were all negatively associated with depressive symptoms whereas neuroticism was positively associated with depressive symptoms. The proportion of mediating effect of self-efficacy in the relationship between extraversion/agreeableness/conscientiousness/neuroticism and depressive symptoms was 25.42%, 10.91%, 32.21% and 36.44%, respectively. Self-efficacy is a mediator in the relationship between extraversion/agreeableness/conscientiousness/neuroticism and depressive symptoms. Self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between Big five personality and depressive symptoms among Chinese unemployed individuals. Interventions that focus on both individuals' personality and self-efficacy may be most successful to reduce depressive symptoms of unemployed

  5. Personality Traits of Hospital Pharmacists: Toward a Better Understanding of Factors Influencing Pharmacy Practice Change

    PubMed Central

    Hall, Jill; Rosenthal, Meagen; Family, Hannah; Sutton, Jane; Hall, Kevin; Tsuyuki, Ross T

    2013-01-01

    Background The profession of pharmacy has adopted a mandate to become more patient-centred; however, significant change in this direction has not been achieved. Objective: To characterize the personality traits of hospital pharmacists in one Canadian province, to provide insights into potential barriers to practice change. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of hospital pharmacists was conducted in Alberta, Canada. An invitation to participate was sent to all 766 hospital pharmacists practising in the province’s 2 health service organizations. The survey was based on the Big Five Inventory, a validated, reliable instrument that uses a 5-point Likert scale to measure the traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Results: Of the 347 pharmacists who completed the survey (45% response rate), the majority (297 [86%]) were staff pharmacists working full time in an urban setting. The average age of respondents was 41 years (standard deviation [SD] 11 years), and the average period in practice was 17 years (SD 11 years). Respondents’ mean scores were 3.2 (SD 0.7) on extraversion, 3.8 (SD 0.4) on agreeableness, 4.0 (SD 0.4) on conscientiousness, 2.5 (SD 0.7) on neuroticism, and 3.5 (SD 0.6) on openness. Total frequency counts revealed that respondents tended toward stronger expression of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness and low levels of neuroticism (with the latter indicating stability). Conclusion: The Big Five Inventory represents a novel approach to examining pharmacists’ change-related behaviours. Improving understanding of hospital pharmacists’ personality traits will provide insights for the development of training and support programs tailored specifically to this group. PMID:24159231

  6. Personality as a Prognostic Factor for Specialty Choice: A Prospective Study of 4 Medical School Classes

    PubMed Central

    Markert, Ronald J.; Rodenhauser, Paul; El-Baghdadi, Mariam M.; Juskaite, Kornelija; Hillel, Alexander T.; Maron, Bradley A.

    2008-01-01

    Background To augment the availability of medical care for a population that is older and more ethnically diverse, the number of US medical schools is increasing and existing medical schools are enlarging their class sizes. Predictors of specialty choice, especially primary care careers, are helpful to medical school officials and faculty involved in medical school recruitment and counseling and to students planning their career paths. Objective The objective was to examine the association between personality characteristics and specialty choice. Methods The Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R) was administered to 4 Tulane University School of Medicine (New Orleans, Louisiana) classes (2003–2006). The NEO PI-R is a measure of 5 personality characteristics (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), with each domain having 6 underlying facets. The specialty choice of graduates was obtained from the National Residency Matching Program. Results Starting in 1999, 595 students matriculated and by June 2006, 542 (91%) had matched to residency programs in 22 specialties. There were differences among specialties for neuroticism (P = .006), openness (P < .001), and agreeableness (P = .003), but not for extraversion (P = .173) or conscientiousness (P = .103). Various pairwise differences between specialty categories were found. Discussion Eleven specialty categories were compared using the NEO PI-R. Numerous specialty variations were identified for neuroticism, openness, and agreeableness. The findings may be useful to medical school officials and faculty who recruit and counsel students and to students themselves as they reflect on their personality characteristics on their path to making career choices. PMID:18382718

  7. The Role of Personality Traits in Young Adult Fruit and Vegetable Consumption.

    PubMed

    Conner, Tamlin S; Thompson, Laura M; Knight, Rachel L; Flett, Jayde A M; Richardson, Aimee C; Brookie, Kate L

    2017-01-01

    This project investigated how individual differences in the big-five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) predicted plant-food consumption in young adults. A total of 1073 participants from two samples of young adults aged 17-25 reported their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, and two unhealthy foods for comparison purposes using an Internet daily diary for 21 or 13 days (micro-longitudinal, correlational design). Participants also completed the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) measure of personality, and demographic covariates including gender, age, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI). Analyses used hierarchical regression to predict average daily fruit and vegetable consumption as separate dependent variables from the demographic covariates (step 1) and the five personality traits (step 2). Results showed that young adults higher in openness and extraversion, and to some extent conscientiousness, ate more fruits and vegetables than their less open, less extraverted, and less conscientious peers. Neuroticism and agreeableness were unrelated to fruit and vegetable consumption. These associations were unique to eating fruit and vegetables and mostly did not extend to unhealthy foods tested. Young adult women also ate more fruit and vegetables than young adult men. Results suggest that traits associated with greater intellect, curiosity, and social engagement (openness and extraversion), and to a lesser extent, discipline (conscientiousness) are associated with greater plant-food consumption in this population. Findings reinforce the importance of personality in establishing healthy dietary habits in young adulthood that could translate into better health outcomes later in life.

  8. Personality and subjective well-being in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii).

    PubMed

    Weiss, Alexander; King, James E; Perkins, Lori

    2006-03-01

    Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) are semisolitary apes and, among the great apes, the most distantly related to humans. Raters assessed 152 orangutans on 48 personality descriptors; 140 of these orangutans were also rated on a subjective well-being questionnaire. Principal-components analysis yielded 5 reliable personality factors: Extraversion, Dominance, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Intellect. The authors found no factor analogous to human Conscientiousness. Among the orangutans rated on all 48 personality descriptors and the subjective well-being questionnaire, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and low Neuroticism were related to subjective well-being. These findings suggest that analogues of human, chimpanzee, and orangutan personality domains existed in a common ape ancestor. Copyright (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.

  9. Student Evaluations of Teaching: Effects of the Big Five Personality Traits, Grades and the Validity Hypothesis

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Patrick, Carol Lynn

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the Big Five personality traits and expected student grades relate to student evaluations of teachers and courses at the college level. Extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness were found to be personality traits favoured in instructors, whereas neuroticism was not. A…

  10. Exploring the Relationship between Workaholism Facets and Personality Traits: A Replication in American Workers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aziz, Shahnaz; Tronzo, Casie L.

    2011-01-01

    In this study, we further explored whether any of the dimensions in the five-factor model of personality (i.e., openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) were related to facets of workaholism (i.e., work involvement, work drive, and work enjoyment) in a sample of American workers in various…

  11. Critical Review on Affect of Personality on Learning Styles

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kamarulzaman, Wirawani

    2012-01-01

    This paper is intended to review the affect of personality on learning styles. Costa and McCrae's Five-Factor Model of Personality (The Big 5) is explored against Kolb Learning Styles. The Big 5 factors are extraversion, neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, whereas Kolb Learning Styles are divergers, assimilators,…

  12. A personality-based description of maturing out of alcohol problems: extension with a five-factor model and robustness to modeling challenges.

    PubMed

    Littlefield, Andrew K; Sher, Kenneth J; Wood, Phillip K

    2010-11-01

    To examine the relation of changes in Five-Factor personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience; Costa & McCrae, 1985), drinking motives, and problematic alcohol involvement in a cohort of college students (N=467) at varying risk for alcohol use disorders from ages 21 to 35. Parallel process latent growth models were estimated to determine the extent that prospective changes in personality and alcohol problems covaried as well as the extent to which drinking motives appeared to mediate these relations. Changes in neuroticism and conscientiousness covaried with changes in problematic alcohol involvement. Specifically, increases in conscientiousness and decreases in neuroticism were related to decreases in alcohol from ages 21 to 35, even after accounting for marriage and/or parenthood. Change in coping (but not enhancement) motives specifically mediated the relation between changes in conscientiousness and alcohol problems in addition to the relation between changes in neuroticism and alcohol problems. Personality changes, as assessed by a Five-Factor model of personality, are associated with "maturing out" of alcohol problems. Of equal importance, change in coping motives may be an important mediator of the relation between personality change and the "maturing out" of alcohol problems. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  13. Differences in Neuroticism Between Patients with Glaucoma Who Have Discontinued Visits to Ophthalmologists and Those Who Make Regular Visits: Implications for Adherence to Topical Glaucoma Medications.

    PubMed

    Nakano, Tadashi; Kodaka, Fumitoshi; Tsuneoka, Hiroshi

    2016-12-01

    Neuroticism is a personality trait often described in individuals with glaucoma (GLC), but is not necessarily representative of the total population of patients. There is a population of patients with GLC who are invisible to clinical ophthalmologists; in other words, those who once have been diagnosed with GLC, but spontaneously stop visiting an ophthalmologist. Little is known about their neuroticism personality trait. In the present study, the authors compared the level of neuroticism between patients no longer visiting an ophthalmologist and those who continue visit them regularly. Patients were assigned to two groups according to the duration of their last visit to an ophthalmologist: the Discontinued group included those patients who had not visited an ophthalmologist for the last 6 months, and the Regular Visitor group included those patients who continued to make regular visits to an ophthalmologist. The Japanese version of Ten Items Personality Inventory (TIPI-J), a questionnaire specifically used to assess the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness), was completed by patients through a dedicated website. Three-hundred and seventy-three patients with GLC were recruited. The neuroticism score from the TIPI-J in the Discontinued group was significantly lower than that in the Regular Visitor group (7.63 ± 2.23 vs. 8.23 ± 2.21, respectively; P = 0.01). No significant difference was found in the other TIPI-J sub-item scores between the Discontinued and the Regular Visitor groups. In this study, the authors showed that neuroticism trait in patients with GLC who have discontinued visiting their ophthalmologists was lower than that in patients who regularly visited them, on the basis of the Big Five personality traits as measured by the TIPT-J. Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

  14. Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the Big 5 Personality Test Inventory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kamarulzaman, Wirawani; Nordin, Mohamad Sahari

    2012-01-01

    This paper is intended to examine the validity of Big 5 Personality test inventory of 44 questions with 5-Likert Scale measurement. Confirmatory factory analysis (CFA) was conducted to determine the good fit indices of the 5 personality types. Those types are 1) extraversion, 2) agreeableness, 3) conscientiousness, 4) openness and 5) neuroticism.…

  15. Validity of personality measurement in adults with anxiety disorders: psychometric properties of the Spanish NEO-FFI-R using Rasch analyses

    PubMed Central

    Inchausti, Felix; Mole, Joe; Fonseca-Pedrero, Eduardo; Ortuño-Sierra, Javier

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this study was to analyse the psychometric properties of the Spanish NEO Five Factor Inventory–Revised (NEO-FFI-R) using Rasch analyses, in order to test its rating scale functioning, the reliability of scores, internal structure, and differential item functioning (DIF) by gender in a psychiatric sample. The NEO-FFI-R responses of 433 Spanish adults (154 males) with an anxiety disorder as primary diagnosis were analysed using the Rasch model for rating scales. Two intermediate categories of response (‘neutral’ and ‘agree’) malfunctioned in the Neuroticism and Conscientiousness scales. In addition, model reliabilities were lower than expected in Agreeableness and Neuroticism, and the item fit values indicated each scale had items that did not achieve moderate to high discrimination on its dimension, particularly in the Agreeableness scale. Concerning unidimensionality, the five NEO-FFI-R scales showed large first components of unexplained variance. Finally, DIF by gender was detected in many items. The results suggest that the scores of the Spanish NEO-FFI-R are unreliable in psychiatric samples and cannot be generalized between males and females, especially in the Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness scales. Future directions for testing and refinement should be developed before the NEO-FFI-R can be used reliably in clinical samples. PMID:25954224

  16. Personality Homophily and Geographic Distance in Facebook.

    PubMed

    Noë, Nyala; Whitaker, Roger M; Allen, Stuart M

    2018-05-24

    Personality homophily remains an understudied aspect of social networks, with the traditional focus concerning sociodemographic variables as the basis for assortativity, rather than psychological dispositions. We consider the effect of personality homophily on one of the biggest constraints to human social networks: geographic distance. We use the Big five model of personality to make predictions for each of the five facets: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Using a network of 313,669 Facebook users, we investigate the difference in geographic distance between homophilous pairs, in which both users scored similarly on a particular facet, and mixed pairs. In accordance with our hypotheses, we find that pairs of open and conscientious users are geographically further apart than mixed pairs. Pairs of extraverts, on the other hand, tend to be geographically closer together. We find mixed results for the Neuroticism facet, and no significant effects for the Agreeableness facet. The results are discussed in the context of personality homophily and the impact of geographic distance on social connections.

  17. Big Five Personality Factors and Facets as Predictors of Openness to Diversity.

    PubMed

    Han, Suejung; Pistole, M Carole

    2017-11-17

    Openness to diversity is a crucial component of cultural competence needed in the increasingly diversified modern society and a necessary condition for benefitting from diversity contacts and interventions (e.g., diversity training, cultural courses). Responding to the recent call for more research on personality and its relation to diversity outcomes, we examined the associations between Big Five personality (i.e., Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness) higher order factors and lower order facets and universal-diverse orientation (i.e., open attitude of appreciating human universality and diversity; Miville et al., 1999 ). In the Study 1 (N = 338) web survey on Big Five factors, Openness to Experience and Agreeableness were associated with universal-diverse orientation significantly. In the Study 2 (N = 176) paper survey on both Big Five factors and facets, Openness to Experience, low Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness, and various lower-order facets of all the Big Five personality were associated with universal-diverse orientation significantly. Practical implications were suggested on how personality facets could be incorporated into current diversity interventions to enhance their effectiveness of promoting openness to diversity.

  18. Five-Factor Personality Traits and Subjective Health Among Caregivers: The Role of Caregiver Strain and Self-Efficacy

    PubMed Central

    Löckenhoff, Corinna E.; Duberstein, Paul R.; Friedman, Bruce; Costa, Paul T.

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the association among caregivers’ five-factor personality traits and subjective health with particular emphasis on the role of two theoretically implicated mediators: multi-domain self-efficacy and caregiver strain. The sample comprised 536 informal caregivers (mean age = 62.9 years, SD = 19.9, 72% female, 98% White) of community-dwelling older adults with multiple functional impairments. Both physical health and mental health were negatively associated with neuroticism and positively associated with extraversion and conscientiousness. Agreeableness and openness were associated with better subjective mental health and physical health, respectively. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that self-efficacy mediated all observed associations between personality and subjective health, whereas caregiver strain selectively mediated the associations of neuroticism and agreeableness with mental health. PMID:21417534

  19. The impact of personality on driving safety among Chinese high-speed railway drivers.

    PubMed

    Guo, Ming; Wei, Wei; Liao, Ganli; Chu, Fulei

    2016-07-01

    This study explored the impact of personality traits on driving safety in high-speed railway drivers. A sample of high-speed railway drivers in Beijing (N=214) completed a questionnaire, including information on personality traits and background variables. The NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was administered to characterize participants based on five personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, and Conscientiousness. The survey data were combined with naturalistic data of accident involvement and risky driving behavior in China. Poisson regression results show that drivers with high Conscientiousness and Extraversion caused fewer accidents. Higher Conscientiousness and lower Agreeableness were related to less frequent risky driving behavior. Education level and age negatively moderated the relation between certain personality traits and driving safety. The findings suggest that personality traits should be considered when selecting and training high-speed railway drivers. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Personality traits in psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and psychogenic movement disorder (PMD): Neuroticism and perfectionism.

    PubMed

    Ekanayake, Vindhya; Kranick, Sarah; LaFaver, Kathrin; Naz, Arshi; Frank Webb, Anne; LaFrance, W Curt; Hallett, Mark; Voon, Valerie

    2017-06-01

    Psychogenic movement disorder (PMD) and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) are two subtypes of conversion disorder (CD). In this case-control study, we asked whether these subtypes varied as a function of personality and history of childhood abuse. Fifty-nine patients with PMD from the Human Motor Control Section Clinic at the National Institutes of Health, 43 patients with PNES from the Rhode Island Hospital Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology Division, and 26 healthy volunteers (HC) received a battery of neurological, psychiatric and psychological assessments, including the NEO Personality Inventory Revised (NEO PI-R), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and the Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire (TLEQ). One-way ANOVA between the three groups indicated significant differences in overall domains of Neuroticism (p=0.001) and Conscientiousness (p=0.009): Patients with PNES reported significantly greater levels of Neuroticism (p=0.002) and lower levels of Conscientiousness (p=0.023) than patients with PMD. Levels of Neuroticism remained significantly higher in both PMD and PNES than HC following correction for multiple comparisons. Patients with PNES reported greater levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms, overall psychopathology, greater history of sexual abuse, greater levels of alexithymia, higher levels of dissociative symptoms, and an earlier age at which they experienced their most distressing traumatic event than patients with PMD. These findings suggest that personality traits, type of abuse and age of onset of trauma varies as a function of CD subtype. Patients with PNES rated greater Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness than patients with PMD. These differing psychological profiles may inform differing treatment approaches such as psychological therapies for PNES and physiotherapy (with/without psychotherapy) for PMD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Trajectories of physical growth and personality dimensions of the Five-Factor Model.

    PubMed

    Lahti, Marius; Räikkönen, Katri; Lemola, Sakari; Lahti, Jari; Heinonen, Kati; Kajantie, Eero; Pesonen, Anu-Katriina; Osmond, Clive; Barker, David J P; Eriksson, Johan G

    2013-07-01

    Although physical growth in early life is associated with the risk of somatic illnesses and psychological disorders in adulthood, few studies have focused upon the associations between growth and dimensional personality traits. We examined the associations between pre- and postnatal growth in height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) and Five-Factor Model dimensions in adulthood. From the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, 1,682 participants completed the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) at an average age of 63 years. Growth estimates were derived based on medical records. Adjusting for gestational length and sociodemographic variables, birth weight showed a quadratic association with neuroticism; participants with low birth weight scored the highest on neuroticism. Larger ponderal index at birth predicted higher agreeableness, while average ponderal index predicted higher conscientiousness. BMI and weight growth trajectories from birth to adulthood were associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. More specifically, less BMI and weight gain between 7 and 11 years and/or between 11 years and adulthood were associated with higher conscientiousness and higher agreeableness. Height and weight growth trajectories from birth to adulthood were associated with extraversion: faster height and weight growth between birth and 6 months, slower height growth between 7 and 11 years, and faster weight gain between 11 years and adulthood were associated with higher extraversion. Openness to experience was not associated with growth. This longitudinal study supports an association between pre- and postnatal physical growth and 4 of the Five-Factor Model personality dimensions in adulthood. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  2. Personality, Emotional Qualities of Leisure, and Subjective Well-Being in the Elderly.

    PubMed

    Kahlbaugh, Patricia; Huffman, Loreen

    2017-07-01

    In this study, we examined personality traits of older adults and their emotional experiences associated with engaging in specific leisure activities. Older individuals (17 males, 32 females), ages ranging from 65 to 97 years (mean age 74), completed measures of Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, subjective well-being (SWB), independent functioning, and an emotion-activity inventory. As expected, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to experience were related to positive affect, while Neuroticism was related to negative affect. Openness and Agreeableness were related to positive emotions experienced in social and cognitive domains, and Agreeableness was related to greater SWB, greater positive affect, and more positively experienced activities. Neuroticism was related to lower SWB and fewer positively experienced activities. These findings suggest that assessing the fit between personality and emotions experienced during activities should be considered when creating programs tailored to elderly individuals, with the goal of encouraging more active and rewarding lives.

  3. Personality trait level and change as predictors of health outcomes: findings from a national study of Americans (MIDUS).

    PubMed

    Turiano, Nicholas A; Pitzer, Lindsay; Armour, Cherie; Karlamangla, Arun; Ryff, Carol D; Mroczek, Daniel K

    2012-01-01

    Personality traits predict numerous health outcomes, but previous studies have rarely used personality change to predict health. The current investigation utilized a large national sample of 3,990 participants from the Midlife in the U.S. study (MIDUS) to examine if both personality trait level and personality change longitudinally predict 3 different health outcomes (i.e., self-rated physical health, self-reported blood pressure, and number of days limited at work or home due to physical health reasons) over a 10-year span. Each of the Big Five traits, except openness, predicted self-rated health. Change in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion also predicted self-rated health. Trait levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism level predicted self-reported blood pressure. All trait levels except agreeableness predicted number of work days limited. Only change in conscientiousness predicted the number of work days limited. Findings demonstrate that a full understanding of the link between personality and health requires consideration of trait change as well as trait level.

  4. The prosocial and aggressive driving inventory (PADI): a self-report measure of safe and unsafe driving behaviors.

    PubMed

    Harris, Paul B; Houston, John M; Vazquez, Jose A; Smither, Janan A; Harms, Amanda; Dahlke, Jeffrey A; Sachau, Daniel A

    2014-11-01

    Surveys of 1217 undergraduate students supported the reliability (inter-item and test-retest) and validity of the Prosocial and Aggressive Driving Inventory (PADI). Principal component analyses on the PADI items yielded two scales: Prosocial Driving (17 items) and Aggressive Driving (12 items). Prosocial Driving was associated with fewer reported traffic accidents and violations, with participants who were older and female, and with lower Boredom Susceptibility and Hostility scores, and higher scores on Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness, and Neuroticism. Aggressive Driving was associated with more frequent traffic violations, with female participants, and with higher scores on Competitiveness, Sensation Seeking, Hostility, and Extraversion, and lower scores on Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. The theoretical and practical implications of the PADI's dual focus on safe and unsafe driving are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Is happiness good for your personality? Concurrent and prospective relations of the big five with subjective well-being.

    PubMed

    Soto, Christopher J

    2015-02-01

    The present research examined longitudinal relations of the Big Five personality traits with three core aspects of subjective well-being: life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Latent growth models and autoregressive models were used to analyze data from a large, nationally representative sample of 16,367 Australian residents. Concurrent and change correlations indicated that higher levels of subjective well-being were associated with higher levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and with lower levels of Neuroticism. Moreover, personality traits prospectively predicted change in well-being, and well-being levels prospectively predicted personality change. Specifically, prospective trait effects indicated that individuals who were initially extraverted, agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable subsequently increased in well-being. Prospective well-being effects indicated that individuals with high initial levels of well-being subsequently became more agreeable, conscientious, emotionally stable, and introverted. These findings challenge the common assumption that associations of personality traits with subjective well-being are entirely, or almost entirely, due to trait influences on well-being. They support the alternative hypothesis that personality traits and well-being aspects reciprocally influence each other over time. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Personality and Cultural Modeling for Agent-Based Representation of a Terrorist Cell, Phase 1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-01-01

    domains of Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness into six 5 facets each. The six facets alone provide a level of...confident confident timid--- bold no easily embarrassed---not easily embarrassed doubting---confident OK defensive---open OK inhibited---expressive...working alone pleasure-seeking---not no pleasure-seeking involved---aloof OK seeks out others---seeks isolation talkative---reticent OK spontaneous---not

  7. Who does well in life? Conscientious adults excel in both objective and subjective success.

    PubMed

    Duckworth, Angela L; Weir, David; Tsukayama, Eli; Kwok, David

    2012-01-01

    This article investigates how personality and cognitive ability relate to measures of objective success (income and wealth) and subjective success (life satisfaction, positive affect, and lack of negative affect) in a representative sample of 9,646 American adults. In cross-sectional analyses controlling for demographic covariates, cognitive ability, and other Big Five traits, conscientiousness demonstrated beneficial associations of small-to-medium magnitude with all success outcomes. In contrast, other traits demonstrated stronger, but less consistently beneficial, relations with outcomes in the same models. For instance, emotional stability demonstrated medium-to-large associations with life satisfaction and affect but a weak association with income and no association with wealth. Likewise, extraversion demonstrated medium-to-large associations with positive affect and life satisfaction but small-to-medium associations with wealth and (lack of) negative affect and no association with income. Cognitive ability showed small-to-medium associations with income and wealth but no association with any aspect of subjective success. More agreeable adults were worse off in terms of objective success and life satisfaction, demonstrating small-to-medium inverse associations with those outcomes, but they did not differ from less agreeable adults in positive or negative affect. Likewise, openness to experience demonstrated small-to-medium inverse associations with every success outcome except positive affect, in which more open adults were slightly higher. Notably, in each of the five models predicting objective and subjective success outcomes, individual differences other than conscientiousness explained more variance than did conscientiousness. Thus, the benefits of conscientiousness may be remarkable more for their ubiquity than for their magnitude.

  8. Who Does Well in Life? Conscientious Adults Excel in Both Objective and Subjective Success

    PubMed Central

    Duckworth, Angela L.; Weir, David; Tsukayama, Eli; Kwok, David

    2012-01-01

    This article investigates how personality and cognitive ability relate to measures of objective success (income and wealth) and subjective success (life satisfaction, positive affect, and lack of negative affect) in a representative sample of 9,646 American adults. In cross-sectional analyses controlling for demographic covariates, cognitive ability, and other Big Five traits, conscientiousness demonstrated beneficial associations of small-to-medium magnitude with all success outcomes. In contrast, other traits demonstrated stronger, but less consistently beneficial, relations with outcomes in the same models. For instance, emotional stability demonstrated medium-to-large associations with life satisfaction and affect but a weak association with income and no association with wealth. Likewise, extraversion demonstrated medium-to-large associations with positive affect and life satisfaction but small-to-medium associations with wealth and (lack of) negative affect and no association with income. Cognitive ability showed small-to-medium associations with income and wealth but no association with any aspect of subjective success. More agreeable adults were worse off in terms of objective success and life satisfaction, demonstrating small-to-medium inverse associations with those outcomes, but they did not differ from less agreeable adults in positive or negative affect. Likewise, openness to experience demonstrated small-to-medium inverse associations with every success outcome except positive affect, in which more open adults were slightly higher. Notably, in each of the five models predicting objective and subjective success outcomes, individual differences other than conscientiousness explained more variance than did conscientiousness. Thus, the benefits of conscientiousness may be remarkable more for their ubiquity than for their magnitude. PMID:23162483

  9. An Experimental Study on the Attribution of Personality Traits to Bullies and Targets in a Workplace Setting

    PubMed Central

    Pallesen, Ståle; Nielsen, Morten B.; Magerøy, Nils; Andreassen, Cecilie S.; Einarsen, Ståle

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies on the personality of bullies and targets have exclusively been based on self-report. Against this backdrop we conducted a between group experimental vignette study with three conditions, describing a bully, a target and a control, respectively. Students (n = 242) were recruited as participants and rated the target on the observer rating version of the NEO Five Factor Inventory-Revised reflecting the personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. A MANOVA showed an overall significant effect of the experimental conditions. On Neuroticism significant differences between all conditions were found with targets rated highest and the control lowest. In terms of Extroversion the target was rated as lower than the control and the bully. No main effect was found for Openness. On Agreeableness the bully was rated as lower than both the target and the control. The bully was rated lower on Conscientiousness than the control. The significant differences reflected medium to large effect sizes. By and large the results are in agreement with comparable self-report data. The results are discussed in terms of practical implications and directions for future research are outlined. PMID:28690574

  10. An Experimental Study on the Attribution of Personality Traits to Bullies and Targets in a Workplace Setting.

    PubMed

    Pallesen, Ståle; Nielsen, Morten B; Magerøy, Nils; Andreassen, Cecilie S; Einarsen, Ståle

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies on the personality of bullies and targets have exclusively been based on self-report. Against this backdrop we conducted a between group experimental vignette study with three conditions, describing a bully, a target and a control, respectively. Students ( n = 242) were recruited as participants and rated the target on the observer rating version of the NEO Five Factor Inventory-Revised reflecting the personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness to experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. A MANOVA showed an overall significant effect of the experimental conditions. On Neuroticism significant differences between all conditions were found with targets rated highest and the control lowest. In terms of Extroversion the target was rated as lower than the control and the bully. No main effect was found for Openness. On Agreeableness the bully was rated as lower than both the target and the control. The bully was rated lower on Conscientiousness than the control. The significant differences reflected medium to large effect sizes. By and large the results are in agreement with comparable self-report data. The results are discussed in terms of practical implications and directions for future research are outlined.

  11. Problematic usage among highly-engaged players of massively multiplayer online role playing games.

    PubMed

    Peters, Christopher S; Malesky, L Alvin

    2008-08-01

    One popular facet of Internet gaming is the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG). Some individuals spend so much time playing these games that it creates problems in their lives. This study focused on players of World of Warcraft. Factor analysis revealed one factor related to problematic usage, which was correlated with amount of time played, and personality characteristics of agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion.

  12. [Forensic Psychiatric Assessment for Organic Personality Disorders after Craniocerebral Trauma].

    PubMed

    Li, C H; Huang, L N; Zhang, M C; He, M

    2017-04-01

    To explore the occurrence and the differences of clinical manifestations of organic personality disorder with varying degrees of craniocerebral trauma. According to the International Classification of Diseases-10, 396 subjects with craniocerebral trauma caused by traffic accidents were diagnosed, and the degrees of craniocerebral trauma were graded. The personality characteristics of all patients were evaluated using the simplified Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). The occurrence rate of organic personality disorder was 34.6% while it was 34.9% and 49.5% in the patients with moderate and severe craniocerebral trauma, respectively, which significantly higher than that in the patients (18.7%) of mild craniocerebral trauma ( P <0.05). Compared with the patients without personality disorder, the neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness scores all showed significantly differences ( P <0.05) in the patients of mild craniocerebral trauma with personality disorder; the neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness scores showed significantly differences ( P >0.05) in the patients of moderate and severe craniocerebral trauma with personality disorder. The agreeableness and conscientiousness scores in the patients of moderate and severe craniocerebral trauma with personality disorder were significantly lower than that of mild craniocerebral trauma, and the patients of severe craniocerebral trauma had a lower score in extraversion than in the patients of mild craniocerebral trauma. The severity of craniocerebral trauma is closely related to the incidence of organic personality disorder, and it also affects the clinical features of the latter, which provides a certain significance and help for forensic psychiatric assessment. Copyright© by the Editorial Department of Journal of Forensic Medicine

  13. The relations between parents' Big Five personality factors and parenting: a meta-analytic review.

    PubMed

    Prinzie, Peter; Stams, Geert Jan J M; Deković, Maja; Reijntjes, Albert H A; Belsky, Jay

    2009-08-01

    To investigate the association between Big Five personality factors and three dimensions of parenting-warmth, behavioral control, and autonomy support-the authors conducted meta-analyses using 5,853 parent-child dyads that were included in 30 studies. Effect sizes were significant and robust across mother and father reports and across assessment methods of parenting (self-report versus observations) but were generally small in magnitude. Higher levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness and lower levels of Neuroticism were related to more warmth and behavioral control, whereas higher levels of Agreeableness and lower levels of Neuroticism were related to more autonomy support. Several factors moderated the relationship between specific personality dimensions and parenting: child and parental age, reliability of observational assessment of parenting behavior, and study design. Taken together, these results indicate that personality can be seen as an inner resource that affects parenting.

  14. Relations between big five traits and fundamental motives.

    PubMed

    Olson, Kenneth R; Weber, Dale A

    2004-12-01

    Relations were examined between configurations of Big Five Traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience) and 16 fundamental motives (Social Contact, Curiosity, Honor, Power, Order, Idealism, Independence, Status, Vengeance, Romance, Family, Activity, Saving, Acceptance, Eating, Tranquility) in 138 university students (93 women, 45 men; M age= 20.3 yr., SD=4.5). Big Five traits were measured with the NEO-PI-R and motives were measured with the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivation Sensitivities. The traits were significantly related with all the motives (adjusted R2=.06 to .43) except Physical Activity. Four motives were related with only one trait and nine configurations of two or more traits were correlated with the remaining 11 motives. Total motive scores across all participants, an index of the strength of overall motivation, were positively correlated with Extraversion and Neuroticism and negatively with Agreeableness.

  15. Heritability estimates of the Big Five personality traits based on common genetic variants.

    PubMed

    Power, R A; Pluess, M

    2015-07-14

    According to twin studies, the Big Five personality traits have substantial heritable components explaining 40-60% of the variance, but identification of associated genetic variants has remained elusive. Consequently, knowledge regarding the molecular genetic architecture of personality and to what extent it is shared across the different personality traits is limited. Using genomic-relatedness-matrix residual maximum likelihood analysis (GREML), we here estimated the heritability of the Big Five personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness for experience) in a sample of 5011 European adults from 527,469 single-nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. We tested for the heritability of each personality trait, as well as for the genetic overlap between the personality factors. We found significant and substantial heritability estimates for neuroticism (15%, s.e. = 0.08, P = 0.04) and openness (21%, s.e. = 0.08, P < 0.01), but not for extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. The bivariate analyses showed that the variance explained by common variants entirely overlapped between neuroticism and openness (rG = 1.00, P < 0.001), despite low phenotypic correlation (r = - 0.09, P < 0.001), suggesting that the remaining unique heritability may be determined by rare or structural variants. As far as we are aware of, this is the first study estimating the shared and unique heritability of all Big Five personality traits using the GREML approach. Findings should be considered exploratory and suggest that detectable heritability estimates based on common variants is shared between neuroticism and openness to experiences.

  16. Personality, organizational stress, and attitudes toward work as prospective predictors of professional burnout in hospital nurses

    PubMed Central

    Hudek-Knežević, Jasna; Kalebić Maglica, Barbara; Krapić, Nada

    2011-01-01

    Aim To examine to what extent personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness), organizational stress, and attitudes toward work and interactions between personality and either organizational stress or attitudes toward work prospectively predict 3 components of burnout. Methods The study was carried out on 118 hospital nurses. Data were analyzed by a set of hierarchical regression analyses, in which personality traits, measures of organizational stress, and attitudes toward work, as well as interactions between personality and either organizational stress or attitudes toward work were included as predictors, while 3 indices of burnout were measured 4 years later as criteria variables. Results Personality traits proved to be significant but weak prospective predictors of burnout and as a group predicted only reduced professional efficacy (R2 = 0.10), with agreeableness being a single negative predictor. Organizational stress was positive, affective-normative commitment negative predictor, while continuance commitment was not related to any dimension of burnout. We found interactions between neuroticism as well as conscientiousness and organizational stress, measured as role conflict and work overload, on reduced professional efficacy (βNRCWO = -0.30; ßcRCWO = -0.26). We also found interactions between neuroticism and affective normative commitment (β = 0.24) and between openness and continuance commitment on reduced professional efficacy (β = -0.23), as well as interactions between conscientiousness and continuance commitment on exhaustion. Conclusion Although contextual variables were strong prospective predictors and personality traits weak predictors of burnout, the results suggested the importance of the interaction between personality and contextual variables in predicting burnout. PMID:21853549

  17. Agreeable smellers and sensitive neurotics--correlations among personality traits and sensory thresholds.

    PubMed

    Croy, Ilona; Springborn, Maria; Lötsch, Jörn; Johnston, Amy N B; Hummel, Thomas

    2011-04-27

    Correlations between personality traits and a wide range of sensory thresholds were examined. Participants (N = 124) completed a personality inventory (NEO-FFI) and underwent assessment of olfactory, trigeminal, tactile and gustatory detection thresholds, as well as examination of trigeminal and tactile pain thresholds. Significantly enhanced odor sensitivity in socially agreeable people, significantly enhanced trigeminal sensitivity in neurotic subjects, and a tendency for enhanced pain tolerance in highly conscientious participants was revealed. It is postulated that varied sensory processing may influence an individual's perception of the environment; particularly their perception of socially relevant or potentially dangerous stimuli and thus, varied with personality.

  18. Personality, self-rated health, and subjective age in a life-span sample: the moderating role of chronological age.

    PubMed

    Stephan, Yannick; Demulier, Virginie; Terracciano, Antonio

    2012-12-01

    The present study tested whether chronological age moderates the association between subjective age and self-rated health and personality in a community-dwelling life-span sample (N = 1,016; age range: 18-91 years). Self-rated health, extraversion, and openness to experience were associated with a younger subjective age at older ages. Conscientious individuals felt more mature early in life. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not related to subjective age at older ages. These findings suggest that with aging self-rated health and personality traits are increasingly important for subjective age. 2013 APA, all rights reserved

  19. Demand effects on positive response distortion by police officer applicants on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory.

    PubMed

    Detrick, Paul; Chibnall, John T; Call, Cynthia

    2010-09-01

    Understanding and detecting response distortion is important in the high-demand circumstances of personnel selection. In this article, we describe positive response distortion on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) among police officer applicants under high and low demand conditions. Positive response distortion primarily reflected denial/minimization of Neuroticism and accentuation of traits associated with moralistic bias (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness). Validity of the NEO PI-R research validity scale, Positive Presentation Management, was weakly supported with respect to the Neuroticism domain only. Results will be useful in interpreting personality inventory results in the police personnel selection process.

  20. Predicting relatedness and self-definition depressive experiences in aging women based on personality traits: a preliminary study.

    PubMed

    Henriques-Calado, Joana; Duarte-Silva, Maria Eugénia; Campos, Rui C; Sacoto, Carlota; Keong, Ana Marta; Junqueira, Diana

    2013-01-01

    As part of the research relating personality and depression, this study seeks to predict depressive experiences in aging women according to Sidney Blatt's perspective based on the Five-Factor Model of Personality. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire were administered. The domains Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness predicted self-criticism, explaining 68% of the variance; the domains Neuroticism and Extraversion predicted dependency, explaining 62% of the variance. The subfactors Neediness and Connectedness were differently related to personality traits. These findings are relevant to the research relating personality and anaclitic / introjective depressive experiences in late adulthood.

  1. Bullying at work, personality and subjective well-being.

    PubMed

    Plopa, Mieczysław; Plopa, Wojciech; Skuzińska, Anna

    2017-01-01

    The present study examines the role of personality in the relationship between bullying at work and the subjective well-being of employees. The study was conducted with 359 participating employees of administrative bodies, the police force, and the health care sector. Four selected groups of persons with various personality profiles based on the 5-factor model underwent analysis. The obtained results attest to a protective role of a configuration of low neuroticism, high agreeableness, and high conscientiousness and a configuration of low neuroticism, high extraversion, and high openness to experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  2. Tinnitus severity, depression, and the big five personality traits.

    PubMed

    Langguth, B; Kleinjung, T; Fischer, B; Hajak, G; Eichhammer, P; Sand, P G

    2007-01-01

    A growing number of self-report measures for the evaluation of tinnitus severity has become available to research and clinical practice. This has led to an increased awareness of depression and personality as predictors of tinnitus severity in addition to loudness and other psychoacoustic measures. However, the net impact of personality dimensions on tinnitus ratings has not been investigated when the effect of depressed mood is controlled. In the present study, we demonstrate the role of the big five personality traits, 'Neuroticism', 'Extraversion', 'Openness', 'Agreeableness', and 'Conscientiousness', in affecting scores on two standard instruments for grading tinnitus-related complaints, the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI), and the tinnitus questionnaire (TQ). When 72 individuals with chronic tinnitus were examined, 'Agreeableness' negatively correlated with THI scores (p=.003), whereas the anxiety trait 'Neuroticism' correlated both with depressive symptomatology (p<.001) and TQ scores (p=.028), but not with THI ratings (n.s.). In addition to confirming the established roles of trait anxiety and depression, low 'Agreeableness' was thus identified as a novel predictor of tinnitus severity on the THI.

  3. Personality Trait Level and Change as Predictors of Health Outcomes: Findings From a National Study of Americans (MIDUS)

    PubMed Central

    Pitzer, Lindsay; Armour, Cherie; Karlamangla, Arun; Ryff, Carol D.; Mroczek, Daniel K.

    2012-01-01

    Objectives. Personality traits predict numerous health outcomes, but previous studies have rarely used personality change to predict health. Methods. The current investigation utilized a large national sample of 3,990 participants from the Midlife in the U.S. study (MIDUS) to examine if both personality trait level and personality change longitudinally predict 3 different health outcomes (i.e., self-rated physical health, self-reported blood pressure, and number of days limited at work or home due to physical health reasons) over a 10-year span. Results. Each of the Big Five traits, except openness, predicted self-rated health. Change in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion also predicted self-rated health. Trait levels of conscientiousness and neuroticism level predicted self-reported blood pressure. All trait levels except agreeableness predicted number of work days limited. Only change in conscientiousness predicted the number of work days limited. Discussion. Findings demonstrate that a full understanding of the link between personality and health requires consideration of trait change as well as trait level. PMID:21765062

  4. Compassionate liberals and polite conservatives: associations of agreeableness with political ideology and moral values.

    PubMed

    Hirsh, Jacob B; DeYoung, Colin G; Xiaowen Xu; Peterson, Jordan B

    2010-05-01

    Political conservatism has been characterized by resistance to change and acceptance of inequality, with liberalism characterized by the polar opposite of these values. Political attitudes are heritable and may be influenced by basic personality traits. In previous research, conservatism (vs. liberalism) has been associated positively with Conscientiousness and negatively with Openness-Intellect, consistent with the association of conservatism with resistance to change. Less clear, however, are the personality traits relating to egalitarianism. In two studies, using a personality model that divides each of the Big Five into two aspects, the present research found that one aspect of Agreeableness (Compassion) was associated with liberalism and egalitarianism, whereas the other (Politeness) was associated with conservatism and traditionalism. In addition, conservatism and moral traditionalism were positively associated with the Orderliness aspect of Conscientiousness and negatively with Openness-Intellect. These findings contribute to a more nuanced understanding of personality's relation to political attitudes and values.

  5. Patterns and sources of personality development in old age.

    PubMed

    Kandler, Christian; Kornadt, Anna E; Hagemeyer, Birk; Neyer, Franz J

    2015-07-01

    Despite abundant evidence that personality development continues in adulthood, little is known about the patterns and sources of personality development in old age. We thus investigated mean-level trends and individual differences in change as well as the genetic and environmental sources of rank-order continuity and change in several personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, perceived control, and affect intensity) and well-being. In addition, we analyzed the interrelation between perceived control and change in other personality traits as well as between change in personality traits and change in well-being. We analyzed data from older adult twins, aged 64-85 years at Time 1 (N = 410; 135 males and 275 females; 134 monozygotic and 63 dizygotic twin pairs), collected at 2 different time points about 5 years apart. On average, neuroticism increased, whereas extraversion, conscientiousness, and perceived control significantly decreased over time. Change in perceived control was associated with change in neuroticism and conscientiousness, pointing to particular adaptation mechanisms specific to old age. Whereas individual differences in personality traits were fairly stable due to both genetic and environmental sources, individual differences in change were primarily due to environmental sources (beyond random error) indicating plasticity in old age. Even though the average level of well-being did not significantly change over time, individual well-being tended to decrease with strongly increasing levels of neuroticism as well as decreasing extraversion, conscientiousness, and perceived control, indicating that personality traits predict well-being but not vice versa. We discuss implications for theory on personality development across the lifespan. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Smoking Status and the Five-Factor Model of Personality: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in Poland

    PubMed Central

    Buczkowski, Krzysztof; Basinska, Małgorzata A.; Ratajska, Anna; Lewandowska, Katarzyna; Luszkiewicz, Dorota; Sieminska, Alicja

    2017-01-01

    Tobacco smoking is the single most important modifiable factor in increased morbidity and premature mortality. Numerous factors—including genetics, personality, and environment—affect the development and persistence of tobacco addiction, and knowledge regarding these factors could improve smoking cessation rates. This study compared personality traits between never, former, and current smokers, using the Five-Factor Model of Personality in a country with a turbulent smoking reduction process.: In this cross-sectional study, 909 Polish adults completed the Revised Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory. Our results showed that current smokers’ scores for extraversion, one of the five global dimensions of personality, were higher relative to never smokers. Neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness did not differ significantly according to smoking status. Facet analysis, which described each dimension in detail, showed that current smokers’ activity and excitement seeking (facets of extraversion) scores were higher relative to those of never and former smokers. In turn, current smokers’ dutifulness and deliberation (facets of conscientiousness) scores were lower than those found in former and never smokers. Never smokers scored the highest in self-consciousness (a facet of neuroticism) and compliance (a component of agreeableness). The study conducted among Polish individuals showed variation in personality traits according to their smoking status; however, this variation differed from that reported in countries in which efforts to reduce smoking had begun earlier relative to Poland. Knowledge regarding personality traits could be useful in designing smoking prevention and cessation programs tailored to individuals’ needs. PMID:28134805

  7. Meta-Analysis of Personality Traits in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Comparison with Healthy Subjects

    PubMed Central

    D’Iorio, Alfonsina; Garramone, Federica; Piscopo, Fausta; Baiano, Chiara; Raimo, Simona; Santangelo, Gabriella

    2018-01-01

    Background: The role of specific personality traits as factor risks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been consistently found, whereas personality traits specifically related to AD (after the diagnosis) have not been outlined yet. Objective: A meta-analysis of published studies was performed to determine whether AD patients have a distinctive personality trait profile compared to healthy subjects (HC), similar to or different from a premorbid personality profile consistently reported in previous studies. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using PsycInfo (PROQUEST), PubMed, and Scopus. The meta-analysis pooled results from primary studies using Hedges’ g unbiased approach. Results: The meta-analysis included 10 primary studies and revealed that, when the personality was evaluated by informant-rated measures, AD patients had significantly higher levels of Neuroticism, lower levels of Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion than HCs. When the personality was evaluated by self-rated measures, the results obtained from informants were confirmed for Neuroticism, Openness, and Extraversion but not for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness where AD patients and HCs achieved similar scores. Conclusions: The meta-analysis revealed that high Neuroticism and low Openness and Extraversion are distinctive personality traits significantly associated with a diagnosis of AD when evaluated both self-rated and informant-rated measures. This personality trait profile is similar to premorbid one, which contributes to development of AD over time. Therefore, our findings indirectly support the idea of specific premorbid personality traits as harbingers of AD. PMID:29480186

  8. Smoking Status and the Five-Factor Model of Personality: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study Conducted in Poland.

    PubMed

    Buczkowski, Krzysztof; Basinska, Małgorzata A; Ratajska, Anna; Lewandowska, Katarzyna; Luszkiewicz, Dorota; Sieminska, Alicja

    2017-01-27

    Tobacco smoking is the single most important modifiable factor in increased morbidity and premature mortality. Numerous factors-including genetics, personality, and environment-affect the development and persistence of tobacco addiction, and knowledge regarding these factors could improve smoking cessation rates. This study compared personality traits between never, former, and current smokers, using the Five-Factor Model of Personality in a country with a turbulent smoking reduction process. : In this cross-sectional study, 909 Polish adults completed the Revised Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory. Our results showed that current smokers' scores for extraversion, one of the five global dimensions of personality, were higher relative to never smokers. Neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness did not differ significantly according to smoking status. Facet analysis, which described each dimension in detail, showed that current smokers' activity and excitement seeking (facets of extraversion) scores were higher relative to those of never and former smokers. In turn, current smokers' dutifulness and deliberation (facets of conscientiousness) scores were lower than those found in former and never smokers. Never smokers scored the highest in self-consciousness (a facet of neuroticism) and compliance (a component of agreeableness). The study conducted among Polish individuals showed variation in personality traits according to their smoking status; however, this variation differed from that reported in countries in which efforts to reduce smoking had begun earlier relative to Poland. Knowledge regarding personality traits could be useful in designing smoking prevention and cessation programs tailored to individuals' needs.

  9. Aggressors and Victims in Bullying and Cyberbullying: A Study of Personality Profiles using the Five-Factor Model.

    PubMed

    Alonso, Cristina; Romero, Estrella

    2017-12-04

    Bullying and cyberbullying are highly prevalent in today's society. However, the personality profiles of different roles involved in this phenomenon remain little known. This study aims (1) to examine the association between bullying and cyberbullying in adolescents; and (2) to analyze the relationship between bullying and cyberbullying in terms of the domains and facets of the five-factor model (FFM). A total of 910 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old participated. They were administered self-report assessments of aggression and victimization in bullying and cyberbullying, as well as the JS-NEO-S questionnaire. The results provide evidence of co-occurrence between bullying and cyberbullying (p < .001). We observed higher neuroticism in victims and aggressor-victims, higher openness in victims, higher agreeableness in victims and non-aggressor non-victims and higher conscientiousness in non-aggressor non-victims as compared with the rest of the groups (p < .001). Comparison of the four cyberbullying groups showed that cybervictims score higher in neuroticism and openness, cybervictims and non-cybervictims non-cyberaggressors score higher in agreeableness and non-cybervictims non-cyberaggressors score higher in conscientiousness (p < .001) In conclusion, this study provides a broad, systematic view of the personality traits associated with different roles implicated in traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

  10. Attitude to substance abuse: do personality and socio-demographic factors matter?

    PubMed

    Rahimian Boogar, Isaac; Tabatabaee, Sayed Mosa; Tosi, Jalileh

    2014-09-01

    Substance abuse is a serious global problem that is affected by multiple psychosocial and socio-demographic factors. This study aimed to investigate the leading factors in positive attitude and tendency toward substance abuse in terms of personality, socio-economic, and socio-demographic factors. In a cross-sectional study, 200 college students (105 females and 95 males) residing in Damghan University dormitory in northeast of Iran were recruited by random sampling from March to July 2013. The participants were instructed and asked to complete the NEO FIVE-factor Inventory, the attitude to substance abuse scale, and the demographic questionnaire. Then data were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression employing PASW 18. Being male sex and neuroticism had a significant positive role in predicting positive attitude toward substance abuse in university students. In addition, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and socio-economic status had a significant negative role in predicting tendency toward substance abuse (P < 0.001). Extraversion had no significant role in prediction of positive attitude to substance abuse (P > 0.05). Lower agreeableness, decreased conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, diminished openness, low socio-economic status, and male sex might make university students more inclined to substance abuse. Thus, it is reasonable to show the importance of these factors in tailored prevention programs.

  11. Personality-Relationship transaction in young adulthood.

    PubMed

    Neyer, F J; Asendorpf, J B

    2001-12-01

    Personality and social relationships were assessed twice across a 4-year period in a general population sample of 489 German young adults. Two kinds of personality-relationship transaction were observed. First, mean-level change in personality toward maturity (e.g., increase in Conscientiousness and decrease in Neuroticism) was moderated by the transition to partnership but was independent of other developmental transitions. Second, individual differences in personality traits predicted social relationships much better than vice versa. Specifically, once initial correlations were controlled for, Extraversion, Shyness, Neuroticism, self-esteem, and Agreeableness predicted change in various qualities of relationships (especially with friends and colleagues), whereas only quality of relationships with preschool children predicted later Extraversion and Neuroticism. Consequences for the transactional view of personality in young adulthood are discussed.

  12. Can the Five Factor Model of Personality Account for the Variability of Autism Symptom Expression? Multivariate Approaches to Behavioral Phenotyping in Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    PubMed

    Schwartzman, Benjamin C; Wood, Jeffrey J; Kapp, Steven K

    2016-01-01

    The present study aimed to: determine the extent to which the five factor model of personality (FFM) accounts for variability in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology in adults, examine differences in average FFM personality traits of adults with and without ASD and identify distinct behavioral phenotypes within ASD. Adults (N = 828; nASD = 364) completed an online survey with an autism trait questionnaire and an FFM personality questionnaire. FFM facets accounted for 70 % of variance in autism trait scores. Neuroticism positively correlated with autism symptom severity, while extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness negatively correlated with autism symptom severity. Four FFM subtypes emerged within adults with ASD, with three subtypes characterized by high neuroticism and none characterized by lower-than-average neuroticism.

  13. Comparison of the Big Five personality traits in fibromyalgia and other rheumatic diseases.

    PubMed

    Bucourt, Emilie; Martaillé, Virginie; Mulleman, Denis; Goupille, Philippe; Joncker-Vannier, Isabelle; Huttenberger, Brigitte; Reveillere, Christian; Courtois, Robert

    2017-03-01

    The personality of patients with fibromyalgia is still under debate. Some studies found high neuroticism associated with low extraversion, while others found that these traits do not differ from the normal population. Personality factors intervene in the emotional regulation and modulation of pain. The aim of the study was to determine the personality traits of patients with fibromyalgia compared to other rheumatic diseases. In a multicentric study, women with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis or Sjögren's syndrome were asked to complete the Big Five Inventory, which encompasses five main personality dimensions, namely (1) extraversion vs. introversion, (2) agreeableness vs. antagonism, (3) conscientiousness vs. impulsivity, (4) neuroticism vs. emotional stability, and (5) openness vs. closed-mindedness. Variance analysis (Student's t-test and ANOVA with post-hoc comparisons or Bonferroni correction) was performed. We also conducted hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses. Participants were 163 women with fibromyalgia (n=48), rheumatoid arthritis (n=46), spondyloarthritis (n=46) and Sjögren's syndrome (n=23). The mean age was 47.18years (±10.81years, range 21 to 65). Patients with fibromyalgia had higher scores on agreeableness (F(3, 159)=3.39, P<0.05), neuroticism (F(3, 159)=3.79, P<0.05) and openness (F(3, 159)=4.32, P<0.01) than those with other rheumatic diseases. This study highlights the specificity of personality in fibromyalgia. It also underlines the protective role of personality traits: in the fibromyalgia group, high neuroticism and low conscientiousness (high impulsivity) were associated with a high level of chronic pain. Copyright © 2016 Société française de rhumatologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

  14. [Relationship between exercise adherence and personality characteristics in persons experienced in the Medical Fitness program].

    PubMed

    Yamashita, Yuko; Seki, Nao; Umeda, Kimie; Tanabe, Naohito; Shinoda, Kunihiko; Konishi, Isamu; Sekiya, Akiyoshi; Sekii, Akiko; Ohta, Tamaki

    2017-01-01

    Objective We examined effective exercise adherence support methods for persons experienced in the Medical Fitness (MF) program to clarify the relation of personality traits with exercise adherence and the factors that improve exercise adherence.Methods Subjects were 283 adults who had registered as members in the MF program at an affiliate of Hospital A. We implemented an anonymous self-administered questionnaire by postal mail. Using the Japanese version of the Ten Item Personality Inventory (which contains 10 items that measure the Big Five personality traits), we evaluated the following characteristics: "Extraversion", "Agreeableness", "Conscientiousness", "Neuroticism", and "Openness". The subjects who reported exercising regularly at the time of survey were considered persons with subjective exercise adherence.Results In persons with subjective exercise adherence, "Conscientiousness" was significantly lower (P=0.003) among men and "Neuroticism" was significantly higher (P=0.018) among women when compared to persons with subjective exercise adherence. There was no correlation between the things that emphasize exercise adherence and "Conscientiousness" among men. There was a negative correlation between "can achieve goal" and "Neuroticism" among women.Conclusions It is essential to consider personality and gender differences when devising exercise adherence support measures for the MF program. Our results suggest that women with high neuroticism do not need "can achieve goal" to maintain their exercise habits; therefore, it is necessary to examine teaching methods that do not focus on only goal achievement as part of exercise adherence support for MF.

  15. Agreeable Smellers and Sensitive Neurotics – Correlations among Personality Traits and Sensory Thresholds

    PubMed Central

    Croy, Ilona; Springborn, Maria; Lötsch, Jörn; Johnston, Amy N. B.; Hummel, Thomas

    2011-01-01

    Correlations between personality traits and a wide range of sensory thresholds were examined. Participants (N = 124) completed a personality inventory (NEO-FFI) and underwent assessment of olfactory, trigeminal, tactile and gustatory detection thresholds, as well as examination of trigeminal and tactile pain thresholds. Significantly enhanced odor sensitivity in socially agreeable people, significantly enhanced trigeminal sensitivity in neurotic subjects, and a tendency for enhanced pain tolerance in highly conscientious participants was revealed. It is postulated that varied sensory processing may influence an individual's perception of the environment; particularly their perception of socially relevant or potentially dangerous stimuli and thus, varied with personality. PMID:21556139

  16. Specialty choice preference of medical students according to personality traits by Five-Factor Model.

    PubMed

    Kwon, Oh Young; Park, So Youn

    2016-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits, using the Five-Factor Model, and characteristics and motivational factors affecting specialty choice in Korean medical students. A questionnaire survey of Year 4 medical students (n=110) in July 2015 was administered. We evaluated the personality traits of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness by using the Korean version of Big Five Inventory. Questions about general characteristics, medical specialties most preferred as a career, motivational factors in determining specialty choice were included. Data between five personality traits and general characteristics and motivational factors affecting specialty choice were analyzed using Student t-test, Mann-Whitney test and analysis of variance. Of the 110 eligible medical students, 105 (95.4% response rate) completed the questionnaire. More Agreeableness students preferred clinical medicine to basic medicine (p=0.010) and more Openness students preferred medical departments to others (p=0.031). Personal interest was the significant motivational factors in more Openness students (p=0.003) and Conscientiousness students (p=0.003). Medical students with more Agreeableness were more likely to prefer clinical medicine and those with more Openness preferred medical departments. Personal interest was a significant influential factor determining specialty choice in more Openness and Conscientiousness students. These findings may be helpful to medical educators or career counselors in the specialty choice process.

  17. Personality predictors of longevity: Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness

    PubMed Central

    Terracciano, Antonio; Löckenhoff, Corinna E.; Zonderman, Alan B.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Costa, Paul T.

    2008-01-01

    Objective To examine the association between personality traits and longevity. Methods Using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, personality traits were assessed in 2359 participants (38% women; age: 17 to 98 years, M = 50) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), starting in 1958. Over the duration of the study, 943 (40%) participants died, on average 18 years after their personality assessment. The association of each trait with longevity was examined by Cox regression controlling for demographic variables. Results In preliminary analyses among the deceased, those who scored one SD above the mean on General Activity (a facet of Extraversion), Emotional Stability (low Neuroticism), or Conscientiousness lived on average two to three years longer than those scoring one SD below the mean. Survival analyses on the full sample confirmed the association of General Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness with lower risk of death, such that every one SD increase was related to about 13%, 15%, and 27% risk reduction, respectively. The association of personality traits with longevity was largely independent from the influence of smoking and obesity. Personality predictors of longevity did not differ by sex, except for Ascendance (a facet of Extraversion). Emotional Stability was a significant predictor when the analyses were limited to deaths due to cardiovascular disease, with comparable effect sizes for General Activity and Conscientiousness. Conclusions In a large sample of generally healthy individuals followed for almost five decades, longevity was associated with being conscientious, emotionally stable, and active. PMID:18596250

  18. Personality predictors of longevity: activity, emotional stability, and conscientiousness.

    PubMed

    Terracciano, Antonio; Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Zonderman, Alan B; Ferrucci, Luigi; Costa, Paul T

    2008-07-01

    To examine the association between personality traits and longevity. Using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey, personality traits were assessed in 2359 participants (38% women; age = 17 to 98 years, mean = 50 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, starting in 1958. Over the duration of the study, 943 (40%) participants died, on average 18 years after their personality assessment. The association of each trait with longevity was examined by Cox regression controlling for demographic variables. In preliminary analyses among the deceased, those who scored 1 standard deviation (SD) above the mean on General Activity (a facet of Extraversion), Emotional Stability (low Neuroticism), or Conscientiousness lived on average 2 to 3 years longer than those scoring 1 SD below the mean. Survival analyses on the full sample confirmed the association of General Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness with lower risk of death, such that every 1-SD increase was related to about 13%, 15%, and 27% risk reduction, respectively. The association of personality traits with longevity was largely independent from the influence of smoking and obesity. Personality predictors of longevity did not differ by sex, except for Ascendance (a facet of Extraversion). Emotional Stability was a significant predictor when the analyses were limited to deaths due to cardiovascular disease, with comparable effect sizes for General Activity and Conscientiousness. In a large sample of generally healthy individuals followed for almost five decades, longevity was associated with being conscientious, emotionally stable, and active.

  19. Normative personality trait development in adulthood: A 6-year cohort-sequential growth model.

    PubMed

    Milojev, Petar; Sibley, Chris G

    2017-03-01

    The present study investigated patterns of normative change in personality traits across the adult life span (19 through 74 years of age). We examined change in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience and honesty-humility using data from the first 6 annual waves of the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (N = 10,416; 61.1% female, average age = 49.46). We present a cohort-sequential latent growth model assessing patterns of mean-level change due to both aging and cohort effects. Extraversion decreased as people aged, with the most pronounced declines occurring in young adulthood, and then again in old age. Agreeableness, indexed with a measure focusing on empathy, decreased in young adulthood and remained relatively unchanged thereafter. Conscientiousness increased among young adults then leveled off and remained fairly consistent for the rest of the adult life span. Neuroticism and openness to experience decreased as people aged. However, the models suggest that these latter effects may also be partially due to cohort differences, as older people showed lower levels of neuroticism and openness to experience more generally. Honesty-humility showed a pronounced and consistent increase across the adult life span. These analyses of large-scale longitudinal national probability panel data indicate that different dimensions of personality follow distinct developmental processes throughout adulthood. Our findings also highlight the importance of young adulthood (up to about the age of 30) in personality trait development, as well as continuing change throughout the adult life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Traits across the personality hierarchy differentially relate to positive and negative affect: Evidence for the predictive validity of empirically derived meta-traits.

    PubMed

    Hengartner, Michael P; Graf, Markus; Schreiber, Marc

    2017-05-01

    There is increasing interest in the construct validity of higher-order domains of the Big Five personality traits. A total of 831 persons from the Swiss population completed the International Personality Item Pool and an adaptation of the Positive and Negative Affect Scales. Using Goldberg's bass-ackwards method, we found evidence for the general factor of personality (GFP) and the two meta-traits of positive emotionality (blend of low neuroticism and high extraversion) and constraint (blend of high agreeableness and conscientiousness). In association with positive affect, the explanatory power of the GFP (r = 0.43) and positive emotionality (r = 0.37) was largely superior to extraversion (r = 0.24), conscientiousness (r = 0.18), agreeableness (r = 0.09) and openness (r = 0.04), although not neuroticism (r = -0.34). In association with negative affect, neuroticism (r = 0.41), the GFP (r = -0.36) and positive emotionality (r = -0.35) were the most powerful single predictors. We conclude that the higher-order structure of personality is best explained by the meta-traits of positive emotionality and constraint, which correspond closely to the well-established superfactors of internalizing and externalizing. We further demonstrate that these have substantial criterion validity when broad positive and negative affect is the outcome of interest. These findings help to relate Big Five meta-traits to pathological personality. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Personality variables as predictors of Facebook usage.

    PubMed

    Caci, Barbara; Cardaci, Maurizio; Tabacchi, Marco E; Scrima, Fabrizio

    2014-04-01

    This study investigates the role of personality factors as predictors of Facebook usage. Data concerning Facebook usage and personality factors from 654 Facebook users were gathered using a web survey. Using path analysis, the results showed Openness was a predictor of Facebook early adoption, Conscientiousness with sparing use, Extraversion with long sessions and abundant friendships, and Neuroticism with high frequency of sessions. The possible role of Agreeableness in predicting low session frequency and friendships needs further validation.

  2. Big five personality and adolescent Internet addiction: The mediating role of coping style.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Yueyue; Li, Dongping; Li, Xian; Wang, Yanhui; Zhao, Liyan

    2017-01-01

    This study examined the unique associations between big five personality traits and adolescent Internet addiction (IA), as well as the mediating role of coping style underlying these relations. Our theoretical model was tested with 998 adolescents. Participants provided self-report data on demographic variables, big five personality traits, coping style, and IA. After controlling for demographic variables, it was found that agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively associated with IA, whereas extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience were positively associated with IA. Mediation analyses further indicated that conscientiousness had an indirect impact on adolescent IA through decreased emotion-focused coping, whereas extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience had indirect impacts on adolescent IA through increased emotion-focused coping. In contrast, problem-focused coping had no mediating role. These findings suggest that emotion-focused coping may, in part, account for the association between big five personality and adolescent IA. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Revised NEO Personality Inventory normative data for police officer selection.

    PubMed

    Detrick, Paul; Chibnall, John T

    2013-11-01

    The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) has demonstrated utility in the personnel selection context. Its use in police officer selection has been relatively limited, in part, because there are no published normative data for the NEO PI-R for police officer applicants. The authors present normative data on NEO PI-R domain and facet scores for a large sample (N = 288) of police officer applicants in a large, urban, Midwestern police department who completed the NEO PI-R as part of a preemployment psychological evaluation. Applicants reported low levels of Neuroticism and high levels of Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Neuroticism and Conscientiousness scores were strongly and consistently correlated with the Positive Presentation Management (PPM) research validity scale of the NEO PI-R. Extraversion and Agreeableness scores were moderately and less consistently correlated with PPM. These data may serve as a normative comparison group for professionals and researchers who use or may want to use the NEO PI-R in the police officer selection context.

  4. Effects of personality on self-rated health in a 1-year randomized controlled trial of chronic illness self-management

    PubMed Central

    Jerant, Anthony; Chapman, Benjamin; Duberstein, Paul; Franks, Peter

    2010-01-01

    Objective Personality factors moderate self-efficacy enhancing effects of some illness self-management interventions, but their influence on self-rated health is unclear This study examined whether high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness (the distressed personality profile) moderated the effects of the homing in on health (HIOH) illness self-management intervention on mental and physical health status. Design Analysis of data from 384 subjects completing a randomized controlled trial of HIOH. Methods Regression analyses examined effects of NEO-five factor inventory scores on SF-36 mental component summary (MCS-36) and physical component summar (PCS-36) scores (baseline; 2, 4, and 6 weeks; 6 months; 1 year), adjusting for age gender, and study group. Results Baseline MCS-36 scores were worse in those with the distressed personality profile relative to others: high neuroticism (13.3 points worse, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 11.0, 15.7) and low conscientiousness (6.6 points worse, 95% CI = 4.1, 9.2), extraversion (10.1 points worse, 95% CI = 7.7, 12.5) and agreeableness (4.2 points worse, 95% CI = 1.6, 6.8). Intervention subjects had better MCS-36 scores at 4 and 6 weeks, and benefits were confined to participants with low conscientiousness (4 weeks – 3.7 points better, 95% CI = 0.2, 71; 6 weeks – 5.0 points better, 95% CI = 1.57, 8.4). There were no intervention or personality effects on PCS-36 scores. Conclusions Chronically ill self-management intervention recipients with the distressed personality profile had worse self-rated mental health, and conscientiousness moderated the short-term effects of the intervention on self-rated mental health. Measuring personality may help identify individuals more likely to benefit from self-management interventions. PMID:19594988

  5. Big Five personality traits and medically unexplained symptoms in later life.

    PubMed

    van Dijk, S D M; Hanssen, D; Naarding, P; Lucassen, P; Comijs, H; Oude Voshaar, R

    2016-10-01

    Personality dysfunction has been postulated as the most clinically salient problem of persons suffering from medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) but empirical studies are scarce. This study aims to compare the personality profile of older patients suffering from MUS with two comparison groups and a control group. Ninety-six older patients with MUS were compared with 153 frequent attenders in primary care suffering from medically explained symptoms (MES), 255 patients with a past-month depressive disorder (DSM-IV-TR), and a control group of 125 older persons. The Big Five personality domains (NEO-Five-Factor Inventory) were compared between groups by multiple ANCOVAs adjusted for age, sex, education, partner status and cognitive functioning. Linear regression analyses were applied to examine the association between health anxiety (Whitley Index) and somatization (Brief Symptom Inventory). The four groups differed with respect to neuroticism (P<0.001), extraversion (P<0.001), and agreeableness (P=0.045). Post hoc analyses, showed that MUS patients compared to controls scored higher on neuroticism and agreeableness, and compared to depressed patients lower on neuroticism and higher on extraversion as well agreeableness. Interestingly, MUS and MES patients had a similar personality profile. Health anxiety and somatization were associated with a higher level of neuroticism and a lower level of extraversion and conscientiousness, irrespective whether the physical symptom was explained or not. Older patients with MUS have a specific personality profile, comparable to MES patients. Health anxiety and somatization may be better indicators of psychopathology than whether a physical symptom is medically explained or not. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  6. Personality Predicts Cognitive Function Over Seven Years in Older Persons

    PubMed Central

    Chapman, Benjamin; Duberstein, Paul; Tindle, Hilary A; Sink, Kaycee M; Robbins, John; Tancredi, Daniel J.; Franks, Peter

    2011-01-01

    Objectives To determine whether Neuroticism, as well as the less-studied dimensions the Five Factor Model of personality (Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) were associated with 7-year trajectories of cognitive functioning in older persons. Design Primary analysis of existing clinical trial data. Participants 602 persons of average age 79 at baseline. Measurements The NEO-Five Factor Inventory of personality, completed at baseline, and the modified Mini Mental Status Exam (3MSE) measured every 6 months for 7 years. Results Controlling for demographics, baseline morbidities including depression, health behaviors, Apolipoprotein E4 genotype, and self-rated health, higher Neuroticism was associated with worse average cognitive functioning and a steeper rate of decline over follow-up. Higher Extraversion and lower Openness were both associated with worse average cognitive functioning prospectively, while persons higher in Conscientiousness showed a slower rate of cognitive decline. Conclusions In addition to Neuroticism, other dispositional tendencies appear prognostically relevant for cognitive functioning in older persons. More work is needed to understand the mechanisms by which traits operate, as well as whether mitigation of certain dispositional tendencies can facilitate a better course of cognitive function. PMID:22735597

  7. Burnout and its relationship with personality factors in oncology nurses.

    PubMed

    De la Fuente-Solana, Emilia I; Gómez-Urquiza, José L; Cañadas, Gustavo R; Albendín-García, Luis; Ortega-Campos, Elena; Cañadas-De la Fuente, Guillermo A

    2017-10-01

    To assess burnout levels in oncology nurses, to evaluate at what stage of burnout suffering they are and to analyze the relationship between burnout with personality factors. A quantitative, observational, cross-sectional multicenter study was done. Oncology nurses (n = 101) from the Andalusian Health Service (Andalusia, Spain) were included. The main variables were personality factors, assessed with the NEO-FFI questionnaire, anxiety and depression, assessed with the Educational-Clinical Questionnaire: Anxiety and Depression, and burnout, evaluated with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Student t-statistic was used for hypothesis contrasts and Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to establish the association between personality factors and burnout. According to the burnout phases model, 29.6% of the sample is in the most severe phases. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization are positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness. Personal accomplishment has a negative correlation with neuroticism and negative correlations with agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness. Finally, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization have a positive correlation with anxiety and depression, while personal accomplishment has a negative correlation with anxiety and depression. A significant number of oncology nurses are in the most severe stages of burnout suffering. Personality factors have a key role in burnout development. The importance of personality factors in burnout development should be taken into account. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Treating personality-relationship transactions with respect: narrow facets, advanced models, and extended time frames.

    PubMed

    Mund, Marcus; Neyer, Franz J

    2014-08-01

    Contrary to premises of dynamic transactionism, most studies investigating personality-relationship transaction only found personality effects on relationships but failed to find effects of relationship experiences on personality development. The current study reconsiders this issue in 3 ways. First, alongside the broad Big Five characteristics (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness), specific personality facets were considered to make comparisons with relationships more symmetric. Second, a recent extension of latent change modeling was applied allowing for a theoretically more appropriate model that compensates for the shortcomings of traditionally used cross-lagged panel or growth curve models. Third, personality-relationship transaction was studied from young adulthood to midlife using a 15-year longitudinal study with 654 German adults. Results showed patterns of personality-relationship transaction with the romantic partner, friends, kin, and other interaction partners. Specifically, the development of Neuroticism, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and their facets was closely interacting with partner and friend relationships, underlining the importance of these relationships for personality maturation during the adult years. We conclude that relationship effects have often been underestimated in previous studies. They are not bound to specific developmental periods, such as emerging adulthood, but their detection depends on the modeling approach and the analysis level (broad dimensions vs. facets). Relationship effects are most likely to occur in relationships that reflect self-selected life styles and circumstances.

  9. Cohort differences in Big Five personality factors over a period of 25 years.

    PubMed

    Smits, Iris A M; Dolan, Conor V; Vorst, Harrie C M; Wicherts, Jelte M; Timmerman, Marieke E

    2011-06-01

    The notion of personality traits implies a certain degree of stability in the life span of an individual. But what about generational effects? Are there generational changes in the distribution or structure of personality traits? This article examines cohort changes on the Big Five personality factors Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience, among first-year psychology students in The Netherlands, ages 18 to 25 years, between 1982 and 2007. Because measurement invariance of a personality test is essential for a sound interpretation of cohort differences in personality, we first assessed measurement invariance with respect to cohort for males and females separately on the Big Five personality factors, as measured by the Dutch instrument Five Personality Factors Test. Results identified 11 (females) and 2 (males) biased items with respect to cohort, out of a total of 70 items. Analyzing the unbiased items, results indicated small linear increases over time in Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and small linear decreases over time in Neuroticism. No clear patterns were found on the Openness to Experience factor. Secondary analyses on students from 1971 to 2007 of females and males of different ages together revealed linear trends comparable to those in the main analyses among young adults between 1982 onward. The results imply that the broad sociocultural context may affect personality factors. 2011 APA, all rights reserved

  10. Attitude to Substance Abuse: Do Personality and Socio-Demographic Factors Matter?

    PubMed Central

    Rahimian Boogar, Isaac; Tabatabaee, Sayed Mosa; Tosi, Jalileh

    2014-01-01

    Background: Substance abuse is a serious global problem that is affected by multiple psychosocial and socio-demographic factors. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the leading factors in positive attitude and tendency toward substance abuse in terms of personality, socio-economic, and socio-demographic factors. Patients and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 200 college students (105 females and 95 males) residing in Damghan University dormitory in northeast of Iran were recruited by random sampling from March to July 2013. The participants were instructed and asked to complete the NEO FIVE-factor Inventory, the attitude to substance abuse scale, and the demographic questionnaire. Then data were analyzed by stepwise multiple regression employing PASW 18. Results: Being male sex and neuroticism had a significant positive role in predicting positive attitude toward substance abuse in university students. In addition, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and socio-economic status had a significant negative role in predicting tendency toward substance abuse (P < 0.001). Extraversion had no significant role in prediction of positive attitude to substance abuse (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Lower agreeableness, decreased conscientiousness, higher neuroticism, diminished openness, low socio-economic status, and male sex might make university students more inclined to substance abuse. Thus, it is reasonable to show the importance of these factors in tailored prevention programs. PMID:25593892

  11. The Relation Between Supervisors' Big Five Personality Traits and Employees' Experiences of Abusive Supervision.

    PubMed

    Camps, Jeroen; Stouten, Jeroen; Euwema, Martin

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigates the relation between supervisors' personality traits and employees' experiences of supervisory abuse, an area that - to date - remained largely unexplored in previous research. Field data collected from 103 supervisor-subordinate dyads showed that contrary to our expectations supervisors' agreeableness and neuroticism were not significantly related to abusive supervision, nor were supervisors' extraversion or openness to experience. Interestingly, however, our findings revealed a positive relation between supervisors' conscientiousness and abusive supervision. That is, supervisors high in conscientiousness were more likely to be perceived as an abusive supervisor by their employees. Overall, our findings do suggest that supervisors' Big Five personality traits explain only a limited amount of the variability in employees' experiences of abusive supervision.

  12. Improvement of mindfulness skills during Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy predicts long-term reductions of neuroticism in persons with recurrent depression in remission.

    PubMed

    Spinhoven, Philip; Huijbers, Marloes J; Ormel, Johan; Speckens, Anne E M

    2017-04-15

    This study examined whether changes in mindfulness skills following Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) are predictive of long-term changes in personality traits. Using data from the MOMENT study, we included 278 participants with recurrent depression in remission allocated to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). Mindfulness skills were measured with the FFMQ at baseline, after treatment and at 15-month follow-up and personality traits with the NEO-PI-R at baseline and follow-up. For 138 participants, complete repeated assessments of mindfulness and personality traits were available. Following MBCT participants manifested significant improvement of mindfulness skills. Moreover, at 15-month follow-up participants showed significantly lower levels of neuroticism and higher levels of conscientiousness. Large improvements in mindfulness skills after treatment predicted the long-term changes in neuroticism but not in conscientiousness, while controlling for use of maintenance antidepressant medication, baseline depression severity and change in depression severity during follow-up (IDS-C). In particular improvements in the facets of acting with awareness predicted lower levels of neuroticism. Sensitivity analyses with multiple data imputation yielded similar results. Uncontrolled clinical study with substantial attrition based on data of two randomized controlled trials. The design of the present study precludes to establish whether there is any causal association between changes in mindfulness and subsequent changes in neuroticism. MBCT could be a viable intervention to directly target one of the most important risk factors for onset and maintenance of recurrent depression and other mental disorders, i.e. neuroticism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Interpersonal conflict, agreeableness, and personality development.

    PubMed

    Jensen-Campbell, Lauri A; Gleason, Katie A; Adams, Ryan; Malcolm, Kenya T

    2003-12-01

    This multimethod research linked the Big-Five personality dimensions to interpersonal conflict in childhood. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension has been associated with maintaining positive interpersonal relations in adolescents and adults. In two studies, elementary school children were assessed on the Big-Five domains of personality. Study 1 (n=276) showed that agreeableness was uniquely associated with endorsements of conflict resolution tactics in children as well as parent and teacher reports of coping and adjustment. Study 2 (n=234) revealed that children's perceptions of themselves and others during conflict was influenced by their agreeableness regardless of their partner's agreeableness. Observers also reported that pairs higher in agreeableness had more harmonious, constructive conflicts. Overall findings suggest that of the Big-Five dimensions, agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to interpersonal conflict and adjustment in children.

  14. The Dark Cube: dark character profiles and OCEAN.

    PubMed

    Garcia, Danilo; González Moraga, Fernando R

    2017-01-01

    The Big Five traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism: OCEAN) have been suggested to provide a meaningful taxonomy for studying the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Nevertheless, current research consists of mixed and inconsistent associations between the Dark Triad and OCEAN. Here we used the Dark Cube (Garcia & Rosenberg, 2016), a model of malevolent character theoretically based on Cloninger's biopsychosocial model of personality and in the assumption of a ternary structure of malevolent character. We use the dark cube profiles to investigate differences in OCEAN between individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant (i.e., conditional relationships). Participants ( N  = 330) responded to the Short Dark Triad Inventory and the Big Five Inventory and were grouped according to the eight possible combinations using their dark trait scores (M, high Machiavellianism; m, low Machiavellianism; N, high narcissism; n, low narcissism; P, high psychopathy; p, low psychopathy): MNP "maleficent", MNp "manipulative narcissistic", MnP "anti-social", Mnp "Machiavellian", mNP "psychopathic narcissistic", mNp "narcissistic", mnP "psychopathic", and mnp "benevolent". High narcissism-high extraversion and high psychopathy-low agreeableness were consistently associated across comparisons. The rest of the comparisons showed a complex interaction. For example, high Machiavellianism-high neuroticism only when both narcissism and psychopathy were low (Mnp vs. mnp), high narcissism-high conscientiousness only when both Machiavellianism and psychopathy were also high (MNP vs. MnP), and high psychopathy-high neuroticism only when Machiavellianism was low and narcissism was high (mNP vs. mNp). We suggest that the Dark Cube is a useful tool in the investigation of a consistent Dark Triad Theory. This approach suggests that the only clear relationships were narcissism

  15. The Dark Cube: dark character profiles and OCEAN

    PubMed Central

    González Moraga, Fernando R.

    2017-01-01

    Background The Big Five traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism: OCEAN) have been suggested to provide a meaningful taxonomy for studying the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Nevertheless, current research consists of mixed and inconsistent associations between the Dark Triad and OCEAN. Here we used the Dark Cube (Garcia & Rosenberg, 2016), a model of malevolent character theoretically based on Cloninger’s biopsychosocial model of personality and in the assumption of a ternary structure of malevolent character. We use the dark cube profiles to investigate differences in OCEAN between individuals who differ in one dark character trait while holding the other two constant (i.e., conditional relationships). Method Participants (N = 330) responded to the Short Dark Triad Inventory and the Big Five Inventory and were grouped according to the eight possible combinations using their dark trait scores (M, high Machiavellianism; m, low Machiavellianism; N, high narcissism; n, low narcissism; P, high psychopathy; p, low psychopathy): MNP “maleficent”, MNp “manipulative narcissistic”, MnP “anti-social”, Mnp “Machiavellian”, mNP “psychopathic narcissistic”, mNp “narcissistic”, mnP “psychopathic”, and mnp “benevolent”. Results High narcissism-high extraversion and high psychopathy-low agreeableness were consistently associated across comparisons. The rest of the comparisons showed a complex interaction. For example, high Machiavellianism-high neuroticism only when both narcissism and psychopathy were low (Mnp vs. mnp), high narcissism-high conscientiousness only when both Machiavellianism and psychopathy were also high (MNP vs. MnP), and high psychopathy-high neuroticism only when Machiavellianism was low and narcissism was high (mNP vs. mNp). Conclusions We suggest that the Dark Cube is a useful tool in the investigation of a consistent Dark Triad Theory. This approach

  16. The association of personality trait on treatment outcomes in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: an exploratory study.

    PubMed

    Koh, Jun Sung; Ko, Hyo Jung; Wang, Sheng-Min; Cho, Kang Joon; Kim, Joon Chul; Lee, Soo-Jung; Pae, Chi-Un; Serretti, Alessandro

    2014-02-01

    This study investigated the association of personality traits with the baseline clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). Subjects were evaluated at baseline and at week 12 following routine treatment for CP/CPPS using the Korean version of the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) to measure the severity of CP/CPPS; the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression; the Korean version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) to evaluate somatization; and the Korean version of the EuroQol Questionnaire-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), specifically the EQ-5D utility index and the EQ-5D visual analog scale (EQ-5D VAS), to assess quality of life (QoL). Personality traits including extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness were determined at baseline using the 44-item Big Five Inventory (BFI). The influence of personality traits on the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with CP/CPPS was assessed using relevant statistical analyses. Neuroticism was associated with a significantly poorer treatment response and higher levels of depression and somatization. Extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness had some influence on clinical characteristics but openness did not affect overall symptoms or the treatment response in patients with CP/CPPS. We found that neuroticism may be the most important personality trait associated with treatment response and the severity of depression and somatization in patients with CP/CPPS. However, our exploratory findings should be confirmed by additional studies with adequate power and improved designs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. The Antecedents and Correlates of Agreeableness in Adulthood

    PubMed Central

    Laursen, Brett; Pulkkinen, Lea; Adams, Ryan

    2009-01-01

    Data from a 25-year prospective study of 194 individuals indicated that teacher and peer reports of aggression, compliance, and self-control at age 8 distinguished high-agreeable from low-agreeable adults at age 33. Profile analyses revealed two behavioral types in childhood and two personality types in adulthood, with considerable continuity in the composition of these high- and low-agreeable types over time. High-agreeable childhood types had fewer disobedience and concentration problems than low-agreeable childhood types, and among boys, high-agreeable childhood types had better school grades and fewer behavior problems than their low-agreeable counterparts. High-agreeable adulthood types reported less alcoholism and depression, fewer arrests, and more career stability than did low-agreeable adulthood types. PMID:12090488

  18. Alcohol Expectancies Mediate and Moderate the Associations between Big Five Personality Traits and Adolescent Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol-Related Problems.

    PubMed

    Ibáñez, Manuel I; Camacho, Laura; Mezquita, Laura; Villa, Helena; Moya-Higueras, Jorge; Ortet, Generós

    2015-01-01

    Personality and expectancies are relevant psychological factors for the development of adolescent alcohol use and misuse. The present study examined their direct, mediated and moderated effects on different drinking behaviors in adolescence. Personality domains of the five-factor model, positive and negative alcohol expectancies (AEs), alcohol use during the week and the weekend, and alcohol-related problems were assessed in a sample of 361 adolescents. Different personality dimensions were directly associated with specific alcohol outcomes: Extraversion, low Conscientiousness and low Openness were associated with weekend alcohol use; low Agreeableness was related to weekday use; whereas low Agreeableness, low Conscientiousness and Extraversion were associated with alcohol-related problems. In addition, positive AEs mediated the relationship between Extraversion and alcohol use, whereas both positive and negative expectancies mediated the association between Neuroticism and alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems. Finally, both types of expectancies interacted with Extraversion to predict alcohol problems. Our results highlight the importance of examining the complex interplay of comprehensive personality models and AEs to gain a better understanding of the development of different alcohol use and misuse patterns in adolescence.

  19. People in high latitudes: the "Big Five" personality characteristics of the circumpolar sojourner.

    PubMed

    Steel, G D; Suedfeld, P; Peri, A; Palinkas, L A

    1997-05-01

    The personality of the polar sojourner has been of interest to psychologists for a number of years. Using the NEO Five Factor Inventory, this study examined the general personality factors of the polar worker compared to a normative population, and how these factors differ according to the worker's occupational classification and the polar region in which he or she is working. It was found that polar workers scored higher than a normative group on all factors except Neuroticism. Comparisons across occupational groups showed that scientists were lower than military personnel on Extraversion and lower than technical/support staff on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The analysis by polar region indicated that Antarctic workers were higher than Arctic personnel on Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. A group of Italian Antarctic personnel, completing a translated form of the NEO-FFI, scored lower than the rest of the polar groups on all factors. These findings are discussed in light of various features of the polar environment and Gunderson's 3-predictor model of polar adaptability.

  20. Personality and physiological reactions to acute psychological stress.

    PubMed

    Bibbey, Adam; Carroll, Douglas; Roseboom, Tessa J; Phillips, Anna C; de Rooij, Susanne R

    2013-10-01

    Stable personality traits have long been presumed to have biological substrates, although the evidence relating personality to biological stress reactivity is inconclusive. The present study examined, in a large middle aged cohort (N=352), the relationship between key personality traits and both cortisol and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured at rest and in response to a psychological stress protocol comprising 5min each of a Stroop task, mirror tracing, and a speech task. Participants subsequently completed the Big Five Inventory to assess neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Those with higher neuroticism scores exhibited smaller cortisol and cardiovascular stress reactions, whereas participants who were less agreeable and less open had smaller cortisol and cardiac reactions to stress. These associations remained statistically significant following adjustment for a range of potential confounding variables. Thus, a negative personality disposition would appear to be linked to diminished stress reactivity. These findings further support a growing body of evidence which suggests that blunted stress reactivity may be maladaptive. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. The Relation Between Supervisors’ Big Five Personality Traits and Employees’ Experiences of Abusive Supervision

    PubMed Central

    Camps, Jeroen; Stouten, Jeroen; Euwema, Martin

    2016-01-01

    The present study investigates the relation between supervisors’ personality traits and employees’ experiences of supervisory abuse, an area that – to date – remained largely unexplored in previous research. Field data collected from 103 supervisor-subordinate dyads showed that contrary to our expectations supervisors’ agreeableness and neuroticism were not significantly related to abusive supervision, nor were supervisors’ extraversion or openness to experience. Interestingly, however, our findings revealed a positive relation between supervisors’ conscientiousness and abusive supervision. That is, supervisors high in conscientiousness were more likely to be perceived as an abusive supervisor by their employees. Overall, our findings do suggest that supervisors’ Big Five personality traits explain only a limited amount of the variability in employees’ experiences of abusive supervision. PMID:26903919

  2. Personality Predicts Mortality Risk: An Integrative Data Analysis of 15 International Longitudinal Studies.

    PubMed

    Graham, Eileen K; Rutsohn, Joshua P; Turiano, Nicholas A; Bendayan, Rebecca; Batterham, Philip J; Gerstorf, Denis; Katz, Mindy J; Reynolds, Chandra A; Sharp, Emily S; Yoneda, Tomiko B; Bastarache, Emily D; Elleman, Lorien G; Zelinski, Elizabeth M; Johansson, Boo; Kuh, Diana; Barnes, Lisa L; Bennett, David A; Deeg, Dorly J H; Lipton, Richard B; Pedersen, Nancy L; Piccinin, Andrea M; Spiro, Avron; Muniz-Terrera, Graciela; Willis, Sherry L; Schaie, K Warner; Roan, Carol; Herd, Pamela; Hofer, Scott M; Mroczek, Daniel K

    2017-10-01

    This study examined the Big Five personality traits as predictors of mortality risk, and smoking as a mediator of that association. Replication was built into the fabric of our design: we used a Coordinated Analysis with 15 international datasets, representing 44,094 participants. We found that high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were consistent predictors of mortality across studies. Smoking had a small mediating effect for neuroticism. Country and baseline age explained variation in effects: studies with older baseline age showed a pattern of protective effects (HR<1.00) for openness, and U.S. studies showed a pattern of protective effects for extraversion. This study demonstrated coordinated analysis as a powerful approach to enhance replicability and reproducibility, especially for aging-related longitudinal research.

  3. Self-Reported Extremely Adverse Life Events and Longitudinal Changes in Five-Factor Model Personality Traits in an Urban Sample

    PubMed Central

    Löckenhoff, Corinna E.; Terracciano, Antonio; Patriciu, Nicholas S.; Eaton, William W.; Costa, Paul T.

    2009-01-01

    This study examined longitudinal personality change in response to extremely adverse life events in a sample (N = 458) drawn from the East Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area study. Five-factor model personality traits were assessed twice over an average interval of 8 years. Twenty-five percent of the participants reported an extremely horrifying or frightening event within 2 years before the second personality assessment. Relative to the rest of the sample, they showed increases in neuroticism, decreases in the compliance facet of agreeableness, and decreases in openness to values. Baseline personality was unrelated to future events, but among participants who reported extreme events, lower extraversion and/or conscientiousness at baseline as well as longitudinal increases in neuroticism predicted lower mental health at follow-up. PMID:19230009

  4. Affective forecasting and the Big Five

    PubMed Central

    Hoerger, Michael; Quirk, Stuart W.

    2011-01-01

    Recent studies on affective forecasting clarify that the emotional reactions people anticipate often differ markedly from those they actually experience in response to affective stimuli and events. However, core personality differences in affective forecasting have received limited attention, despite their potential relevance to choice behavior. In the present study, 226 college undergraduates rated their anticipated and experienced reactions to the emotionally-evocative event of Valentine’s Day and completed a measure of the Big Five personality traits – neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness – and their facet scales. Neuroticism and extraversion were associated with baseline mood, experienced emotional reactions, and anticipated emotional reactions. The present findings hold implications for the study of individual differences in affective forecasting, personality theory, and interventions research. PMID:22021944

  5. Investigating the relative importance of individual differences on the work-family interface and the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation.

    PubMed

    Michel, Jesse S; Clark, Malissa A

    2013-10-01

    This study examines the relative importance of individual differences in relation to perceptions of work-family conflict and facilitation, as well as the moderating role of boundary preference for segmentation on these relationships. Relative importance analyses, based on a diverse sample of 380 employees from the USA, revealed that individual differences were consistently predictive of self-reported work-family conflict and facilitation. Conscientiousness, neuroticism, negative affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family conflict, whereas agreeableness predicted significant variance in family-to-work conflict only. Positive affect and core self-evaluations were consistently related to both directions of work-family facilitation, whereas agreeableness and neuroticism predicted significant variance in family-to-work facilitation only. Collectively, individual differences explained 25-28% of the variance in work-family conflict (primarily predicted by neuroticism and negative affect) and 11-18% of the variance in work-family facilitation (primarily predicted by positive affect and core self-evaluations). Moderated regression analyses showed that boundary preference for segmentation strengthened many of the relationships between individual differences and work-family conflict and facilitation. Implications for addressing the nature of work and family are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  6. Personality, Socioeconomic Status, and All-Cause Mortality in the United States

    PubMed Central

    Chapman, Benjamin P.; Fiscella, Kevin; Kawachi, Ichiro; Duberstein, Paul R.

    2010-01-01

    The authors assessed the extent to which socioeconomic status (SES) and the personality factors termed the “big 5” (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness) represented confounded or independent risks for all-cause mortality over a 10-year follow-up in the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) cohort between 1995 and 2004. Adjusted for demographics, the 25th versus 75th percentile of SES was associated with an odds ratio of 1.43 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.11, 1.83). Demographic-adjusted odds ratios for the 75th versus 25th percentile of neuroticism were 1.38 (95% CI: 1.10, 1.73) and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.84) for conscientiousness, the latter evaluated at high levels of agreeableness. Modest associations were observed between SES and the big 5. Adjusting each for the other revealed that personality explained roughly 20% of the SES gradient in mortality, while SES explained 8% of personality risk. Portions of SES and personality risk were explained by health behaviors, although some residual risk remained unexplained. Personality appears to explain some between-SES strata differences in mortality risk, as well as some individual risk heterogeneity within SES strata. Findings suggest that both sociostructural inequalities and individual disposition hold public health implications. Future research and prevention aimed at ameliorating SES health disparities may benefit from considering the risk clustering of social disadvantage and dispositional factors. PMID:19965888

  7. Personality traits and clinical/biochemical course in the first year after kidney transplant.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Caroline Venzon; de Castro, Elisa Kern; Antonello, Ivan Carlos Ferreira

    2016-10-01

    The relationship between personality and health is frequently studied in scientific research. This study investigated the clinical/biochemical course of kidney transplant patients based on personality traits. A longitudinal study assessed 114 kidney transplant patients (men = 68 and women = 46) with an average age of 47.72 years (SD = 11.4). Personality was evaluated using the Brazilian Factorial Personality Inventory (BFP/Big Five Model). Clinical variables were analyzed based on patient charts (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), hypertension, acute rejection, infection, graft loss, and death). Personality types were assessed by hierarchical cluster analysis. Two groups with personality types were differentiated by psychological characteristics: Cluster 1 - average neuroticism, high surgency, agreeableness and conscientiousness, and low openness; Cluster 2 - high neuroticism, average surgency and agreeableness, average conscientiousness, and low openness. There was no statistically significant difference between the clusters in terms of hypertension, acute infection, graft loss, death, and Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) I and II panel reactive antibodies. eGFR was associated with the personality types. Cluster 2 was associated with a better renal function in the 9-month follow-up period after kidney transplantation. In this study, patients from Cluster 2 exhibited higher eGFR 9 months after the transplant procedure compared to those from Cluster 1. Monitoring these patients over a longer period may provide a better understanding of the relationship between personality traits and clinical course during the post-transplant period.

  8. Direct and Indirect Effects of Five Factor Personality and Gender on Depressive Symptoms Mediated by Perceived Stress

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Song E.; Cho, Juhee; Kwon, Min-Jung; Chang, Yoosoo; Ryu, Seungho; Shin, Hocheol

    2016-01-01

    This study was designed to investigate associations among five factor personality traits, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms and to examine the roles of personality and perceived stress in the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. The participants (N = 3,950) were part of a cohort study for health screening and examination at the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital. Personality was measured with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Perceived stress level was evaluated with a self-reported stress questionnaire developed for the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. A higher degree of neuroticism and lower degrees of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were significantly associated with greater perceived stress and depressive symptoms. Neuroticism and extraversion had significant direct and indirect effects (via stress as a mediator) on depressive symptoms in both genders. Agreeableness and conscientiousness had indirect effects on depression symptoms in both genders. Multiple mediation models were used to examine the mediational roles of each personality factor and perceived stress in the link between gender and depressive symptoms. Four of the personality factors (except openness) were significant mediators, along with stress, on the relationship between gender and depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that the links between personality factors and depressive symptoms are mediated by perceived stress. As such, personality is an important factor to consider when examining the link between gender and depression. PMID:27120051

  9. The conscientious retiree: The relationship between conscientiousness, retirement, and volunteering

    PubMed Central

    Mike, Anissa; Jackson, Joshua J.; Oltmanns, Thomas F.

    2015-01-01

    The current study examined the relationship between conscientiousness, work status, and volunteering utilizing two large samples, the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). It was hypothesized that conscientious adults who were retired would be more likely to volunteer because, after retirement, they gain a substantial amount of free time, while losing an outlet for their industrious and achievement-striving tendencies. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed that conscientious, retired individuals were more likely to volunteer than conscientious, working individuals. Further analyses revealed that facets of conscientiousness provide differential information from the general trait. These findings indicate that volunteering during retirement fills an important niche for high-striving, conscientious individuals. PMID:25843985

  10. The conscientious retiree: The relationship between conscientiousness, retirement, and volunteering.

    PubMed

    Mike, Anissa; Jackson, Joshua J; Oltmanns, Thomas F

    2014-10-01

    The current study examined the relationship between conscientiousness, work status, and volunteering utilizing two large samples, the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). It was hypothesized that conscientious adults who were retired would be more likely to volunteer because, after retirement, they gain a substantial amount of free time, while losing an outlet for their industrious and achievement-striving tendencies. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses revealed that conscientious, retired individuals were more likely to volunteer than conscientious, working individuals. Further analyses revealed that facets of conscientiousness provide differential information from the general trait. These findings indicate that volunteering during retirement fills an important niche for high-striving, conscientious individuals.

  11. Intersibling agreement for Goldberg's big five adjective markers.

    PubMed

    Lanthier, R P

    2000-04-01

    In a sample of 240 college students intersibling agreement was examined for Goldberg's 100 unipolar Big Five adjective markers. Participants showed self-enhancement by rating themselves more favorably on three of the five traits (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Culture/Intellect); however, self-ratings on Neuroticism were higher than siblings' ratings. Correlations among raters were moderate (mean r = .41) and comparable to values obtained in studies using peer ratings. The type of the sibling relationship, based on ratings of relationship quality, moderated the rank-order measures but not the mean agreement.

  12. A meta-analysis of personality and workplace safety: addressing unanswered questions.

    PubMed

    Beus, Jeremy M; Dhanani, Lindsay Y; McCord, Mallory A

    2015-03-01

    [Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 100(2) of Journal of Applied Psychology (see record 2015-08139-001). Table 3 contained formatting errors. Minus signs used to indicate negative statistical estimates within the table were inadvertently changed to m-dashes. All versions of this article have been corrected.] The purpose of this meta-analysis was to address unanswered questions regarding the associations between personality and workplace safety by (a) clarifying the magnitude and meaning of these associations with both broad and facet-level personality traits, (b) delineating how personality is associated with workplace safety, and (c) testing the relative importance of personality in comparison to perceptions of the social context of safety (i.e., safety climate) in predicting safety-related behavior. Our results revealed that whereas agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively associated with unsafe behaviors, extraversion and neuroticism were positively associated with them. Of these traits, agreeableness accounted for the largest proportion of explained variance in safety-related behavior and openness to experience was unrelated. At the facet level, sensation seeking, altruism, anger, and impulsiveness were all meaningfully associated with safety-related behavior, though sensation seeking was the only facet that demonstrated a stronger relationship than its parent trait (i.e., extraversion). In addition, meta-analytic path modeling supported the theoretical expectation that personality's associations with accidents are mediated by safety-related behavior. Finally, although safety climate perceptions accounted for the majority of explained variance in safety-related behavior, personality traits (i.e., agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism) still accounted for a unique and substantive proportion of the explained variance. Taken together, these results substantiate the value of considering personality traits as key

  13. The role of serotonin in personality inference: tryptophan depletion impairs the identification of neuroticism in the face.

    PubMed

    Ward, Robert; Sreenivas, Shubha; Read, Judi; Saunders, Kate E A; Rogers, Robert D

    2017-07-01

    Serotonergic mechanisms mediate the expression of personality traits (such as impulsivity, aggression and anxiety) that are linked to vulnerability to psychological illnesses, and modulate the identification of emotional expressions in the face as well as learning about broader classes of appetitive and aversive signals. Faces with neutral expressions signal a variety of socially relevant information, such that inferences about the big five personality traits, including Neuroticism, Extraversion and Agreeableness, can be accurately made on the basis of emotionally neutral facial photographs. Given the close link between Neuroticism and psychological distress, we investigated the effects of diminished central serotonin activity (achieved by tryptophan depletion) upon the accuracy of 52 healthy (non-clinical) adults' discriminations of personality from facial characteristics. All participants were able to discriminate reliably four of the big five traits. However, the tryptophan-depleted participants were specifically less accurate in discriminating Neuroticism than the matched non-depleted participants. These data suggest that central serotonin activity modulates the identification of not only negative facial emotional expression but also a broader class of signals about personality characteristics linked to psychological distress.

  14. Mediation and moderation effect of the big five personality traits on the relationship between self-perceived malocclusion and psychosocial impact of dental esthetics.

    PubMed

    Spalj, Stjepan; Novsak, Alenka; Bilobrk, Philipp; Katic, Visnja; Zrinski, Magda Trinajstic; Pavlic, Andrej

    2016-05-01

    To explore the mediation and moderation effects of personality traits on the relationship between self-perceived malocclusion and the psychosocial impact of dental esthetics. The sample included 252 subjects (62% female) aged 12-39 years. Self-perceived malocclusion was estimated using the 10-point scale Aesthetic Component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire was used to assess the psychological impact and the Big Five Inventory for personality traits. Moderation and mediation effects were evaluated with Pearson correlations and stepwise regression analysis, respectively. Self-perceived malocclusion ranged from 1 to 8 and was the most significant predictor of psychosocial impact of dental esthetics, whose unique contribution accounted for 11%-36.4% of variability, while age and sex accounted for 1.2%-2.5%. Personality traits had no mediating effect on this relationship. The moderating effect of agreeableness was present in the relationship between self-perceived degree of malocclusion and Social Impact (SI), Psychological Impact (PI), and Aesthetic Concern (AC) (ΔR2  =  0.035, 0.020, and 0.013, respectively; P < .001), while conscientiousness affected the relationship between perception of malocclusion and SI and PI (ΔR2  =  0.018 and 0.016, respectively; P < .05). In people with lower agreeableness and conscientiousness, increasing the severity of self-perceived malocclusion leads to less increase in SI and PI. In people with lower agreeableness, the increase influences AC in a similar manner. Extraversion, neuroticism, and openness do not have a moderating effect. The relationship between self-perceived malocclusion and the psychosocial impact of dental esthetics appears to be moderated and not mediated by personality traits. Adolescents and young adults with lower agreeableness and conscientiousness seem to be less affected by the increased severity of self-perceived malocclusion, as

  15. Extending the search for folk personality constructs: the dimensionality of the personality-relevant proverb domain.

    PubMed

    Haas, Heather A

    2002-04-01

    College students (95 men and 264 women) rated how well 211 familiar proverbs described their behavior and beliefs. A factor analysis of these data yielded 7 major dimensions; many of the factors were similar to recognized lexical personality factors. Big Five Conscientiousness and Neuroticism were each strongly associated with a single proverb dimension (interpreted as Restraint and Enjoys Life, respectively). Big Five Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Intellect/Imagination were all associated with several proverb dimensions. Agreeableness was most strongly associated with proverb dimensions representing Machiavellian behavior and strong Group Ties, and both Extraversion and Intellect showed particularly notable associations with an Achievement Striving dimension. The 2 remaining proverb dimensions, which represented a belief that Life is Fair and an attitude of Cynicism, could not be accounted for by the Big Five.

  16. The Role of Personality in Daily Food Allergy Experiences

    PubMed Central

    Conner, Tamlin S.; Mirosa, Miranda; Bremer, Phil; Peniamina, Rana

    2018-01-01

    Food allergies present numerous challenges to coping in everyday life. Even simple things like planning a lunch with a friend can be stressful for people with food allergies. But are some people more adversely impacted by having a food allergy than other people? This paper addressed this question by investigating whether individual differences in the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) are related to food allergy-related problems in everyday life among adults with food allergies. Participants were 108 adults (85% female; mean age = 40.2; age range 18–87) with a physician-diagnosed food allergy [most commonly to gluten (54.6%), peanuts (21.3%), cow's milk (16.7%), and shellfish/seafood (16.7%)]. Participants completed an initial online survey that measured demographics, food allergy information, and personality traits using the Big Five Inventory (John et al., 1991). For 2 weeks, participants completed a daily online survey that queried the occurrence of 25 food allergy issues that day and participants' overall stress and mood that day. Neuroticism did not predict more frequent allergy issues or greater stress/poorer mood on days with more allergy issues. Instead, higher openness to experience predicted a range of issues including going hungry because there is no safe food available, problems finding suitable foods when grocery shopping, feeling anxious at social occasions involving food, being excluded, and feeling embarrassed and poorly understood about their food allergy. Conscientious people were less embarrassed or self-conscious about their food allergy, but they had more problems eating out, and their positive mood was more impaired by allergy issues than their less conscientious peers. Extraversion and agreeableness played minor roles. Personality testing can identify people that may have difficulty living with food allergies–such as those higher in openness to experience. PMID:29467686

  17. The Role of Personality in Daily Food Allergy Experiences.

    PubMed

    Conner, Tamlin S; Mirosa, Miranda; Bremer, Phil; Peniamina, Rana

    2018-01-01

    Food allergies present numerous challenges to coping in everyday life. Even simple things like planning a lunch with a friend can be stressful for people with food allergies. But are some people more adversely impacted by having a food allergy than other people? This paper addressed this question by investigating whether individual differences in the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) are related to food allergy-related problems in everyday life among adults with food allergies. Participants were 108 adults (85% female; mean age = 40.2; age range 18-87) with a physician-diagnosed food allergy [most commonly to gluten (54.6%), peanuts (21.3%), cow's milk (16.7%), and shellfish/seafood (16.7%)]. Participants completed an initial online survey that measured demographics, food allergy information, and personality traits using the Big Five Inventory (John et al., 1991). For 2 weeks, participants completed a daily online survey that queried the occurrence of 25 food allergy issues that day and participants' overall stress and mood that day. Neuroticism did not predict more frequent allergy issues or greater stress/poorer mood on days with more allergy issues. Instead, higher openness to experience predicted a range of issues including going hungry because there is no safe food available, problems finding suitable foods when grocery shopping, feeling anxious at social occasions involving food, being excluded, and feeling embarrassed and poorly understood about their food allergy. Conscientious people were less embarrassed or self-conscious about their food allergy, but they had more problems eating out, and their positive mood was more impaired by allergy issues than their less conscientious peers. Extraversion and agreeableness played minor roles. Personality testing can identify people that may have difficulty living with food allergies-such as those higher in openness to experience.

  18. Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and five-factor model traits in a clinical sample: a structural equation modeling approach.

    PubMed

    Knouse, Laura E; Traeger, Lara; O'Cleirigh, Conall; Safren, Steven A

    2013-10-01

    Relationships among attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and adult personality traits have not been examined in larger clinically diagnosed samples. We collected multisource ADHD symptom and self-report NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae [Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc, 1992) data from 117 adults with ADHD and tested symptom-trait associations using structural equation modeling. The final model fit the data. Inattention was positively associated with neuroticism and negatively associated with conscientiousness. On the basis of ADHD expression in adulthood, hyperactivity and impulsivity were estimated as separate constructs and showed differential relationships to extraversion and agreeableness. A significant positive relationship between hyperactivity and conscientiousness arose in the context of other pathways. ADHD symptoms are reliably associated with personality traits, suggesting a complex interplay across development that warrants prospective study into adulthood.

  19. Personality and the occupational stressor-strain relationship: the role of the Big Five.

    PubMed

    Grant, Sharon; Langan-Fox, Janice

    2007-01-01

    The role of the Big Five traits in the occupational stressor-strain relationship was investigated among 211 managers. Direct, mediated, and moderated effect models were used to investigate whether the Big Five affect strain directly (independently of stress), indirectly (via stress and coping), or interactively with stress. Personality, stress, coping, and strain variables were measured and analyzed with path analysis and hierarchical regression. The Neuroticism-physical strain relationship was partially mediated by perceived role conflict and substance use, and the Neuroticism-psychological strain relationship was mediated by perceived stress. Extraversion had a direct, positive effect on physical and psychological strain, and there was preliminary support for a moderating role of Conscientiousness in the perceived stressor-strain relationship. Agreeableness and Openness were unrelated to strain. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. Do personality traits moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on psychological distress?

    PubMed

    Pai, Manacy; Carr, Deborah

    2010-06-01

    We use data from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study to investigate the extent to which: (1) five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability/neuroticism, extraversion, and openness) moderate the effect of late-life spousal loss on depressive symptoms; (2) these patterns vary based on the expectedness of the death; and (3) the patterns documented in (1) and (2) are explained by secondary stressors and social support. Widowed persons report significantly more depressive symptoms than married persons, yet the deleterious effects of loss are significantly smaller for highly extraverted and conscientious individuals. The protective effects of personality traits, however, vary based on the expectedness of the death. Extraversion is protective against depression only for persons who had forewarning of the death. Extraverts may be particularly good at marshalling social support during prolonged periods of spousal illness. We discuss the ways that extraversion and conscientiousness may buffer against bereavement-related stressors.

  1. Ability of prospective assessment of personality profiles to predict the practice specialty of medical students

    PubMed Central

    Maron, Bradley A.; Fein, Steven; Hillel, Alexander T.; El Baghdadi, Mariam M.; Rodenhauser, Paul

    2007-01-01

    Medical practice encompasses a diverse spectrum of specialties. Factors that impact selection of clinical disciplines by young physicians may have recently evolved associated with changes in medical school demographics. We assessed whether physicians gravitate to certain practice specialties due to preexisting personality traits. The Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Personality Inventory Revised Test was administered prospectively to 130 first-year students the week before they began medical school. Scores for five traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) were compared with the selection among nine medical residencies at the conclusion of medical school. Personality scores for medical students selecting psychiatry residencies showed greater degrees of neuroticism (P < 0.01) and openness (P < 0.03). Students electing family practice also deviated from other specialties, showing a lower degree of neuroticism (P < 0.03). Unexpectedly, personality traits in prospective surgical residents did not differ from those of students choosing nonsurgical residencies. Personality profiles present before medical school appear to predict the selection of some residencies and clinical specialties but not others. PMID:17256038

  2. Personality and Depressive Symptoms: Individual-Participant Meta-Analysis of 10 Cohort Studies

    PubMed Central

    Hakulinen, Christian; Elovainio, Marko; Pulkki-Råback, Laura; Virtanen, Marianna; Kivimäki, Mika; Jokela, Markus

    2015-01-01

    Background Personality is suggested to be a major risk factor for depression but large-scale individual-participant meta-analyses on this topic are lacking. Method Data from 10 prospective community cohort studies with a total of 117 899 participants (mean age 49.0 years; 54.7% women) were pooled for individual-participant meta-analysis to determine the association between personality traits of the Five Factor Model and risk of depressive symptoms. Results In cross-sectional analysis, low extraversion (pooled standardized regression coefficient (B)=-0.08; 95 % confidence interval=-0.11, -0.04), high neuroticism (B=0.39; 0.32, 0.45), and low conscientiousness (B=-0.09; -0.10, -0.06) were associated with depressive symptoms. Similar associations were observed in longitudinal analyses adjusted for baseline depressive symptoms (n=56,735; mean follow-up of 5.0 years): low extraversion (B=-0.03; -0.05, -0.01), high neuroticism (B=0.12; 0.10, 0.13), and low conscientiousness (B=-0.04; -0.06, -0.02) were associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms at follow-up. In turn, depressive symptoms were associated with personality change in extraversion (B=-0.07; 95 % CI=-0.12, -0.02), neuroticism (B=0.23; 0.09, 0.36), agreeableness (B=-0.09; -0.15, -0.04), conscientiousness (B=-0.14; -0.21, -0.07), and openness to experience (B=-0.04; -0.08, 0.00). Conclusions Personality traits are prospectively associated with the development of depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms, in turn, are associated with changes in personality that may be temporary or persistent. PMID:26014798

  3. Medical students' preferences for problem-based learning in relation to culture and personality: a multicultural study.

    PubMed

    Holen, Are; Manandhar, Kedar; Pant, Devendra S; Karmacharya, Biraj M; Olson, Linda M; Koju, Rajendra; Mansur, Dil I

    2015-07-19

    The aim of this study was to explore positive and negative preferences towards problem-based learning in relation to personality traits and socio-cultural context. The study was an anonymous and voluntary cross-sectional survey of medical students (N=449) in hybrid problem-based curricula in Nepal, Norway and North Dakota. Data was collected on gender, age, year of study, cohabitation and medical school. The PBL Preference Inventory identified students' positive and negative preferences in relation to problem-based learning; the personality traits were detected by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. The determinants of the two kinds of preferences were analyzed by hierarchical multiple linear regressions. Positive preferences were mostly determined by personality; associations were found with the traits Extra-version, Openness to experience, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism; the first three are related to sociability, curiosity and orderliness, the last, to mental health. The learn-ing environments of such curricula may be supportive for some and unnerving for others who score high on Neuroticism. Negative preferences were rather determined by culture, but also, they correlated with Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Negative preferences were lower among females and students living in symmetrical relationships. Some high on Conscientiousness disliked group work, and the negative correlation with Agreeableness indicated that less sociable students were not predisposed to this kind of learning activity. Preferences related to problem-based learning were significantly and independently determined both by personality traits and culture. More insights into the nature of students' preferences may guide aspects of curriculum modifications and the daily facilitation of groups.

  4. Personality traits and achievement motives: theoretical and empirical relations between the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Achievement Motives Scale.

    PubMed

    Diseth, Age; Martinsen, Øyvind

    2009-04-01

    Theoretical and empirical relations between personality traits and motive dispositions were investigated by comparing scores of 315 undergraduate psychology students on the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised and the Achievement Motives Scale. Analyses showed all NEO Personality Inventory-Revised factors except agreeableness were significantly correlated with the motive for success and the motive to avoid failure. A structural equation model showed that motive for success was predicted by Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism (negative relation), and motive to avoid failure was predicted by Neuroticism and Openness (negative relation). Although both achievement motives were predicted by several personality factors, motive for success was most strongly predicted by Openness, and motive to avoid failure was most strongly predicted by neuroticism. These findings extended previous research on the relations of personality traits and achievement motives and provided a basis for the discussion of motive dispositions in personality. The results also added to the construct validity of the Achievement Motives Scale.

  5. The interplay of loneliness and depressive symptoms across adolescence: exploring the role of personality traits.

    PubMed

    Vanhalst, Janne; Klimstra, Theo A; Luyckx, Koen; Scholte, Ron H J; Engels, Rutger C M E; Goossens, Luc

    2012-06-01

    Based on current theories of depression, reciprocal links between loneliness and depressive symptoms are expected to occur. However, longitudinal studies on adolescent samples are scarce and have yielded conflicting results. The present five-wave longitudinal study from mid- to late adolescence (N=428, M age at T1=15.22 years; 47% female) examined the direction of effect between loneliness and depressive symptoms, using cross-lagged path analysis. In addition, the robustness of these prospective associations was tested by examining the role of the Big Five personality traits (i.e., extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness) as explaining factors and moderators. Results indicated that loneliness and depressive symptoms influenced one another reciprocally, and these reciprocal associations were not attributable to their mutual overlap with personality traits. In addition, neuroticism was found to be a moderator, in that the bidirectional effects between loneliness and depressive symptoms were only found in adolescents high in neuroticism. Practical implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research are outlined.

  6. Incremental prediction and moderating role of the perceived emotional intelligence over aggressive behavior.

    PubMed

    Peláez-Fernández, María Angeles; Extremera, Natalio; Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this research was to explore the influence of Perceived Emotional Intelligence (PEI) on aggression dimensions (Physical Aggression, Verbal Aggression, Hostility, and Anger) above and beyond the effects of gender, age, and personality traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience), as well as the moderating role of PEI on the relationship between personality and aggressive behavior, among young adults. The Trait Meta-Mood Scale, the Big-Five Inventory, and the Aggression Questionnaire were administered to a 313 Spanish community sample, comprised of both males (39.0%) and females (61.0%), ranging from 14 to 69 years old (X = 24.74; SD = 9.27). Controlling the effects of age, gender, and personality, PEI dimensions (Attention, Clarity and Repair) accounted for 3% of the variance (p < .05) in Verbal Aggression and Hostility. Interaction analysis showed that all PEI subscales moderated the relationship between four out of the Big-Five personality dimensions (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) and the aggression dimensions. Particularly, the interaction between Attention and Extraversion and between Clarity and Neuroticism were significant predictors of Total Aggression (b = .67, t(313) = 2.35, p < .05; b = -.71, t(313) = -2.50, p < .05). The results show evidence of the predictive and incremental validity of PEI dimensions on aggressive behavior among young adults and of the moderating role of PEI on the personality-aggression relationship.

  7. Self-Other Agreement and Metaperception Accuracy Across the Big Five: Examining the Roles of Depression and Self-Esteem.

    PubMed

    Moritz, Daniel; Roberts, John E

    2018-04-01

    The ability to judge other people's personality characteristics and to know how we are viewed by others are important aspects of social cognition. The present study tested the impact of depressive symptoms and low self-esteem on self-other agreement and the accuracy of metaperception (i.e., how we believe others view us) across the Big Five dimensions of personality. Participants who varied in depressive symptoms engaged in a 10-minute "getting to know you" interaction in dyads. Ratings on the Big Five personality dimensions, depression, and self-esteem were completed prior to the interaction. After the interaction, participants rated the personality of their partner and rated how they believed their partner would rate them (metaperception). Self-other agreement was only found on Extraversion, whereas there was significant meta-accuracy on Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Extraversion. Depressive symptoms and low self-esteem negatively biased metaperceptions of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism. Depression and low self-esteem function to negatively bias how we believe we are seen by others in new acquaintanceships and therefore may play an important role in the development of interpersonal relationships. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Personality profiles associated with different motivations for playing World of Warcraft.

    PubMed

    Graham, Lindsay T; Gosling, Samuel D

    2013-03-01

    Gamers play massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) for a variety of reasons. For example, some gamers play primarily as a form of socialization, whereas others play to gain a sense of achievement. Past studies have shown that these motives are associated with individual differences such as gender and number of years spent playing online games. What other individual differences might affect why people play MMORPGs? Personality is known to be associated with in-game behaviors, raising the possibility of link between personality and gaming motives. The present study examines the relationship between gamers' Big Five personality traits and their motivations for playing World of Warcraft. Results reveal several links between a player's personality and gaming motivations. For instance, individuals playing to socialize tend to be high on extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness, whereas individuals playing to gain a sense of achievement tend to be high on extraversion and neuroticism, but low on agreeableness and conscientiousness. Findings are discussed with respect to previous research on links between personality and motives in other MMORPGs and in terms of how and why the connections between personality and motives may differ across online and offline contexts.

  9. Big Five personality characteristics are associated with depression subtypes and symptom dimensions of depression in older adults.

    PubMed

    Koorevaar, A M L; Hegeman, J M; Lamers, F; Dhondt, A D F; van der Mast, R C; Stek, M L; Comijs, H C

    2017-12-01

    This study examined the associations of personality characteristics with both subtypes and symptom dimensions of depression in older adults. Three hundred and seventy-eight depressed older adults participated in the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons. Personality characteristics were assessed by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. Subtypes and symptom dimensions of depression were determined using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the associations between personality and atypical, melancholic, and unspecified subtypes of major depression. Linear regression analyses examined the associations between personality and the IDS mood, somatic, and motivation symptom dimensions. The analyses were adjusted for confounders and additionally adjusted for depression severity. Neuroticism, Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness were associated with specified (atypical or melancholic) major depression compared with unspecified major depression in the bivariate analyses but lost their significance after adjustments for functional limitations and severity of depression. Neuroticism was positively associated with the IDS mood and motivation symptom dimensions, also in the adjusted models. Further, Extraversion and Agreeableness were negatively associated with the IDS mood symptom dimension, and Extraversion and Conscientiousness were negatively associated with the IDS motivation symptom dimension. None was associated with the IDS somatic symptom dimension. This study demonstrated the association of personality characteristics with mood and motivational symptoms of late-life depression. The lacking ability of personality to differentiate between melancholic and atypical depression seems to be largely explained by severity of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  10. Conscientiousness: Origins in Childhood?

    PubMed Central

    Eisenberg, Nancy; Duckworth, Angela L.; Spinrad, Tracy L.; Valiente, Carlos

    2012-01-01

    In this review, we evaluate developmental and personality research with the aim of determining if the personality trait of conscientiousness can be identified in children and adolescents. After concluding that conscientiousness does emerge in childhood, we discuss the developmental origins of conscientiousness with a specific focus on self-regulation, academic motivation, and internalized compliance/internalization of standards. Based on the accumulated body of evidence, we conclude that self-regulation fosters conscientiousness later in life, both directly and via academic motivation and internalized compliance with norms. We argue that elements of conscientiousness are evident by early childhood, self-regulation skills are likely a core developmental component of conscientiousness, and despite the contribution of heredity to the aforementioned aspects of functioning, environmental factors likely contribute to conscientiousness. PMID:23244405

  11. PERSONALITY TRAITS AND STRESS LEVELS AMONG SENIOR DENTAL STUDENTS: EVIDENCE FROM MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE.

    PubMed

    Yusof, Zamros Y M; Hassan, Wan Nurazreena Wan; Razak, Ishak A; Hashim, Siti Marini N; Tahir, Mohd Khairul A M; Keng, Siong Beng

    2016-11-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the association between dental students’ personality traits and stress levels in relation to dental education programs among senior dental students in University Malaya (UM) in Malaysia and National University of Singapore (NUS). A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted on UM and NUS senior dental students. The questionnaire comprised items on demographic background, the Big Five Inventory Personality Traits (BFIPT) test and a modified Dental Environment Stress (DES) scale. Rasch analysis was used to convert raw data to interval scores. Analyses were done by t-test, Pearson correlation, and Hierarchical regression statistics. The response rate was 100% (UM=132, NUS=76). Personality trait Agreeableness (mean=0.30) was significantly more prevalent among UM than NUS students (mean=0.15, p=0.016). In NUS, Neuroticism (mean=0.36) was significantly more prevalent than in UM (mean=0.14, p=0.002). The DES mean score was higher among NUS (mean=0.23) than UM students (mean=0.07). In UM, Neuroticism was significantly correlated with stress levels (r=0.338, p<0.001). In NUS, these were Neuroticism (r=0.278, p=0.015), Agreeableness (r=0.250, p=0.029) and Conscientiousness (r=-0.242, p=0.035) personality traits. The correlation was strongest for personality trait Neuroticism in both schools. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that gender and Neuroticism were significant predictors for students’ stress levels (p<0.05) with the latter exerting a bigger effect size (R2=0.18) than gender (R2=004). This study showed that gender and Neuroticism personality trait were significant predictors for stress levels among selected groups of dental students in Southeast Asia. Information on students’ personality may be useful in new students’ intake, stress management counseling and future program reviews.

  12. Linking perceptions of role stress and incivility to workplace aggression: the moderating role of personality.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Shannon G; Kluemper, Donald H

    2012-07-01

    Although research on workplace aggression has long recognized job stressors as antecedents, little is known about the process through which employee responses to stressful workplace demands escalate from relatively mild interactions into more intense behaviors. This study investigates the influence that employees' perceptions of role stress (ambiguity, conflict, overload) have on their aggressive behavior by affecting their perceptions of incivility, and whether these downstream effects depend on personality traits (neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness). Results supported moderated mediation, such that the indirect effects of perceived role ambiguity and role conflict on enacted aggression through experienced incivility varied according to individual differences in personality.

  13. Leukocyte telomere length and personality: associations with the Big Five and Type D personality traits.

    PubMed

    Schoormans, D; Verhoeven, J E; Denollet, J; van de Poll-Franse, L; Penninx, B W J H

    2018-04-01

    Backgrounds Accelerated cellular ageing, which can be examined by telomere length (TL), may be an overarching mechanism underlying the association between personality and adverse health outcomes. This 6-year longitudinal study examined the relation between personality and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) across time among adults with a wide age-range. Data from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety were used and included patients with a depression and/or anxiety disorder and healthy controls. Overall, 2936 persons (18-65 years, 66% female) had data on LTL at baseline and 1883 persons had LTL at 6-year follow-up. The Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and Type D personality were assessed. Neuroticism was negatively (B = -2.11, p = 0.03) and agreeableness was positively (B = 3.84, p = 0.03) related to LTL measured across two time points, which became just non-significant after adjusting for somatic health, lifestyle factors, and recent life stress (B = -1.99, p = 0.06; and B = 3.01, p = 0.10). Type D personality was negatively (B = -50.16, p < 0.01) related to LTL across two time points, which still remained statistically significant after full adjustment (B = -47.37, p = 0.01). Associations did not differ by age, gender, and current psychiatric status. The Big Five traits high neuroticism and low agreeableness, and Type D personality were associated with shorter LTL measured across a 6-year period. Associations with the Big Five traits became non-significant after controlling for somatic health, lifestyle factors, and recent life stress, yet similar trends were observed. Type D personality remained independently associated with shorter LTL after full adjustment.

  14. The Influence of Agreeableness and Ego Depletion on Emotional Responding.

    PubMed

    Finley, Anna J; Crowell, Adrienne L; Harmon-Jones, Eddie; Schmeichel, Brandon J

    2017-10-01

    Agreeable individuals report more intense withdrawal-oriented negative emotions across aversive situations. Two studies tested the hypothesis that self-regulatory depletion (i.e., ego depletion) moderates the relationship between trait Agreeableness and negative emotional responding. Ego depletion was manipulated using a writing task. Emotional responding was measured with startle eye-blink responses (Study 1, N = 71) and self-reported valence, arousal, and empathic concern (Study 2, N = 256) during emotional picture viewing. Trait Agreeableness was measured using a questionnaire. In Study 1, Agreeableness predicted especially large startle responses during aversive images and especially small startles during appetitive images. After exercising self-control, the relationship between startle magnitudes and Agreeableness decreased. In Study 2, Agreeableness predicted more empathic concern for aversive images, which in turn predicted heightened self-reported negative emotions. After exercising self-control, the relationship between Agreeableness and empathic concern decreased. Agreeable individuals exhibit heightened negative emotional responding. Ego depletion reduced the link between Agreeableness and negative emotional responding in Study 1 and moderated the indirect effect of Agreeableness on negative emotional responding via empathic concern in Study 2. Empathic concern appears to be a resource-intensive process underlying heightened responding to aversive stimuli among agreeable persons. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Parental representations and dimensions of personality: empirical relations and assessment implications.

    PubMed

    Pincus, A L; Ruiz, M A

    1997-04-01

    Research on the relations between parental representations, personality traits, and psychopathology was discussed with reference to their integration for clinical personality assessment. Empirical results linking parental representations assessed by the Structural Analysis of Social Behavior and the Five-Factor Model of personality traits in a young adult population supported the position that parental representations significantly relate to adult personality. Individuals whose parental representations were generally affiliative described themselves as less prone to emotional distress (lower neuroticism); more interpersonally oriented and experiencing of positive emotions (higher extraversion); more peaceable and trustworthy (higher agreeableness); and more dutiful, resourceful, and dependable (higher conscientiousness). Parental representations colored by autonomy granting and autonomy taking were related to higher levels of openness to experience but lower levels of conscientiousness and extraversion in self-descriptions. Assessment implications and an integrative assessment strategy were presented along with a clinical case example.

  16. Personality correlates of the Five-Factor Model for a sample of business owners/managers: associations with scores on Self-Monitoring, Type A Behavior, Locus of Control, and Subjective Well-being.

    PubMed

    Morrison, K A

    1997-02-01

    Bivariate relationships were examined between scores on the Five-Factor Model of personality and four personality dimensions including Self-monitoring, Locus of Control, Type A Behavior, and Subjective Well-being. Data were collected from 307 franchise business owner/managers from four different industries. Scores for Self-monitoring were positively related to those on Extraversion; Self-monitoring was the only personality measure significantly correlated with scores on Openness to Experience. Scores for Type A Behavior, measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey, were negatively correlated with Agreeableness and positively correlated with those for Extraversion. Somewhat surprisingly, the score for Type A Behavior had a relatively low correlation with the score for Conscientiousness. Scores for Subjective Well-being and Locus of Control were most strongly correlated with the positive pole of Neuroticism (Emotional Stability), Conscientiousness, and Extraversion. Possible explanations for the observed relationships are discussed.

  17. Personality and psychological distress among older adult, long-term cancer survivors.

    PubMed

    Deimling, Gary T; Albitz, Casey; Monnin, Kara; Renzhofer Pappada, Holly T; Nalepa, Elizabeth; Boehm, Melinda Laroco; Mitchell, Claire

    2017-01-01

    This research examines a model of how personality (Five-Factor Model) is related to adjustment to cancer in later life in terms of the presence of continuing cancer-related worry and depression among older adult, long-term cancer survivors. Data from an NCI-funded study with 275 older adult (age 60+), long-term (5+ years) survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer were examined. Regression analyses identified neuroticism as the strongest predictor of cancer-related worry along with continuing cancer-related symptoms. For depression, three personality dimensions (neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) were significant predictors. Findings suggest the importance of considering the central role that survivors' personality characteristics play in understanding cancer-related worries and depression. Understanding these dispositional characteristics is key for social workers and health-care practitioners in counseling survivors experiencing these common mental health effects.

  18. The modulating effect of personality traits on neural error monitoring: evidence from event-related FMRI.

    PubMed

    Sosic-Vasic, Zrinka; Ulrich, Martin; Ruchsow, Martin; Vasic, Nenad; Grön, Georg

    2012-01-01

    The present study investigated the association between traits of the Five Factor Model of Personality (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness for Experiences, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) and neural correlates of error monitoring obtained from a combined Eriksen-Flanker-Go/NoGo task during event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging in 27 healthy subjects. Individual expressions of personality traits were measured using the NEO-PI-R questionnaire. Conscientiousness correlated positively with error signaling in the left inferior frontal gyrus and adjacent anterior insula (IFG/aI). A second strong positive correlation was observed in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC). Neuroticism was negatively correlated with error signaling in the inferior frontal cortex possibly reflecting the negative inter-correlation between both scales observed on the behavioral level. Under present statistical thresholds no significant results were obtained for remaining scales. Aligning the personality trait of Conscientiousness with task accomplishment striving behavior the correlation in the left IFG/aI possibly reflects an inter-individually different involvement whenever task-set related memory representations are violated by the occurrence of errors. The strong correlations in the ACC may indicate that more conscientious subjects were stronger affected by these violations of a given task-set expressed by individually different, negatively valenced signals conveyed by the ACC upon occurrence of an error. Present results illustrate that for predicting individual responses to errors underlying personality traits should be taken into account and also lend external validity to the personality trait approach suggesting that personality constructs do reflect more than mere descriptive taxonomies.

  19. RASopathies are associated with a distinct personality profile.

    PubMed

    Bizaoui, Varoona; Gage, Jessica; Brar, Rita; Rauen, Katherine A; Weiss, Lauren A

    2018-06-01

    Personality is a complex, yet partially heritable, trait. Although some Mendelian diseases like Williams-Beuren syndrome are associated with a particular personality profile, studies have failed to assign the personality features to a single gene or pathway. As a family of monogenic disorders caused by mutations in the Ras/MAPK pathway known to influence social behavior, RASopathies are likely to provide insight into the genetic basis of personality. Eighty subjects diagnosed with cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, Costello syndrome, neurofibromatosis type 1, and Noonan syndrome were assessed using a parent-report BFQ-C (Big Five Questionnaire for Children) evaluating agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, intellect/openness, and neuroticism, along with 55 unaffected sibling controls. A short questionnaire was added to assess sense of humor. RASopathy subjects and sibling controls were compared for individual components of personality, multidimensional personality profiles, and individual questions using Student tests, analysis of variance, and principal component analysis. RASopathy subjects were given lower scores on average compared to sibling controls in agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and sense of humor, and similar scores in neuroticism. When comparing the multidimensional personality profile between groups, RASopathies showed a distinct profile from unaffected siblings, but no difference in this global profile was found within RASopathies, revealing a common profile for the Ras/MAPK-related disorders. In addition, several syndrome-specific strengths or weaknesses were observed in individual domains. We describe for the first time an association between a single pathway and a specific personality profile, providing a better understanding of the genetics underlying personality, and new tools for tailoring educational and behavioral approaches for individuals with RASopathies. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  20. Personality factors moderate the associations between Apolipoprotein genotype and cognitive function as well as late onset Alzheimer’s Disease

    PubMed Central

    Dar-Nimrod, Ilan; Chapman, Benjamin P.; Franks, Peter; Robbins, John; Porsteinsson, Anton; Mapstone, Mark; Duberstein, Paul R.

    2014-01-01

    Objectives We tested the hypothesis that neuroticism moderates the association between APOE (apolipoprotein E) genotype and two major outcomes, cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We also explored whether other personality dimensions (extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) moderate the associations of APOE with these outcomes. Design Primary analyses of existing randomized clinical trial data. Sample Six-hundred and two older adults (mean age of 78 at baseline). Measurements APOE genotype, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale- cognitive (ADAS-COG: measured every 6 months for 6.5 years) and relevant covariates. Results Fully adjusted multivariate analyses showed that the association between the presence of APOE ε-4 allele(s) and both outcomes was evident among individuals with high levels of neuroticism and extraversion but not among persons with low levels of these traits. Conclusions Phenotypic personality dimensions, primarily neuroticism and extraversion, moderate the relationship between APOE ε-4 genotype and cognitive outcomes among older adults. Future research is needed to elucidate the physiological processes involved in these particular phenotype-genotype interactions. PMID:23079898

  1. Conscientiousness: Origins in Childhood?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eisenberg, Nancy; Duckworth, Angela L.; Spinrad, Tracy L.; Valiente, Carlos

    2014-01-01

    In this review, we evaluate developmental and personality research with the aim of determining whether the personality trait of conscientiousness can be identified in children and adolescents. After concluding that conscientiousness does emerge in childhood, we discuss the developmental origins of conscientiousness with a specific focus on…

  2. Is Personality Associated with Health Care Use by Older Adults?

    PubMed Central

    Friedman, Bruce; Veazie, Peter J; Chapman, Benjamin P; Manning, Willard G; Duberstein, Paul R

    2013-01-01

    Context The patterns of health care utilization in the United States pose well-established challenges for public policy. Although economic and sociological research has resulted in considerable knowledge about what influences the use of health services, the psychological literature in this area is underdeveloped. Importantly, it is not known whether personality traits are associated with older adults’ use of acute and long-term care services. Methods Data were collected from 1,074 community-dwelling seniors participating in a Medicare demonstration. First they completed a self-report questionnaire measuring the “Big Five” personality traits: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. During the next two years, the participants maintained daily journals of their use of health care services. We used regression models based on the Andersen behavioral model of health care utilization to test for associations. Findings Our hypothesis that higher Neuroticism would be associated with greater health care use was confirmed for three services—probability of any emergency department (ED) use, likelihood of any custodial nursing home use, and more skilled nursing facility (SNF) days for SNF users—but was disconfirmed for hospital days for those hospitalized. Higher Openness to Experience was associated with a greater likelihood of custodial home care use, and higher Agreeableness and lower Conscientiousness with a higher probability of custodial nursing home use. For users, lower Openness was associated with more ED visits and SNF days, and lower Conscientiousness with more ED visits. For many traits with significant associations, the predicted use was 16 to 30 percent greater for people high (low) versus low (high) in specific traits. Conclusions Personality traits are associated with Medicare beneficiaries’ use of many expensive health care services, findings that have implications for health services research and

  3. Personality change following head injury: assessment with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory.

    PubMed

    Lannoo, E; de Deyne, C; Colardyn, F; de Soete, G; Jannes, C

    1997-11-01

    We evaluated personality change following head injury in 68 patients at 6 months postinjury using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess the five personality dimensions of the Five-Factor Model of Personality. All items had to be rated twice, once for the preinjury and once for the current status. Twenty-eight trauma patients with injuries to other parts of the body than the head were used as controls. For the head-injured group, 63 relatives also completed the questionnaire. The results showed no differences between the ratings of head-injured patients and the ratings of trauma control patients. Both groups showed significant change in the personality dimensions Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness. Compared to their relatives, head-injured patients report a smaller change in Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Changes were not reported on the Openness and Agreeableness scales, by neither the head-injured or their relatives, nor by the trauma controls.

  4. Whose "Storm and Stress" Is It? Parent and Child Reports of Personality Development in the Transition to Early Adolescence.

    PubMed

    Göllner, Richard; Roberts, Brent W; Damian, Rodica I; Lüdtke, Oliver; Jonkmann, Kathrin; Trautwein, Ulrich

    2017-06-01

    The present study investigated Big Five personality trait development in the transition to early adolescence (from the fifth to eighth grade). Personality traits were assessed in 2,761 (47% female) students over a 3-year period of time. Youths' self-reports and parent ratings were used to test for cross-informant agreement. Acquiescent responding and measurement invariance were established with latent variable modeling. Growth curve models revealed three main findings: (a) Normative mean-level changes occurred for youths' self-report data and parent ratings with modest effects in both cases. (b) Agreeableness and Openness decreased for self-reports and parent ratings, whereas data source differences were found for Conscientiousness (decreased for self-reports and remained stable for parent ratings), Extraversion (increased for self-reports and decreased for parent ratings), and Neuroticism (remained stable for self-reports and decreased for parent ratings). (c) Girls showed a more mature personality overall (self-reports and parent ratings revealed higher levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness) and became more extraverted in the middle of adolescence (self-reports). Personality changes modestly during early adolescence whereby change does not occur in the direction of maturation, and substantial differences exist between parent ratings and self-reports. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  5. Association between Organizational Commitment and Personality Traits of Faculty Members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences.

    PubMed

    Khiavi, Farzad Faraji; Dashti, Rezvan; Mokhtari, Saeedeh

    2016-03-01

    Individual characteristics are important factors influencing organizational commitment. Also, committed human resources can lead organizations to performance improvement as well as personal and organizational achievements. This research aimed to determine the association between organizational commitment and personality traits among faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. the research population of this cross-sectional study was the faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Ahvaz, Iran). The sample size was determined to be 83. Data collection instruments were the Allen and Meyer questionnaire for organizational commitment and Neo for characteristics' features. The data were analyzed through Pearson's product-moment correlation and the independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and simple linear regression analysis (SLR) by SPSS. Continuance commitment showed a significant positive association with neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Normative commitment showed a significant positive association with conscientiousness and a negative association with extroversion (p = 0.001). Openness had a positive association with affective commitment. Openness and agreeableness, among the five characteristics' features, had the most effect on organizational commitment, as indicated by simple linear regression analysis. Faculty members' characteristics showed a significant association with their organizational commitment. Determining appropriate characteristic criteria for faculty members may lead to employing committed personnel to accomplish the University's objectives and tasks.

  6. The mindful personality: A meta-analysis from a cybernetic perspective.

    PubMed

    Hanley, Adam W; Garland, Eric L

    2017-12-01

    Dispositional mindfulness (DM), or the tendency to attend to present moment experience, may have important implications for the structure of human personality. However, relationships between DM and the Big Five Model of Personality (BF) have not been definitively established. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to extend previous investigations of the relationship between DM and the BF, utilizing a larger sample of studies, attending to relational inconsistencies potentially associated with alternative methods of operationalizing DM, conducting the first meta-analysis of the DM subdomains in relation to the BF, and situating the results in a cybernetic model. Results indicate that neuroticism evidenced the strongest, negative relationship with DM and conscientiousness evidenced the strongest, positive relationship with DM, suggesting the mindful personality may be characterized principally by emotional stability and conscientious self-regulation - potentially reflective of an inclination towards the personality metatrait stability. Measurement differences were also observed, with the mindful personality arrived at through the FFMQ differing to some extent from the mindful personality emerging from the MAAS. Broadly, the mindful personality associated with the FFMQ appears to reflect greater personality complexity, with the FFMQ evidencing associations with all five personality factors while the MAAS appears primarily linked with only three personality factors (Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness). Examination of the relationships between the BF and DM at the facet level also suggest unique patterns of association between the DM facets and each of the personality factors.

  7. Personality and Lung Function in Older Adults.

    PubMed

    Terracciano, Antonio; Stephan, Yannick; Luchetti, Martina; Gonzalez-Rothi, Ricardo; Sutin, Angelina R

    2017-10-01

    Lung disease is a leading cause of disability and death among older adults. We examine whether personality traits are associated with lung function and shortness of breath (dyspnea) in a national cohort with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Participants (N = 12,670) from the Health and Retirement Study were tested for peak expiratory flow (PEF) and completed measures of personality, health behaviors, and a medical history. High neuroticism and low extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with lower PEF, and higher likelihood of COPD and dyspnea. Conscientiousness had the strongest and most consistent associations, including lower risk of PEF less than 80% of the predicted value (OR = 0.67; 0.62-0.73) and dyspnea (OR = 0.52; 0.47-0.57). Although attenuated, the associations remained significant when accounting for smoking, physical activity, and chronic diseases including cardiovascular and psychiatric disorders. The associations between personality and PEF or dyspnea were similar among those with or without COPD, suggesting that psychological links to lung function are not disease dependent. In longitudinal analyses, high neuroticism (β = -0.019) and low conscientiousness (β = 0.027) predicted steeper declines in PEF. A vulnerable personality profile is common among individuals with limited lung function and COPD, predicts shortness of breath and worsening lung function. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. Internet Addiction of Young Greek Adults: Psychological Aspects and Information Privacy.

    PubMed

    Grammenos, P; Syrengela, N A; Magkos, E; Tsohou, A

    2017-01-01

    The main goal of this study is to examine the Internet addiction status of Greek young adults, aged from 18 to 25, using Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and self-administered questionnaires. In addition this paper assesses the psychological traits of addicted persons per addiction category, using the big five factor model tool to study the user's personality and analyze the components that lead a person to become Internet addicted. Furthermore, we found an association between addicted people and the five factors from the Big Five Factor Model; i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness to experience. Moreover, this paper discusses information privacy awareness issues related to Internet Addiction treatment.

  9. Personality Patterns in Narcotics Anonymous Members versus Individuals with Addiction Receiving Methadone Maintenance Therapy.

    PubMed

    Akhondzadeh, Shahin; Shabrang, Moslem; Rezaei, Omid; Rezaei, Farzin

    2014-07-01

    Therapeutic interventions can be classified into two distinct approaches: abstinent and maintenance method. Currently, there are no clear criteria for referring addicted patients to one of these modalities. We aimed to compare the personality characteristics of individuals with addiction who attended narcotics anonymous sessions with those who received methadone maintenance therapy. This was a cross- sectional study. The participants were NA members and patients who were undergoing methadone maintenance treatment in outpatient clinics. Using the randomized cluster sampling method, 200 individuals with opioid dependence were selected (each group 100 persons). Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and the five-factor personality inventory (NEO-FFI). Comparison of the mean scores of NEO-PPI in the two groups was performed by independent t test, and qualitative variables were compared using the Chi-square test. We found a significant difference between the MMT and NA groups with respect to neuroticism, extroversion, and agreeableness. No significant difference was found in the subscales of conscientious and openness. People who regularly attended the NA sessions had lower neuroticism and higher agreeableness than patients who were under the maintenance modality. Whether this is the cause or effect of attending NA sessions requires future large-scale cohort studies.

  10. Big Five Personality Traits and the General Factor of Personality as Moderators of Stress and Coping Reactions Following an Emergency Alarm on a Swiss University Campus.

    PubMed

    Hengartner, Michael P; van der Linden, Dimitri; Bohleber, Laura; von Wyl, Agnes

    2017-02-01

    We conducted an online survey including 306 participants aged 18-64 years to assess the general factor of personality (GFP) and Big Five personality traits in relation to individual stress and coping reactions following a shooting emergency alarm at a Swiss university campus. Although the emergency eventually turned out to be a false alarm, various witnesses showed pronounced distress owing to a vast police operation. The GFP structure was replicated using two alternative modelling approaches. Neuroticism related substantially to acute fear and traumatic distress as well as to more enduring maladaptive coping. Agreeableness was negatively associated with the coping strategy of medication use, whereas both agreeableness and conscientiousness related positively to social activity following the emergency. The GFP related moderately to peri-traumatic distress and showed a substantial negative association with medication use and a strong positive association with social activity. In conclusion, both the GFP and Big Five traits significantly moderate stress responses following a stressful life event. The GFP predominantly relates to socially adaptive coping, whereas in particular neuroticism accounts for acute stress reactions such as fear and traumatic distress. These findings support the notion that personality influences how persons react in the face of adversity. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Personality Change in the Preclinical Phase of Alzheimer Disease.

    PubMed

    Terracciano, Antonio; An, Yang; Sutin, Angelina R; Thambisetty, Madhav; Resnick, Susan M

    2017-12-01

    Changes in behavior and personality are 1 criterion for the diagnosis of dementia. It is unclear, however, whether such changes begin before the clinical onset of the disease. To determine whether increases in neuroticism, declines in conscientiousness, and changes in other personality traits occur before the onset of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. A cohort of 2046 community-dwelling older adults who volunteered to participate in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging were included. The study examined personality and clinical assessments obtained between 1980 and July 13, 2016, from participants with no cognitive impairment at first assessment who were followed up for as long as 36 years (mean [SD], 12.05 [9.54] years). The self-report personality scales were not considered during consensus diagnostic conferences. Change in self-rated personality traits assessed in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer disease and other dementias with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a 240-item questionnaire that assesses 30 facets, 6 for each of the 5 major dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Of the 2046 participants, 931 [45.5%] were women; mean (SD) age at first assessment was 62.56 (14.63) years. During 24 569 person-years, mild cognitive impairment was diagnosed in 104 (5.1%) individuals, and all-cause dementia was diagnosed in 255 (12.5%) participants, including 194 (9.5%) with Alzheimer disease. Multilevel modeling that accounted for age, sex, race, and educational level found significant differences on the intercept of several traits: individuals who developed dementia scored higher on neuroticism (β = 2.83; 95% CI, 1.44 to 4.22; P < .001) and lower on conscientiousness (β = -3.34; 95% CI, -4.93 to -1.75; P < .001) and extraversion (β = -1.74; 95% CI, -3.23 to -0.25; P = .02). Change in personality (ie, slope), however, was not significantly different between the nonimpaired and

  12. Assessment of Dependency, Agreeableness, and Their Relationship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lowe, Jennifer Ruth; Edmundson, Maryanne; Widiger, Thomas A.

    2009-01-01

    Agreeableness is central to the 5-factor model conceptualization of dependency. However, 4 meta-analyses of the relationship of agreeableness with dependency have failed to identify a consistent relationship. It was the hypothesis of the current study that these findings might be due in part to an emphasis on the assessment of adaptive, rather…

  13. The moderating effect of leadership on the relationship between personality and performance.

    PubMed

    Yeh, Shu-Chuan Jennifer; Yuan, Kuo-Shu; Chen, Shih-Hua Sarah; Lo, Ying-Ying; Chou, Hsueh-Chih; Huang, Shan; Chiu, Herng-Chia; Wan, Thomas T H

    2016-10-01

    To examine how personality and leadership influence efficiency in the nursing service environment. Leadership and personality contribute to the success and failure of a unit. However, how they interact to influence performance is still understudied. We used matched pairs sample design to survey 135 head nurses and 1353 registered nurses on validated instruments of demographic characteristics, leadership styles and personality during June and July of 2014. Efficiency was calculated using Data Envelopment Analysis. Tobit regression was used for analysis. High conscientiousness and low neuroticism were significantly associated with higher efficiency. Particularly, under the initiating structure leadership style, high conscientiousness, high extraversion, high agreeableness, high openness and low neuroticism were related to higher efficiency. Openness would improve efficiency under a low consideration leadership style. Most personality traits were related to higher efficiency under the initiating leadership style. Only openness would improve leaders' efficiency under a high initiating structure and a low consideration leadership style. Considering personality as one factor of selecting head nurses, selecting the right person can improve the fit between individuals and organisations, which in turn, improves job performance. Training head nurses to develop better leadership styles in nurses is another way to enhance efficiency. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Personality traits and educational identity formation in late adolescents: longitudinal associations and academic progress.

    PubMed

    Klimstra, Theo A; Luyckx, Koen; Germeijs, Veerle; Meeus, Wim H J; Goossens, Luc

    2012-03-01

    Changes in personality traits in late adolescence and young adulthood are believed to co-occur with changes in identity, but little research is available that supports this hypothesis. The present study addressed this relatively understudied area of research by examining longitudinal associations of Big Five personality traits (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) with dimensions of identity formation (i.e., identification with commitment and exploration in depth) in the domain of education. For this purpose, we used four annual waves of longitudinal data on 485 Belgian late adolescents (87.4% female; mean age at T1 = 18.6 years) covering a 3-year period. Multivariate growth models revealed that changes in Big Five personality traits were related to changes in identification with commitment and exploration in depth. Cross-lagged panel models uncovered that, except for Openness, all Big Five traits predicted educational identity dimensions. Educational identity dimensions only predicted Neuroticism. In addition, adolescents with higher levels on the personality trait of Conscientiousness faced fewer study delays. In sum, the present study adds to the growing literature that explores the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of personality trait development by uncovering the interplay of personality traits, educational identity dimensions, and academic progress in late adolescents.

  15. Predicting Personality Disorder Functioning Styles by the Five-Factor Nonverbal Personality Questionnaire in Healthy Volunteers and Personality Disorder Patients.

    PubMed

    Gao, Qianqian; Ma, Guorong; Zhu, Qisha; Fan, Hongying; Wang, Wei

    2016-01-01

    Detecting personality disorders in the illiterate population is a challenge, but nonverbal tools measuring personality traits such as the Five-Factor Nonverbal Personality Questionnaire (FFNPQ) might help. We hypothesized that FFNPQ traits are associated with personality disorder functioning styles in a predictable way, especially in a sample of personality disorder patients. We therefore invited 106 personality disorder patients and 205 healthy volunteers to answer the FFNPQ and the Parker Personality Measure (PERM) which measures 11 personality disorder functioning styles. Patients scored significantly higher on the FFNPQ neuroticism and conscientiousness traits and all 11 PERM styles. In both groups, the 5 FFNPQ traits displayed extensive associations with the 11 PERM styles, respectively, and the associations were more specific in patients. Associations between neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness traits and most PERM styles were less exclusive, but conscientiousness was associated with antisocial (-) and obsessive-compulsive styles, and openness to experience with schizotypal and dependent (-) styles. Our study has demonstrated correlations between FFNPQ traits and PERM styles, and implies the nonverbal measure of personality traits is capable of aiding the diagnoses of personality disorders in the illiterate population. Enlarging sample size and including the illiterate might make for more stable results. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Low Openness on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory as a Risk Factor for Treatment-Resistant Depression

    PubMed Central

    Takahashi, Michio; Shirayama, Yukihiko; Muneoka, Katsumasa; Suzuki, Masatoshi; Sato, Koichi; Hashimoto, Kenji

    2013-01-01

    Background Recently, we reported that low reward dependence, and to a lesser extent, low cooperativeness in the Temperature and Character Inventory (TCI) may be risk factors for treatment-resistant depression. Here, we analyzed additional psychological traits in these patients. Methods We administered Costa and McCrae's five-factor model personality inventory, NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), to antidepressant-treatment resistant depressed patients (n = 35), remitted depressed patients (n = 27), and healthy controls (n = 66). We also evaluated the relationships between scores on NEO and TCI, using the same cohort of patients with treatment-resistant depression, as our previous study. Results Patients with treatment-resistant depression showed high scores for neuroticism, low scores for extraversion, openness and conscientiousness, without changes in agreeableness, on the NEO. However, patients in remitted depression showed no significant scores on NEO. Patients with treatment-resistant depression and low openness on NEO showed positive relationships with reward dependence and cooperativeness on the TCI. Conclusions Many studies have reported that depressed patients show high neuroticism, low extraversion and low conscientiousness on the NEO. Our study highlights low openness on the NEO, as a risk mediator in treatment-resistant depression. This newly identified trait should be included as a risk factor in treatment-resistant depression. PMID:24019864

  17. Low openness on the revised NEO personality inventory as a risk factor for treatment-resistant depression.

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Michio; Shirayama, Yukihiko; Muneoka, Katsumasa; Suzuki, Masatoshi; Sato, Koichi; Hashimoto, Kenji

    2013-01-01

    Recently, we reported that low reward dependence, and to a lesser extent, low cooperativeness in the Temperature and Character Inventory (TCI) may be risk factors for treatment-resistant depression. Here, we analyzed additional psychological traits in these patients. We administered Costa and McCrae's five-factor model personality inventory, NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), to antidepressant-treatment resistant depressed patients (n=35), remitted depressed patients (n=27), and healthy controls (n=66). We also evaluated the relationships between scores on NEO and TCI, using the same cohort of patients with treatment-resistant depression, as our previous study. Patients with treatment-resistant depression showed high scores for neuroticism, low scores for extraversion, openness and conscientiousness, without changes in agreeableness, on the NEO. However, patients in remitted depression showed no significant scores on NEO. Patients with treatment-resistant depression and low openness on NEO showed positive relationships with reward dependence and cooperativeness on the TCI. Many studies have reported that depressed patients show high neuroticism, low extraversion and low conscientiousness on the NEO. Our study highlights low openness on the NEO, as a risk mediator in treatment-resistant depression. This newly identified trait should be included as a risk factor in treatment-resistant depression.

  18. The impact of social cognitive and personality factors on teachers' reported inclusive behaviour.

    PubMed

    Wilson, Claire; Woolfson, Lisa Marks; Durkin, Kevin; Elliott, Mark A

    2016-09-01

    Inclusive education of children with intellectual disabilities (ID) is intended to maximize their educational experience within the mainstream school setting. While policy mandates inclusion, it is classroom teachers' behaviours that determine its success. This study provided a novel application of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) in this setting. It examined the effect of TPB variables and personality on reported inclusive teaching behaviours for learners with ID. The sample comprised 145 primary school teachers (85% female) from mainstream schools across Scotland. Participants completed a TPB questionnaire assessing attitudes (instrumental and affective), subjective norms (injunctive and descriptive norms), perceptions of control (self-efficacy and controllability), and behavioural intentions towards using inclusive strategies. The Big Five Personality Index, measuring extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, neuroticism, and agreeableness, was also completed. Teaching practices were reported 2 weeks later. Instrumental attitudes, descriptive norm, self-efficacy, and neuroticism predicted teachers' intentions to use inclusive strategies. Further, conscientiousness had indirect effects on intentions through TPB variables. These intentions, however, did not predict reported behaviour expected by TPB. Instead, self-efficacy was the only significant predictor of reported behaviour. This study demonstrates the application of TPB to an educational setting and contributes to the understanding of teachers' reported use of inclusive strategies for children with ID. © 2016 The British Psychological Society.

  19. Matters of conscience and conscientiousness: the place of ego development in the Five-factor model.

    PubMed

    Kurtz, John E; Tiegreen, Sara B

    2005-12-01

    The Five-factor model (FFM; Digman, 1990; Goldberg, 1990) and Loevinger's (1994) theory of ego development are two active research traditions that are often construed as incompatible approaches to the study of personality. For example, each theory proposes a different view of the concept of conscientiousness. Loevinger argued that FFM conscientiousness, which emphasizes attributes such as order, self-discipline, and achievement striving, lacks a moral component and is more similar to the conformist stage in her theory. To investigate these claims, we administered the Revised NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) and the Washington University Sentence Completion Test (WUSCT; Hy & Loevinger, 1996) to 120 university students on 2 separate occasions. Together, the five traits of the FFM significantly predicted item sum scores from the WUSCT (multiple R = .54). Unique linear relationships of Openness to Experience and Agreeableness with ego level demonstrated that the two theories proposed similar constructs. We argue that these two FFM dimensions have conceptual relevance to the cognitive and interpersonal aspects of the ego development construct. We draw further connections between these FFM dimensions, ego development, and human values.

  20. Does personality influence eating styles and food choices? Direct and indirect effects.

    PubMed

    Keller, Carmen; Siegrist, Michael

    2015-01-01

    In a random sample (N = 951) from the general population, direct and indirect effects of the Big Five personality traits on eating styles and food choices were examined. Path models revealed that high openness to experience were associated with higher fruit, vegetable and salad and lower meat and soft drink consumption. High agreeableness was associated with low meat consumption. Neuroticism, conscientiousness and extraversion significantly and directly influenced eating styles and significantly indirectly influenced food choices. Conscientiousness mainly promoted fruit consumption by promoting restrained eating and prevented meat consumption by reducing external eating. Conscientiousness prevented consumption of sweet and savory foods, and of sugar-sweetened soft drinks by promoting restrained eating and reducing external eating, and consumption of sweet and savory foods also by reducing emotional eating. Neuroticism promoted consumption of sweet and savory foods by promoting emotional and external eating. Extraversion promoted sweet and savory, meat and soft drink consumption via promoting external eating. Results suggest that neurotic and emotionally unstable individuals seem to adopt counter-regulatory external or emotional eating and eat high-energy dense sweet and savory foods. Highly conscientious individuals adopt regulatory dietary restraint and practice counter-regulatory emotional or external eating less, resulting in more consumption of recommended and less consumption of not recommended food. The higher sociability of extraverted people, which is basically a health beneficial psychological resource, seems to have health-averse effects. Personality traits are stable; however, the resulting more proximal, counter-regulatory eating styles such as emotional or external eating might be more successfully addressed in interventions to prevent overeating and overweight. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Five-Factor Model Personality Profiles: The Differences between Alcohol and Opiate Addiction among Females.

    PubMed

    Raketic, Diana; Barisic, Jasmina V; Svetozarevic, Snezana M; Gazibara, Tatjana; Tepavcevic, Darija Kisic; Milovanovic, Srdjan D

    2017-03-01

    The prevalence of female alcohol and substance abusers has markedly increased. The main objective of this research was to explore personality profiles among females who had alcohol and opiate dependence. The aim of the study is to analyse if there is differences in personality profiles of females addicted to alcohol and opiates. We hypothesized that there might be significant differences in personality profiles among subgroups of women who present with alcohol and opiate use disorders. Of 157 consecutive women with diagnosis of alcohol/opiate addiction, 62 fulfilled following inclusion criteria: age 19-45 years, abstinence from alcohol and opiates for at least 10 days prior to enrollment. Alcohol-dependent group consisted of 30 females, while opiate-dependent group consisted of 32 females. The control group involved 30 age-matched randomly chosen healthy women. The data were collected using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). The multiple stepwise discriminant analysis was used to determine relations between personality traits and the probability of belonging to one of the study groups. Significant differences in the NEO-PI-R scores were observed between groups for all main personality traits except for Openness to Experience. Compared with controls, substance-dependent women scored significantly higher on Neuroticism and lower on Conscientiousness. Opiate-dependent females scored the highest on Neuroticism and on Extraversion and lowest on Agreeableness and on Conscientiousness. Alcohol-dependent females scored higher on Conscientiousness and lower on Neuroticism compared to opiate-dependent women. The results of our study confirmed significant characteristics in personality profiles among females with alcohol and opiate dependence, as well as the difference between these two groups of substance abusers and their healthy controls. The distinct personality characteristics among different groups of substance addicted women should be taken into account

  2. Association of premorbid personality with behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia with Lewy bodies: Comparison with Alzheimer's disease patients.

    PubMed

    Tabata, Kazuki; Saijo, Yasuaki; Morikawa, Fumiyoshi; Naoe, Juichiro; Yoshioka, Eiji; Kawanishi, Yasuyuki; Nakagi, Yoshihiko; Yoshida, Takahiko

    2017-06-01

    The aim of this study was to elucidate the relation between premorbid personality traits and behavioral and psychological symptoms in dementia (BPSD) in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Forty-one DLB patients and 98 AD patients were assessed for BPSD using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Each patient's midlife personality traits were rated by a family member using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) questionnaire. In multiple regression analyses for DLB patients, NPI total score and anxiety were significantly associated with premorbid openness, delusion with premorbid agreeableness, and agitation with premorbid conscientiousness. In AD patients, depression was significantly associated with premorbid neuroticism, and agitation, apathy, and irritability with premorbid agreeableness. Premorbid personalities affected BPSD differently in DLB and AD. Given the differences in the effects of premorbid personalities on BPSD, additional studies are needed to develop interventions to reduce these symptoms. © 2017 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences © 2017 Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.

  3. The relation of personality to alcohol abuse/dependence in a high-risk sample.

    PubMed

    Loukas, A; Krull, J L; Chassin, L; Carle, A C

    2000-12-01

    The current study had two goals. The first goal was to test the mediational role of young adult personality in the relation between parental alcoholism and young adult alcoholism. The second was to examine the associations between personality and alcohol use motives and reasons to limit drinking in order to explore possible mechanisms by which personality may influence alcohol abuse/dependence. Multilevel modeling techniques were used to analyze data obtained from a community sample of young adult children of alcoholics and demographically matched controls. Results revealed that young adult neuroticism and agreeableness each, in part, mediated the effect of parental alcoholism on young adult alcoholism. Moreover, individuals high in neuloticism reported stronger coping motives to use alcohol, individuals low in agreeableness reported stronger coping motives and weaker upbringing reasons to limit drinking, and individuals low in conscientiousness reported stronger coping and enhancement motives to use alcohol, and weaker performance reasons to limit drinking.

  4. The Origins of Neuroticism.

    PubMed

    Barlow, David H; Ellard, Kristen K; Sauer-Zavala, Shannon; Bullis, Jacqueline R; Carl, Jenna R

    2014-09-01

    In this article, we provide a fresh perspective on the developmental origins of neuroticism--a dimension of temperament marked by elevated stress reactivity resulting in the frequent experience of negative emotions. This negative affectivity is accompanied by a pervasive perception that the world is a dangerous and threatening place, along with beliefs about one's inability to manage or cope with challenging events. Historically, neuroticism has been viewed as a stable, genetically based trait. However, recent understanding of ongoing gene-environment interactions that occur throughout the life span suggests there may be a more complex and dynamic etiology. Thus, the purpose of this article is to offer a theory for understanding the development of neuroticism that integrates genetic, neurobiological, and environmental contributions to this trait. Given the strong correlation between neuroticism and the development of negative health outcomes--most notably, the full range of anxiety and mood disorders--an enhanced understanding of how neuroticism originates has implications for the treatment and prevention of a broad range of pathologies and, perhaps, even for the prevention of neuroticism itself. © The Author(s) 2014.

  5. Association Between Sociodemographic Factors, Personality, and Oral Habits (Tooth Brushing and Smoking) in Spanish Adults.

    PubMed

    Gómez-Polo, Cristina; Montero, Javier

    The aim of the present study was to describe personality traits of a sample of Spanish adults, identify the main sociodemographic factors related to personality, and assess the influence of these traits on healthy dental habits. A cross-sectional design was used with 235 subjects, all of Spanish nationality and aged between 18 and 80 years, with a minimum educational level (ie, they had completed only the minimum obligatory schooling), ensuring that none of the subjects had any psychologic disturbance. The data on five personality dimensions were recorded. Sociodemographic and behavioral standard scores (z) were studied for each personality dimension, and the scores were related to the other variables studied. A significant linear correlation was observed between the z scores of the personality factors and the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics. The men had personalities with significantly less neuroticism, less openness, less agreeableness, and less conscientiousness than the women. In behavioral terms, those who brushed more than once a day were more agreeable (0.1 ± 0.9) than those who only brushed once a day (-0.2 ± 1.2), and smokers had higher mean scores for extroversion (0.3 ± 0.9) than did nonsmokers (-0.1 ± 1.0). The most developed personality traits in this sample, as in the reference population, were conscientiousness (123.1 ± 22.9 points) and agreeableness (119.2 ± 19.1 points). The main sociodemographic factors of personality were found to be age and sex. Moreover, it was observed that certain personality dimensions were linked to smoking and tooth brushing habits.

  6. Maternal ADHD symptoms, personality, and parenting stress: Differences between mothers of children with ADHD and mothers of comparison children

    PubMed Central

    Algorta, Guillermo Perez; Kragh, Carolyn A.; Arnold, L. Eugene; Molina, Brooke S. G.; Hinshaw, Stephen P.; Swanson, James M.; Hetchman, Lily; Copley, LaRae M.; Lowe, Matthew; Jensen, Peter S.

    2017-01-01

    Mothers raising a child with ADHD can experience high parenting stress. Mothers’ personality traits and own ADHD symptoms could also affect parenting stress. 430 biological mothers from the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA mothers) and 237 of a local normative comparison group (LNCG mothers) were evaluated at baseline. Interactions were tested between mothers’ group and maternal personality/ADHD symptoms related to parenting stress. Compared to LNCG, MTA mothers had higher parenting stress, self-reported ADHD, neuroticism, and lower conscientiousness and agreeableness. When personality and ADHD were evaluated together, ADHD symptoms interacted with mothers’ group: high maternal ADHD was positively associated with parenting stress for LNCG but not MTA mothers. Personality traits or ADHD characteristics do not appear operative for the high parenting stress of mothers of a child with ADHD. However, high maternal ADHD or low conscientiousness are associated with stress levels similar to raising a child with ADHD. PMID:25525155

  7. Extraversion and behavioral activation: integrating the components of approach.

    PubMed

    Quilty, Lena C; DeYoung, Colin G; Oakman, Jonathan M; Bagby, R Michael

    2014-01-01

    This investigation evaluates the structure and correlates of lower order traits related to approach, specifically, facets of extraversion and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity. A 3-factor structure of approach was derived in community and clinical samples: assertiveness, enthusiasm, and sensation seeking. All factors were positively associated with Openness/Intellect scores. Enthusiasm and assertiveness were both negatively associated with Neuroticism scores, but were distinguished by associations with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Sensation seeking was negatively associated with Conscientiousness scores. The 3 factors demonstrated a unique profile of association with components of impulsivity. Enthusiasm and assertiveness were negatively related to psychopathological symptoms, whereas sensation seeking was largely independent of psychopathology. Results suggest that approach is associated with 3 subfactors, which differ in their pattern or magnitude of associations with other variables, thus underscoring the importance of distinguishing among them. Further, results support the construct validity of the Assertiveness and Enthusiasm aspect scales of the Big Five Aspect Scales to assess traits at this level of the personality hierarchy.

  8. The impact of perceived discrimination on personality among Chinese migrant children: The moderating role of parental support.

    PubMed

    Xiang, Xiaoping; Wong, Daniel Fu Keung; Hou, Ke

    2018-05-01

    Previous research has indicated that perceived discrimination has harmful effects on migrant children's physical, mental and behavioral health. However, little is known as to whether these harmful effects cumulate to impact on migrant children's personalities. This study examines the effect of perceived discrimination on personality, as well as the moderating role of parental support in the discrimination-personality linkage. A purposeful convenience sample of 215 migrant children in Beijing, China, completed a standardized questionnaire. Migrant children experienced a moderate level of perceived discrimination, with Form 8 students experiencing greater discrimination than lower grades and those with lower family incomes also experiencing greater discrimination than those with higher family incomes. Perceived discrimination significantly predicted neuroticism; parental support significantly predicted extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, but the moderating effect of parental support was only marginally significant for the relation between discrimination and conscientiousness. This study underlines the need for researchers and policy makers to pay more attention to the impact of perceived discrimination on migrant children's personality development.

  9. What do conscientious people do? Development and validation of the Behavioral Indicators of Conscientiousness (BIC).

    PubMed

    Jackson, Joshua J; Wood, Dustin; Bogg, Tim; Walton, Kate E; Harms, Peter D; Roberts, Brent W

    2010-08-01

    Typical assessments of personality traits collapse behaviors, thoughts, and feelings into a single measure without distinguishing between these different manifestations. To address this lack of specification, the current study develops and validates a measure that assesses a number of broad behaviors associated with the personality trait of conscientiousness (the Behavioral Indicators of Conscientiousness; BIC). Findings suggest that the lower-order structure of conscientious behaviors is mostly similar to the lower-order structure in extant trait measures. Furthermore, a daily diary method was used to validate the BIC against frequency counts of conscientious behavior. Overall, the results identify specific behaviors that conscientious individuals tend to perform and highlight possible advantages of this approach over broad trait assessment.

  10. Identification of genetic loci shared between schizophrenia and the Big Five personality traits.

    PubMed

    Smeland, Olav B; Wang, Yunpeng; Lo, Min-Tzu; Li, Wen; Frei, Oleksandr; Witoelar, Aree; Tesli, Martin; Hinds, David A; Tung, Joyce Y; Djurovic, Srdjan; Chen, Chi-Hua; Dale, Anders M; Andreassen, Ole A

    2017-05-22

    Schizophrenia is associated with differences in personality traits, and recent studies suggest that personality traits and schizophrenia share a genetic basis. Here we aimed to identify specific genetic loci shared between schizophrenia and the Big Five personality traits using a Bayesian statistical framework. Using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on personality traits in the 23andMe cohort (n = 59,225) and schizophrenia in the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium cohort (n = 82,315), we evaluated overlap in common genetic variants. The Big Five personality traits neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness were measured using a web implementation of the Big Five Inventory. Applying the conditional false discovery rate approach, we increased discovery of genetic loci and identified two loci shared between neuroticism and schizophrenia and six loci shared between openness and schizophrenia. The study provides new insights into the relationship between personality traits and schizophrenia by highlighting genetic loci involved in their common genetic etiology.

  11. Development and Validation of the Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM).

    PubMed

    Watson, David; Nus, Ericka; Wu, Kevin D

    2017-06-01

    The Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM) is a comprehensive hierarchical measure of personality. The FI-FFM was created across five phases of scale development. It includes five facets apiece for neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness; four facets within agreeableness; and three facets for openness. We present reliability and validity data obtained from three samples. The FI-FFM scales are internally consistent and highly stable over 2 weeks (retest rs ranged from .64 to .82, median r = .77). They show strong convergent and discriminant validity vis-à-vis the NEO, the Big Five Inventory, and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. Moreover, self-ratings on the scales show moderate to strong agreement with corresponding ratings made by informants ( rs ranged from .26 to .66, median r = .42). Finally, in joint analyses with the NEO Personality Inventory-3, the FI-FFM neuroticism facet scales display significant incremental validity in predicting indicators of internalizing psychopathology.

  12. [Burnout in officers of the prison service units. The role of personality and selected professional characteristics].

    PubMed

    Sygit-Kowalkowska, Ewa; Weber-Rajek, Magdalena; Herkt, Martyna; Ossowski, Roman

    2017-02-28

    The researchers involved in the studies of burnout indicate its 3 sources: the structure of the personality, the specificity of interpersonal relationships, and the organizational factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of burnout and personality characteristics of prison officers, as well as to determine predictors of burnout in this occupational group. The study was conducted among prison officers, who were divided into 2 groups, the officers working in direct contact with prisoners (group I) and those employed in the prison administration (group II). The study used 2 tools: NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ). Analysis of personality traits in the study group showed high severity traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. However, the best results were obtained in terms of extraversion and the lowest in the range of conscientiousness. The level of burnout in both groups was found to be within the upper limit of the average results, without statistically significant differences between the groups. The results showed that people working in direct contact with prisoners experience greater disappointments and psychophysical exhaustion at work. The analyses showed that the level of exhaustion and disappointment of the employees surveyed increases with increasing seniority. It was also shown that the level of neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness is the predictor of effectiveness. The level of burnout in the study group falls within the upper limit of the average results. Personality traits are an important determinant for the development of symptoms of burnout in the penitentiary officers, and their role changes over the years of continuous prison service. The position at work diversifies the degree of experiencing symptoms of burnout. Med Pr 2017;68(1):85-94. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

  13. Personality Factors in the Long Life Family Study

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Objectives. To evaluate personality profiles of Long Life Family Study participants relative to population norms and offspring of centenarians from the New England Centenarian Study. Method. Personality domains of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness were assessed with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory in 4,937 participants from the Long Life Family Study (mean age 70 years). A linear mixed model of age and gender was implemented adjusting for other covariates. Results. A significant age trend was found in all five personality domains. On average, the offspring generation of long-lived families scored low in neuroticism, high in extraversion, and within average values for the other three domains. Older participants tended to score higher in neuroticism and lower in the other domains compared with younger participants, but the estimated scores generally remained within average population values. No significant differences were found between long-lived family members and their spouses. Discussion. Personality factors and more specifically low neuroticism and high extraversion may be important for achieving extreme old age. In addition, personality scores of family members were not significantly different from those of their spouses, suggesting that environmental factors may play a significant role in addition to genetic factors. PMID:23275497

  14. Personality traits measured by the Swedish universities Scales of Personality: factor structure and position within the five-factor model in an Estonian sample.

    PubMed

    Aluoja, Anu; Voogne, Helina; Maron, Eduard; Gustavsson, J Petter; Võhma, Ulle; Shlik, Jakov

    2009-01-01

    The study aims to test the reliability and validity of the Estonian version of the Swedish universities Scales of Personality (SSP), and to characterize the position of the SSP-measured traits within the basic personality dimensions of the five-factor model. A total of 529 participants completed the Estonian version of the SSP. A subsample of 197 persons completed the SSP together with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). The internal consistency of the SSP scales was satisfactory. Principal component analysis yielded three factors representing neuroticism, aggression and disinhibition. The factor solution obtained in the Estonian sample was similar to the original SSP study in the Swedish normative sample. NEO-PI-R Neuroticism had highest correlations with SSP neuroticism factor scales. Extraversion had strongest relationship with adventure seeking and low detachment. Agreeableness correlated positively with SSP social desirability and negatively to aggression-irritability scales. Conscientiousness facet Deliberation correlated with Impulsiveness. The Estonian SSP showed acceptable reliability and validity, which confirms that SSP is applicable in different social and cultural background. The SSP measures traits that correspond to the major personality models. The SSP characterizes three broad dimensions of personality, namely neuroticism, disinhibition and aggression, which are useful in assessment of personality correlates of mental disorders.

  15. Public Health Significance of Neuroticism

    PubMed Central

    Lahey, Benjamin B.

    2009-01-01

    The personality trait of neuroticism refers to relatively stable tendencies to respond with negative emotions to threat, frustration, or loss. Individuals in the population vary markedly on this trait, ranging from frequent and intense emotional reactions to minor challenges to little emotional reaction even in the face of significant difficulties. Although not widely appreciated, there is growing evidence that neuroticism is a psychological trait of profound public health significance. Neuroticism is a robust correlate and predictor of many different mental and physical disorders, comorbidity among them, and the frequency of mental and general health service use. Indeed, neuroticism apparently is a predictor of the quality and longevity of our lives. Achieving a full understanding of the nature and origins of neuroticism, and the mechanisms through which neuroticism is linked to mental and physical disorders, should be a top priority for research. Knowing why neuroticism predicts such a wide variety of seemingly diverse outcomes should lead to improved understanding of commonalities among those outcomes and improved strategies for preventing them. PMID:19449983

  16. Assessment of dependency, agreeableness, and their relationship.

    PubMed

    Lowe, Jennifer Ruth; Edmundson, Maryanne; Widiger, Thomas A

    2009-12-01

    Agreeableness is central to the 5-factor model conceptualization of dependency. However, 4 meta-analyses of the relationship of agreeableness with dependency have failed to identify a consistent relationship. It was the hypothesis of the current study that these findings might be due in part to an emphasis on the assessment of adaptive, rather than maladaptive, variants of agreeableness. This hypothesis was tested by using experimentally altered NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992) items that were reversed with respect to their implications for maladaptiveness. The predicted correlations were confirmed with the experimentally altered version with measures of dependent personality disorder, measures of trait dependency (including 2 measures of adaptive dependency), and measures of dependency from alternative dimensional models of personality disorder. The theoretical implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

  17. Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five.

    PubMed

    Weisberg, Yanna J; Deyoung, Colin G; Hirsh, Jacob B

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates gender differences in personality traits, both at the level of the Big Five and at the sublevel of two aspects within each Big Five domain. Replicating previous findings, women reported higher Big Five Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism scores than men. However, more extensive gender differences were found at the level of the aspects, with significant gender differences appearing in both aspects of every Big Five trait. For Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, the gender differences were found to diverge at the aspect level, rendering them either small or undetectable at the Big Five level. These findings clarify the nature of gender differences in personality and highlight the utility of measuring personality at the aspect level.

  18. Gender Differences in Personality across the Ten Aspects of the Big Five

    PubMed Central

    Weisberg, Yanna J.; DeYoung, Colin G.; Hirsh, Jacob B.

    2011-01-01

    This paper investigates gender differences in personality traits, both at the level of the Big Five and at the sublevel of two aspects within each Big Five domain. Replicating previous findings, women reported higher Big Five Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism scores than men. However, more extensive gender differences were found at the level of the aspects, with significant gender differences appearing in both aspects of every Big Five trait. For Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, the gender differences were found to diverge at the aspect level, rendering them either small or undetectable at the Big Five level. These findings clarify the nature of gender differences in personality and highlight the utility of measuring personality at the aspect level. PMID:21866227

  19. The Contribution of Agreeableness and Self-efficacy Beliefs to Prosociality

    PubMed Central

    CAPRARA, GIAN VITTORIO; ALESSANDRI, GUIDO; DI GIUNTA, LAURA; PANERAI, LAURA; EISENBERG, NANCY

    2010-01-01

    The present study examined how agreeableness and self-efficacy beliefs about responding empathically to others’ needs predict individuals’ prosociality across time. Participants were 377 adolescents (66% males) aged 16 at Time 1 and 18 at Time 2 who took part at this study. Measures of agreeableness, empathic self-efficacy and prosociality were collected at two time points. The findings corroborated the posited paths of relations to assigning agreeableness a major role in predicting the level of individuals’ prosociality. Empathic self-efficacy beliefs partially mediated the relation of agreeableness to prosociality. The posited conceptual model accounted for a significant portion of variance in prosociality and provides guidance with respect to interventions aimed at promoting prosociality. PMID:20592954

  20. Association between Organizational Commitment and Personality Traits of Faculty Members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

    PubMed Central

    Khiavi, Farzad Faraji; Dashti, Rezvan; Mokhtari, Saeedeh

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Individual characteristics are important factors influencing organizational commitment. Also, committed human resources can lead organizations to performance improvement as well as personal and organizational achievements. This research aimed to determine the association between organizational commitment and personality traits among faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Methods the research population of this cross-sectional study was the faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Ahvaz, Iran). The sample size was determined to be 83. Data collection instruments were the Allen and Meyer questionnaire for organizational commitment and Neo for characteristics’ features. The data were analyzed through Pearson’s product-moment correlation and the independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and simple linear regression analysis (SLR) by SPSS. Results Continuance commitment showed a significant positive association with neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Normative commitment showed a significant positive association with conscientiousness and a negative association with extroversion (p = 0.001). Openness had a positive association with affective commitment. Openness and agreeableness, among the five characteristics’ features, had the most effect on organizational commitment, as indicated by simple linear regression analysis. Conclusion Faculty members’ characteristics showed a significant association with their organizational commitment. Determining appropriate characteristic criteria for faculty members may lead to employing committed personnel to accomplish the University’s objectives and tasks. PMID:27123222

  1. Brief report: How short is too short? An ultra-brief measure of the big-five personality domains implicates "agreeableness" as a risk for all-cause mortality.

    PubMed

    Chapman, Benjamin P; Elliot, Ari J

    2017-08-01

    Controversy exists over the use of brief Big Five scales in health studies. We investigated links between an ultra-brief measure, the Big Five Inventory-10, and mortality in the General Social Survey. The Agreeableness scale was associated with elevated mortality risk (hazard ratio = 1.26, p = .017). This effect was attributable to the reversed-scored item "Tends to find fault with others," so that greater fault-finding predicted lower mortality risk. The Conscientiousness scale approached meta-analytic estimates, which were not precise enough for significance. Those seeking Big Five measurement in health studies should be aware that the Big Five Inventory-10 may yield unusual results.

  2. Iranian and Swedish adolescents: differences in personality traits and well-being

    PubMed Central

    Nima, Ali A.; Sikström, Sverker; Archer, Trevor

    2013-01-01

    Introduction. This study addresses the need to further contextualize research on well-being (e.g., Kjell, 2011) in terms of cross-cultural aspects of personality traits among adolescents and by examining two different conceptualizations of well-being: subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive and negative affect) and psychological well-being (i.e., positive relations with others, environmental mastery, self-acceptance, autonomy, personal growth, and life purpose). Methods. Iranian (N = 122, mean age 15.23 years) and Swedish (N = 109, mean age 16.69 years) adolescents were asked to fill out a Big Five personality test, as well as questionnaires assessing subjective well-being and psychological well-being. Results. Swedes reported higher subjective and psychological well-being, while Iranians reported higher degree of Agreeableness, Openness and Conscientiousness. Neuroticism and Extraversion did not differ between cultures. Neuroticism was related to well-being within both cultures. Openness was related to well-being only among Iranians, and Extraversion only among Swedes. A mediation analysis within the Swedish sample, the only sample meeting statistical criteria for mediation analysis to be conducted, demonstrated that psychological well-being mediated the relationship between Neuroticism and subjective well-being as well as between Extraversion and subjective well-being. Conclusions. Certain personality traits, such as Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, relate differently to well-being measures across cultures. Meanwhile, Neuroticism seems to relate similarly across cultures at least with regard to subjective well-being. Furthermore, the results give an indication on how psychological well-being might mediate the relationship between certain personality traits and subjective well-being. Overall, the complexity of the results illustrates the need for more research whilst supporting the importance of contextualizing well-being research

  3. Hostile and energetic: Anger is predicted by low agreeableness and high energetic arousal

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    A hypothesis that anger is related to high energetic arousal (EA), but only at a low level of agreeableness was tested. In the first two studies, the association between trait anger, agreeableness, and EA was explored. In the next two studies, the interactions of agreeableness with constructs conceptually and empirically close to EA, in predicting anger were tested. Study 3 revealed that anger was predicted by a low level of agreeableness and a high level of positive affect. In study 4 task engagement (construct containing an energetic component) was included in the context of cognitive performance. At a high level of agreeableness the association between anger and task engagement was negative, whereas among individuals with low agreeableness this relation was not significant. PMID:28931038

  4. SA43. Personality Meta-Perception is Impaired and Related to Functioning in Schizophrenia

    PubMed Central

    Shasteen, Jonathon; Ackerman, Robert

    2017-01-01

    Abstract Background: Inaccurate self-evaluation is common and tied to social dysfunction in people with schizophrenia (SCZ; Gould et al., 2015). The current study examined whether (1) understanding how others view one’s own personality (i.e., meta-perception) is impaired and (2) meta-perception is related to social competence in SCZ. Methods: In Phase 1, 30 people with SCZ and 30 healthy controls (HC) matched on age, race, sex, and education had a videotaped “get to know you” conversation with an experimenter. They then completed a Big Five trait questionnaire (Donnellan et al., 2006) with the goal of predicting how unfamiliar strangers who view their videos would rate them. Those with SCZ also engaged in a role-play task (Patterson et al., 2001) coded for social competence. In Phase 2, undergraduates unfamiliar with Phase 1 participants watched Phase 1 videos and rated the target’s personality. Undergraduates’ ratings served as “The Truth” to which Phase 1 meta-perceptions (“MPs”) were compared. Group differences in Consistency (i.e., how much The Truth predicts Phase 1 MPs) and Bias (i.e., how much Phase 1 MPs under- or overestimate The Truth) were assessed using the Truth and Bias Model of Judgment (West & Kenny, 2011). Via multiple linear regression, this technique predicted Phase 1 MPs as a function of The Truth for each Big Five trait. The first analyses included group as a predictor to test group differences in Consistency and Bias; the final analyses included social competence as a predictor to test whether Consistency and Bias depend on social competence in SCZ. Results: Consistency: Across group, Consistency was strong; higher values of The Truth predicted higher Phase 1 MPs for all traits (ps≤.001). However, Consistency was weaker in SCZ than in HC for Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness (Ps ≤ .009). Similar patterns emerged for Extraversion and Neuroticism, but neither reached significance (Ps ≥ .102

  5. The role of personality traits in self-rated oral health and preferences for different types of flawed smiles.

    PubMed

    Montero, J; Gómez Polo, C; Rosel, E; Barrios, R; Albaladejo, A; López-Valverde, A

    2016-01-01

    Symmetric, aligned and luminous smiles are usually classified as 'beautiful' and aesthetic. However, smile perception is not strictly governed by standardised rules. Personal traits may influence the perception of non-ideal smiles. We aimed to determine the influence of personality traits in self-rated oral health and satisfaction and in the aesthetic preference for different strategically flawed smiles shown in photographs. Smiles with dark teeth, with uneven teeth, with lip asymmetry and dental asymmetry were ordered from 1 to 4 as a function of the degree of beauty by 548 participants, of which 50·7% were females with a mean age of 41·5 ± 17·6 years (range: 16-89 years). Self-assessment and oral satisfaction were recorded on a Likert scale. Personality was measured by means of the Big Five Inventory (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness), and the Life Orientation Test was used to measure optimism and pessimism. Of the four photographs with imperfect smiles, dental asymmetry was the most highly assessed in 63% of the sample, and the worst was lip asymmetry, in 43·7% of the sample. Some personality traits (above all conscientiousness and openness) were significantly correlated with the position assigned to the photographs with dental and lip asymmetry or with misaligned teeth. The extraversion, agreeableness and openness traits were correlated with the self-perceptions of oral health and aesthetics of the participants. Dental asymmetry seems to be better tolerated than lip asymmetry. Personality traits are weakly but significantly correlated with the aesthetic preference and oral health values, conscientiousness and openness being the most relevant domains in this sense. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Are personality traits associated with white-coat and masked hypertension?

    PubMed

    Terracciano, Antonio; Scuteri, Angelo; Strait, James; Sutin, Angelina R; Meirelles, Osorio; Marongiu, Michele; Orru, Marco; Pilia, Maria Grazia; Ferrucci, Luigi; Cucca, Francesco; Schlessinger, David; Lakatta, Edward

    2014-10-01

    Anxiety and other psychological dispositions are thought to be associated with blood pressure. This study tests whether personality traits have long-term associations with masked and white-coat effects. A community-based sample of 2838 adults from Sardinia (Italy) completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, and 7 years later, blood pressure was assessed in the clinic and with ambulatory monitoring. Logistic regressions were used to test whether anxiety, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted the white-coat and masked hypertension phenomena. Age, sex, and antihypertensive medication use were tested as moderators. Significant interactions were found between personality traits and antihypertensive medications in predicting masked and white-coat effects. Only among those taking antihypertensive medication, higher anxiety was associated with a higher risk of pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect (odds ratio 1.39, 95% confidence interval 1.01-1.91) and higher conscientiousness was associated with a lower risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension (odds ratio 0.70, 95% confidence interval 0.49-0.99). There were no significant interactions with age or sex. Among those on antihypertensive medications, anxious individuals were more likely to have pseudo-resistant hypertension due to white-coat effect and less conscientious individuals were at increased risk of masked uncontrolled hypertension. Particularly among anxious and less conscientious individuals, ambulatory monitoring may improve the tailoring of pharmacological treatments.

  7. Perceived Discrimination and Personality Development in Adulthood

    PubMed Central

    Stephan, Yannick; Terracciano, Antonio

    2015-01-01

    Perceived discrimination is common and a significant source of stress that may have implications for personality development across adulthood. In this study, we examined whether experiences with discrimination were associated with maladaptive changes in the five major dimensions of personality using two longitudinal samples that differed in age and follow-up interval. In the Health and Retirement Study, participants who perceived discrimination increased in their tendency to experience negative emotions (Neuroticism), decreased in their tendency to be trusting (Agreeableness), and decreased in their tendency to be organized and disciplined (Conscientiousness). These associations replicated using participants from the Midlife in the United States study. The findings indicate that social pathways, in addition to biological and developmental tasks, are important for adult personality development. PMID:26501729

  8. Personality Stability from Childhood to Midlife: Relating Teachers' Assessments in Elementary School to Observer- and Self-Ratings 40 Years Later.

    PubMed

    Edmonds, Grant W; Goldberg, Lewis R; Hampson, Sarah E; Barckley, Maureen

    2013-10-01

    We report on the longitudinal stability of personality traits across an average 40 years in the Hawaii Personality and Health Cohort relating childhood teacher assessments of personality to adult self- and observer- reports. Stabilities based on self-ratings in adulthood were compared to those measured by the Structured Interview for the Five-Factor Model (SIFFM; Trull & Widiger, 1997), and trait ratings completed by interviewers. Although convergence between self-reports and observer-ratings was modest, childhood traits demonstrated similar levels of stability across methods in adulthood. Extraversion and Conscientiousness generally showed higher stabilities, whereas Neuroticism showed none. For Agreeableness and Intellect/Openness, stability was highest when assessed with observer-ratings. These findings are discussed in terms of differences in trait evaluativeness and observability across measurement methods.

  9. Personality Stability from Childhood to Midlife: Relating Teachers’ Assessments in Elementary School to Observer- and Self-Ratings 40 Years Later

    PubMed Central

    Edmonds, Grant W.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Hampson, Sarah E.; Barckley, Maureen

    2013-01-01

    We report on the longitudinal stability of personality traits across an average 40 years in the Hawaii Personality and Health Cohort relating childhood teacher assessments of personality to adult self- and observer- reports. Stabilities based on self-ratings in adulthood were compared to those measured by the Structured Interview for the Five-Factor Model (SIFFM; Trull & Widiger, 1997), and trait ratings completed by interviewers. Although convergence between self-reports and observer-ratings was modest, childhood traits demonstrated similar levels of stability across methods in adulthood. Extraversion and Conscientiousness generally showed higher stabilities, whereas Neuroticism showed none. For Agreeableness and Intellect/Openness, stability was highest when assessed with observer-ratings. These findings are discussed in terms of differences in trait evaluativeness and observability across measurement methods. PMID:24039315

  10. Problematic mobile phone use and big-five personality domains.

    PubMed

    Takao, Motoharu

    2014-04-01

    Although a mobile phone is useful and attractive as a tool for communication and interpersonal interaction, there exists the risk of its problematic or addictive use. This study aims to investigate the correlation between the big-five personality domains and problematic mobile phone use. The Mobile Phone Problem Usage Scale and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were employed in this study. Survey data were gathered from 504 university students for multiple regression analysis. Problematic mobile phone use is a function of gender, extraversion, neuroticism, openness-to-experience; however, it is not a function of agreeableness or conscientiousness. The measurement of these predictors would enable the screening of and intervening in the potentially problematic behaviors of mobile phone users.

  11. Association between personality traits and DSM-IV diagnosis of insomnia in perimenopausal women

    PubMed Central

    Sassoon, Stephanie A.; de Zambotti, Massimiliano; Colrain, Ian M.; Baker, Fiona C.

    2013-01-01

    Objective The aim of this study was to determine the role of personality factors in the development of DSM-IV insomnia coincident with perimenopause. Method Perimenopausal women (35 with DSM-IV insomnia and 28 with self-reported normal sleep) underwent clinical assessments and completed menopause-related questionnaires, the NEO-FFI, and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality (SID-P). Logistic regressions determined whether personality factors and hot flash-related interference were associated with an insomnia diagnosis concurrent with the menopause transition. Results Women with insomnia reported higher neuroticism, lower agreeableness, and lower conscientiousness than controls on the NEO-FFI. Moreover, women with insomnia were more likely to meet DSM-IV criteria for Cluster C personality disorders, particularly obsessive compulsive personality disorder, on the SID-P. Women with insomnia were more likely to have had a past depressive episode and history of severe premenstrual symptoms. Findings from regressions revealed that higher neuroticism and greater interference from hot flashes were associated with insomnia classification even after controlling for history of depression, suggesting that sensitivity to hot flashes and a greater degree of neuroticism are independent contributors toward establishing which women are most likely to have sleep problems during perimenopause. Conclusions Findings show the relevance of personality factors, particularly neuroticism and obsessive-compulsive personality, in influencing a woman’s experience of insomnia as she goes through the menopause transition. PMID:24448105

  12. The role of personality in health care use: Results of a population-based longitudinal study in Germany.

    PubMed

    Hajek, André; Bock, Jens-Oliver; König, Hans-Helmut

    2017-01-01

    To determine the role of personality in health care use longitudinally. Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of German households starting in 1984. Concentrating on the role of personality, we used data from the years 2005, 2009 and 2013. Personality was measured by using the GSOEP Big Five Inventory (BFI-S). Number of physician visits in the last 3 months and hospital stays in the last year were used as measures of health care use. Adjusting for predisposing factors, enabling resources, and need factors, fixed effects regressions revealed that physician visits increased with increasing neuroticism, whereas extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness did not affect physician visits in a significant way. The effect of self-rated health on physician visits was significantly moderated by neuroticism. Moreover, fixed effects regressions revealed that the probability of hospitalization in the past year increased with increasing extraversion, whereas the other personality factors did not affect this outcome measure significantly. Our findings suggest that changes in neuroticism are associated with changes in physician visits and that changes in extraversion are associated with the probability of hospitalization. Since recent studies have shown that treatments can modify personality traits, developing interventional strategies should take into account personality factors. For example, efforts to intervene in changing neuroticism might have beneficial effects for the healthcare system.

  13. The contribution of personality to longevity: findings from the Australian Centenarian Study.

    PubMed

    Law, Jenaleen; Richmond, Robyn L; Kay-Lambkin, Frances

    2014-01-01

    To examine whether centenarians have a unique set of personality traits, which may in part explain their longevity. 79 Australian centenarians completed the NEO Five Factory Inventory (NEO-FFI), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and Life Orientation Test Revised (LOT-R) to assess different dimensions of their personalities. Centenarians were asked to answer items of the NEO-FFI, CD-RISC and LOT-R based on current views, and were then asked to recall in the presence of an informant (e.g. carers, offspring) on past personality (i.e. at mid-adult-life). Both sets of answers were recorded and analysed. Centenarians were currently low in Openness and Extraversion and high in Neuroticism, but were low in Openness and high in Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Extraversion when reflecting on past traits. Currently, centenarians in high care facilities reported higher levels of Neuroticism, as did centenarians who did not socialize. Cognitively intact centenarians reported higher levels of Agreeableness; and males reported lower Neuroticism compared to females when reflecting on past experiences. Centenarians were characterized by several personality traits, which facilitated positive health behaviors and thus contributed to their longevity. It is possible that personality may not be static across the lifespan, but instead, reflect advancing age, psychosocial factors and changes in life circumstances. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Changes in Neuroticism Following Trauma Exposure

    PubMed Central

    Ogle, Christin M.; Rubin, David C.; Siegler, Ilene C.

    2014-01-01

    Objective Using longitudinal data, the present study examined change in midlife neuroticism following trauma exposure. Method Our primary analyses included 670 participants (M age = 60.55, 65.22% male, 99.70% Caucasian) who completed the NEO Personality Inventory at mean age 42 and 50 and reported their lifetime exposure to traumatic events approximately 10 years later. Results No differences in pre-and post-trauma neuroticism scores were found among individuals who experienced all of their lifetime traumas in the interval between the personality assessments. Results were instead consistent with normative age-related declines in neuroticism throughout adulthood. Furthermore, longitudinal changes in neuroticism scores did not differ between individuals with and without histories of midlife trauma exposure. Examination of change in neuroticism following life-threatening traumas yielded a comparable pattern of results. Analysis of facet-level scores largely replicated findings from the domain scores. Supplemental analyses indicated that individuals exposed to life-threatening traumas in childhood or adolescence reported higher midlife neuroticism than individuals who experienced severe traumas in adulthood. Conclusions Overall, our findings suggest that neuroticism does not reliably change following exposure to traumatic events in middle adulthood. Life-threatening traumatic events encountered early in life may have a more pronounced impact on adulthood personality than recent traumatic events. PMID:23550961

  15. Neuroticism and proxemic behavior.

    PubMed

    De Julio, S; Duffy, K

    1977-08-01

    The relationship between proxemic behavior and neuroticism was examined. 50 male and 43 female subjects individually self-selected seats in a classroom where they were administered the Eysenck Personality Inventory by one of four experimenters (two male, two female). A significant relationship was found between proxemic distance and both neuroticism and experimenter's sex.

  16. How specific are the relationships between eating disorder behaviors and perfectionism?

    PubMed

    Luo, Jing; Forbush, Kelsie T; Williamson, J Austin; Markon, Kristian E; Pollack, Lauren O

    2013-08-01

    Perfectionism is associated with several mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. The goal of this study was to test the specificity of the associations between perfectionism facets and eating disorder behaviors, by examining whether neuroticism and conscientiousness mediated or moderated associations between these variables. Participants from a representative community sample (N = 407; 47% female) completed questionnaires assessing perfectionism, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and eating disorder behaviors. Neuroticism partially mediated associations between binge eating, restraint, body dissatisfaction, and maladaptive perfectionism facets. Neuroticism did not mediate associations between restriction and achievement striving perfectionism facets. Conscientiousness did not mediate any associations between perfectionism facets and eating disorder behaviors, yet Doubts about Actions interacted with conscientiousness to predict body dissatisfaction. Results indicate that neuroticism is key for understanding general risk factors that lead to myriad internalizing disorders, whereas maladaptive perfectionism has limited usefulness as a specific risk factor for eating disorder behaviors. Nevertheless, there is a unique association between dietary restraint and achievement striving dimensions of perfectionism that cannot be explained by higher-order personality traits. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Adolescent conscientiousness predicts lower lifetime unemployment.

    PubMed

    Egan, Mark; Daly, Michael; Delaney, Liam; Boyce, Christopher J; Wood, Alex M

    2017-04-01

    Existing research on Big Five personality and unemployment has relied on personality measures elicited after the respondents had already spent years in the labor market, an experience that could change personality. We clarify the direction of influence by using the British Cohort Study (N = 4,206) to examine whether conscientiousness and other Big Five personality traits at age 16-17 predict unemployment over age 16-42. Our hypothesis that higher conscientiousness in adolescence would predict lower unemployment was supported. In analyses controlling for intelligence, gender, and parental socioeconomic status, the less conscientious (-1 SD) had a predicted probability of unemployment twice as high (3.4% vs. 1.7%) as the highly conscientious (+1 SD), an effect size comparable to intelligence. Mediation analysis revealed that academic motivation and educational attainment explained only 8.9% of this association. Fostering conscientiousness in early life may be an effective way to reduce unemployment throughout adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Association between personality traits and future choice of specialisation among Swedish doctors: a cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Bexelius, Tomas S; Olsson, Caroline; Järnbert-Pettersson, Hans; Parmskog, Malin; Ponzer, Sari; Dahlin, Marie

    2016-08-01

    Medical students' choice of their future specialty is influenced by several factors, including working conditions and type of patient relations. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the choice of specialty and personality traits. This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of 399 alumni from Karolinska Institutet Medical School who were assumed to undergo specialty training at the time of the survey in 2013. The Big Five Inventory was used to assess the personality traits extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. Medical specialties were categorised as primary care, psychiatry, internal medicine and surgical and hospital service specialties. Adjustments were made for demographic factors and the method of selection for medical school admission. The response rate was 72% (n=289, of which 262 were in training to become specialists). Among these, surgeons scored lower in agreeableness than physicians in primary care, internal medicine and hospital services. Psychiatrists and hospital service physicians showed lower conscientiousness compared with surgeons. We found distinctive differences in personality traits between medical specialties even after adjusting for other potential explanatory variables. Since there are differences between specialties, for example, surgeons and psychiatrists, this supports previous findings that personality may affect medical students' specialty choice also in a Swedish setting. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

  19. Personality Domains, Duration of Untreated Psychosis, Functioning, and Symptom Severity in First-Episode Psychosis

    PubMed Central

    Compton, Michael T.; Bakeman, Roger; Alolayan, Yazeed; Balducci, Pierfrancesco Maria; Bernardini, Francesco; Broussard, Beth; Crisafio, Anthony; Cristofaro, Sarah; Amar, Patrick; Johnson, Stephanie; Wan, Claire Ramsay

    2015-01-01

    Objectives Early-course psychotic disorders have been extensively studied in terms of phenomenology, but little is known about the influence of personality traits on clinical features of first-episode psychosis. The aim of this study was to explore how the “big five” personality domains (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) are associated with treatment delay (duration of untreated psychosis, DUP), functioning, and positive and negative symptom severity. Methods Data for these analyses were obtained from 104 participants enrolled from psychiatric inpatient units in Atlanta, Georgia, between August 2008 and March 2011. The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) was used to assess personality domains, and all other variables were measured in a standardized and rigorous manner using psychometrically sound instruments. Correlational analyses and multiple linear regressions were carried out to examine the strength of associations between variables of interest. Results Findings indicated that except for openness, all the other personality variables contributed to some extent to the variance in DUP. Conscientiousness was positively correlated with functioning. Agreeableness was independently negatively associated with positive symptom severity and extraversion was independently negatively correlated with negative symptom severity. Conclusions We report the first evidence suggesting that DUP is in part driven by personality domains. Functioning and symptom severity are also associated with those domains. Personality should be taken into account in order to better understand the phenomenology of early-course psychotic disorders as well as treatment-seeking behaviors. PMID:26209478

  20. Do conscientious individuals live longer? A quantitative review.

    PubMed

    Kern, Margaret L; Friedman, Howard S

    2008-09-01

    Following up on growing evidence that higher levels of conscientiousness are associated with greater health protection, the authors conducted a meta-analysis of the association between conscientiousness-related traits and longevity. Using a random-effects analysis model, the authors statistically combined 20 independent samples. In addition, the authors used fixed-effects analyses to examine specific facets of conscientiousness and study characteristics as potential moderators of this relationship. Effect sizes were computed for each individual sample as the correlation coefficient r, based on the relationship between conscientiousness and mortality risk (all-cause mortality risk, longevity, or length of survival). Higher levels of conscientiousness were significantly and positively related to longevity (r = .11, 95% confidence interval = .05-.17). Associations were strongest for the achievement (persistent, industrious) and order (organized, disciplined) facets of conscientiousness. Results strongly support the importance of conscientiousness-related traits to health across the life span. Future research and interventions should consider how individual differences in conscientiousness may cause and be shaped by health-relevant biopsychosocial events across many years. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

  1. Social support and conscientiousness in hemodialysis adherence.

    PubMed

    Moran, P J; Christensen, A J; Lawton, W J

    1997-01-01

    Previous conclusions regarding the role of social support in hemodialysis adherence are inconsistent, suggesting that other factors may moderate this relationship. Using the Five-Factor Model of Personality, we examined the hypothesis that conscientiousness would interact with social support in predicting fluid-intake and medication adherence in a sample of 56 chronic hemodialysis patients. Hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for demographic, clinical, and other personality variables) revealed a significant interaction between social support and conscientiousness. However, inconsistent with prediction, high support among patients with low conscientiousness was associated with poorer fluid-intake adherence, while support had little effect on fluid-intake adherence among high conscientiousness patients. No main or interactive effects were found for support or conscientiousness on a measure of medication adherence.

  2. Gray and white matter correlates of the Big Five personality traits.

    PubMed

    Privado, Jesús; Román, Francisco J; Saénz-Urturi, Carlota; Burgaleta, Miguel; Colom, Roberto

    2017-05-04

    Personality neuroscience defines the scientific study of the neurobiological basis of personality. This field assumes that individual differences in personality traits are related with structural and functional variations of the human brain. Gray and white matters are structural properties considered separately in previous research. Available findings in this regard are largely disparate. Here we analyze the relationships between gray matter (cortical thickness (CT), cortical surface area (CSA), and cortical volume) and integrity scores obtained after several white matter tracts connecting different brain regions, with individual differences in the personality traits comprised by the Five-Factor Model (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience). These psychological and biological data were obtained from young healthy women. The main findings showed statistically significant associations between occipital CSA variations and extraversion, as well as between parietal CT variations and neuroticism. Regarding white matter integrity, openness showed positive correlations with tracts connecting posterior and anterior brain regions. Therefore, variations in discrete gray matter clusters were associated with temperamental traits (extraversion and neuroticism), whereas long-distance structural connections were related with the dimension of personality that has been associated with high-level cognitive processes (openness). Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Do nice guys--and gals--really finish last? The joint effects of sex and agreeableness on income.

    PubMed

    Judge, Timothy A; Livingston, Beth A; Hurst, Charlice

    2012-02-01

    Sex and agreeableness were hypothesized to affect income, such that women and agreeable individuals were hypothesized to earn less than men and less agreeable individuals. Because agreeable men disconfirm (and disagreeable men confirm) conventional gender roles, agreeableness was expected to be more negatively related to income for men (i.e., the pay gap between agreeable men and agreeable women would be smaller than the gap between disagreeable men and disagreeable women). The hypotheses were supported across 4 studies. Study 1 confirmed the effects of sex and agreeableness on income and that the agreeableness-income relationship was significantly more negative for men than for women. Study 2 replicated these results, controlling for each of the other Big Five traits. Study 3 also replicated the interaction and explored explanations and paradoxes of the relationship. A 4th study, using an experimental design, yielded evidence for the argument that the joint effects of agreeableness and gender are due to backlash against agreeable men.

  4. Genetic structure of personality factors and bipolar disorder in families segregating bipolar disorder.

    PubMed

    Hare, Elizabeth; Contreras, Javier; Raventos, Henriette; Flores, Deborah; Jerez, Alvaro; Nicolini, Humberto; Ontiveros, Alfonso; Almasy, Laura; Escamilla, Michael

    2012-02-01

    Bipolar disorder (BPD) has been associated with variations in personality dimensions, but the nature of this relationship has been unclear. In this study, the heritabilities of BPD and the Big Five personality factors and the genetic correlations between BPD and personality factors are reported. The participants in this study were 1073 individuals from 172 families of Mexican or Central American ancestry. Heritabilities and genetic correlations were calculated under a polygenic model using the maximum-likelihood method of obtaining variance components implemented in the SOLAR software package. Heritabilities of 0.49, 0.43, and 0.43 were found for the narrowest phenotype (schizoaffective bipolar and bipolar I), the intermediate phenotype (schizoaffective bipolar, bipolar I, and bipolar II), and the broadest phenotype (schizoaffective bipolar, bipolar I, bipolar II, and recurrent depression), respectively. For the Big Five personality factors, heritabilities were 0.25 for agreeableness, 0.24 for conscientiousness, 0.24 for extraversion, 0.23 for neuroticism, and 0.32 for openness to experience. For the narrowest phenotype, a significant negative correlation (-0.32) with extraversion was found. For the broadest phenotype, negative correlations were found for agreeableness (-0.35), conscientiousness (-0.39), and extraversion (-0.44). A positive correlation (0.37) was found with neuroticism. It is not possible to determine whether aspects of personality are factors in the development of bipolar disorder or vice versa. The short form of the NEO does not provide the ability to examine in detail which facets of extraversion are most closely related to bipolar disorder or to compare our results with studies that have used the long version of the scale. This study establishes a partial genetic basis for the Big Five personality factors in this set of families, while the environmental variances demonstrate that non-genetic factors are also important in their influence on

  5. Driving styles and their associations with personality and motivation.

    PubMed

    Taubman-Ben-Ari, Orit; Yehiel, Dalia

    2012-03-01

    The associations between driving styles and the Big-Five personality factors and perceived costs and benefits of driving were examined in order to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of driving styles. Questionnaires tapping driving style, personality traits, motivations for driving, and background variables were completed by 320 drivers (150 men and 170 women). The results show that each driving style is associated with a unique set of sociodemographic, personality, and motivational factors. The reckless and angry styles were both endorsed more by men than women, by younger drivers, and by those displaying higher levels of Extroversion and thrill seeking, and lower levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. However, whereas the reckless style was also predicted by the perceived costs of driving-related distress, as well as higher perceived risk to life among those with higher education, the angry style was also predicted by perceptions of both control and annoyance among more educated drivers. The anxious style was endorsed more by women, and by drivers lower on Conscientiousness and higher on Neuroticism. Individuals reporting this style regard driving as a cause of distress and annoyance, and, depending on their level of education, perceive it as entailing more risk to life and as a potential damage to their self-image (higher education), or as providing more opportunities for impression management (lower education). The careful driving style was endorsed more by women, and associated with higher Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness, along with higher pleasure (especially among younger drivers), but lower thrill seeking and worries about damage to self-esteem. The discussion focuses on the importance of looking at driving styles and their predictors holistically in order to design practical interventions suited to different profiles of drivers. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. When nasty breeds nice: threats of violence amplify agreeableness at national, individual, and situational levels.

    PubMed

    White, Andrew Edward; Kenrick, Douglas T; Li, Yexin Jessica; Mortensen, Chad R; Neuberg, Steven L; Cohen, Adam B

    2012-10-01

    Humans have perennially faced threats of violence from other humans and have developed functional strategies for surviving those threats. Five studies examined the relation between threats of violence and agreeableness at the level of nations, individuals, and situations. People living in countries with higher military spending (Study 1) and those who chronically perceive threats from others (Study 2) were more agreeable. However, this threat-linked agreeableness was selective (Studies 3-5). Participants primed with threat were more agreeable and willing to help familiar others but were less agreeable and willing to help unfamiliar others. Additionally, people from large families, for whom affiliation may be a salient response to threat, were more likely than people from small families to shift in agreeableness. Returning to the national level, military spending was associated with increased trust in ingroup members but decreased trust in outgroups. Together, these findings demonstrate that agreeableness is selectively modulated by threats of violence.

  7. Association of personality with the development and persistence of obesity: a meta-analysis based on individual-participant data.

    PubMed

    Jokela, M; Hintsanen, M; Hakulinen, C; Batty, G D; Nabi, H; Singh-Manoux, A; Kivimäki, M

    2013-04-01

    Personality is thought to affect obesity risk but before such information can be incorporated into prevention and intervention plans, robust and converging evidence concerning the most relevant personality traits is needed. We performed a meta-analysis based on individual-participant data from nine cohort studies to examine whether broad-level personality traits predict the development and persistence of obesity (n = 78,931 men and women; mean age 50 years). Personality was assessed using inventories of the Five-Factor Model (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience). High conscientiousness - reflecting high self-control, orderliness and adherence to social norms - was associated with lower obesity risk across studies (pooled odds ratio [OR] = 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.80-0.88 per 1 standard deviation increment in conscientiousness). Over a mean follow-up of 5.4 years, conscientiousness predicted lower obesity risk in initially non-obese individuals (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.85-0.92; n = 33,981) and was associated with greater likelihood of reversion to non-obese among initially obese individuals (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.01-1.14; n = 9,657). Other personality traits were not associated with obesity in the pooled analysis, and there was substantial heterogeneity in the associations between studies. The findings indicate that conscientiousness may be the only broad-level personality trait of the Five-Factor Model that is consistently associated with obesity across populations. © 2012 The Authors. obesity reviews © 2012 International Association for the Study of Obesity.

  8. Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analyses of NEO-PI-R Scales In the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging

    PubMed Central

    Terracciano, Antonio; McCrae, Robert R.; Brant, Larry J.; Costa, Paul T.

    2009-01-01

    We examined age trends in the five factors and 30 facets assessed by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory in Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging data (N = 1,944; 5,027 assessments) collected between 1989 and 2004. Consistent with cross-sectional results, Hierarchical Linear Modeling analyses showed gradual personality changes in adulthood: a decline up to age 80 in Neuroticism, stability and then decline in Extraversion, decline in Openness, increase in Agreeableness, and increase up to age 70 in Conscientiousness. Some facets showed different curves from the factor they define. Birth cohort effects were modest, and there were no consistent Gender × Age interactions. Significant non-normative changes were found for all five factors; they were not explained by attrition but might be due to genetic factors, disease, or life experience. PMID:16248708

  9. Personality and emotional intelligence in teacher burnout.

    PubMed

    Pishghadam, Reza; Sahebjam, Samaneh

    2012-03-01

    This paper aims to investigate the relationship between teacher's personality types, emotional intelligence and burnout and to predict the burnout levels of 147 teachers in the city of Mashhad (Iran). To this end, we have used three inventories: Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I). We used Homogeneity Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression to analyze the data. The results exhibited a significant relationship between personality types and emotional intelligence and the three dimensions of burnout. It was indicated that the best predictors for emotional exhaustion were neuroticism and extroversion, for depersonalization were intrapersonal scale of emotional intelligence and agreeableness, and for personal accomplishment were interpersonal scale and conscientiousness. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of teacher burnout.

  10. Maternal Personality, Parenting Cognitions and Parenting Practices

    PubMed Central

    Bornstein, Marc H.; Hahn, Chun-Shin; Haynes, O. Maurice

    2011-01-01

    A community sample of 262 European American mothers of firstborn 20-month-olds completed a personality inventory and measures of parenting cognitions (knowledge, self-perceptions, and reports about behavior) and was observed in interaction with their children from which measures of parenting practices (language, sensitivity, affection, and play) were independently coded. Factor analyses of the personality inventory replicated extraction of the Five-Factor model of personality (Openness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness). Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics, the five personality factors qua variables and in patterns qua clusters related differently to diverse parenting cognitions and practices, supporting the multidimensional, modular, and specific nature of parenting. Maternal personality in the normal range, a theoretically important but empirically neglected factor in everyday parenting, has meaning in studies of parenting, child development, and family process. PMID:21443335

  11. Five-Factor Model Personality Traits, Spirituality/Religiousness, and Mental Health among People Living With HIV

    PubMed Central

    Löckenhoff, Corinna E.; Ironson, Gail H.; O’Cleirigh, Conall; Costa, Paul T.

    2008-01-01

    We examined the association between five-factor personality domains and facets and spirituality/religiousness as well as their joint association with mental health in a diverse sample of people living with HIV (n = 112, age range 18 – 66). Spirituality/religiousness showed stronger associations with Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness than with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Both personality traits and spirituality/religiousness were significantly linked to mental health, even after controlling for individual differences in demographic measures and disease status. Personality traits explained unique variance in mental health above spirituality and religiousness. Further, aspects of spirituality and religiousness were found to mediate some of the links between personality and mental health in this patient sample. These findings suggest that underlying personality traits contribute to the beneficial effects of spirituality/religiousness among vulnerable populations. PMID:19686457

  12. Five-factor model personality traits, spirituality/religiousness, and mental health among people living with HIV.

    PubMed

    Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Ironson, Gail H; O'Cleirigh, Conall; Costa, Paul T

    2009-10-01

    We examined the association between five-factor personality domains and facets and spirituality/religiousness as well as their joint association with mental health in a diverse sample of people living with HIV (n=112, age range 18-66). Spirituality/religiousness showed stronger associations with Conscientiousness, Openness, and Agreeableness than with Neuroticism and Extraversion. Both personality traits and spirituality/religiousness were significantly linked to mental health, even after controlling for individual differences in demographic measures and disease status. Personality traits explained unique variance in mental health above spirituality and religiousness. Further, aspects of spirituality and religiousness were found to mediate some of the links between personality and mental health in this patient sample. These findings suggest that underlying personality traits contribute to the beneficial effects of spirituality/religiousness among vulnerable populations.

  13. Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality

    PubMed Central

    de Moor, Marleen H.M.; Costa, Paul T.; Terracciano, Antonio; Krueger, Robert F.; de Geus, Eco J.C.; Toshiko, Tanaka; Penninx, Brenda W.J.H.; Esko, Tõnu; Madden, Pamela A F; Derringer, Jaime; Amin, Najaf; Willemsen, Gonneke; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Distel, Marijn A.; Uda, Manuela; Sanna, Serena; Spinhoven, Philip; Hartman, Catharina A.; Sullivan, Patrick; Realo, Anu; Allik, Jüri; Heath, Andrew C; Pergadia, Michele L; Agrawal, Arpana; Lin, Peng; Grucza, Richard; Nutile, Teresa; Ciullo, Marina; Rujescu, Dan; Giegling, Ina; Konte, Bettina; Widen, Elisabeth; Cousminer, Diana L; Eriksson, Johan G.; Palotie, Aarno; Luciano, Michelle; Tenesa, Albert; Davies, Gail; Lopez, Lorna M.; Hansell, Narelle K.; Medland, Sarah E.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Schlessinger, David; Montgomery, Grant W.; Wright, Margaret J.; Aulchenko, Yurii S.; Janssens, A.Cecile J.W.; Oostra, Ben A.; Metspalu, Andres; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.; Deary, Ian J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Bierut, Laura J.; Martin, Nicholas G.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Boomsma, Dorret I.

    2013-01-01

    Personality can be thought of as a set of characteristics that influence people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour across a variety of settings. Variation in personality is predictive of many outcomes in life, including mental health. Here we report on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) data for personality in ten discovery samples (17 375 adults) and five in-silico replication samples (3 294 adults). All participants were of European ancestry. Personality scores for Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were based on the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Genotype data were available of ~2.4M Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs; directly typed and imputed using HAPMAP data). In the discovery samples, classical association analyses were performed under an additive model followed by meta-analysis using the weighted inverse variance method. Results showed genome-wide significance for Openness to Experience near the RASA1 gene on 5q14.3 (rs1477268 and rs2032794, P = 2.8 × 10−8 and 3.1 × 10−8) and for Conscientiousness in the brain-expressed KATNAL2 gene on 18q21.1 (rs2576037, P = 4.9 × 10−8). We further conducted a gene-based test that confirmed the association of KATNAL2 to Conscientiousness. In-silico replication did not, however, show significant associations of the top SNPs with Openness and Conscientiousness, although the direction of effect of the KATNAL2 SNP on Conscientiousness was consistent in all replication samples. Larger scale GWA studies and alternative approaches are required for confirmation of KATNAL2 as a novel gene affecting Conscientiousness. PMID:21173776

  14. [Conscientious objectors among physicians].

    PubMed

    Lisker, Rubén; Pérez-Tamayo, Ruy

    2006-01-01

    Conscientious objection refers to the possibility that an individual decides not to comply with a legal mandate because of his or hers convictions, which is accepted by some political constitutions. The classical example is to refuse participation in obligatory military service for personal reasons of conscience, but in the present paper we refer to its use in medical practice utilizing three examples: euthanasia, abortion and the refusal to prescribe emergency contraception. We conclude that in all situations patients rights supersedes conscientious objection.

  15. Conscientious objection: a call to nursing leadership.

    PubMed

    Ford, Natalie J; Fraser, Kimberly D; Marck, Patricia B

    2010-09-01

    In this paper we argue that nurse leaders need to work actively to create morally supportive environments for nurses in Canada that provide adequate room to exercise conscientious objection. Morally supportive environments engender a safe atmosphere to engage in open dialogue and action regarding conflict of conscience. The CNA's 2008 Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses has recognized the importance of conscientious objection in nursing and has created key guidelines for the registered nurse to follow when a conflict in conscience is being considered or declared. Nurse leaders need to further develop the understanding of conflicts of conscience through education, well-written guidelines for conscientious objection in workplaces and engagement in research to uncover underlying barriers to the enactment of conscientious objections. With advancements in technology, changing healthcare policies and increasing scope of practice, both reflection and dialogue on conscientious objection are critical for the continuing moral development of nurses in Canada.

  16. Personality modulates the efficacy of treatment in patients with major depressive disorder.

    PubMed

    Wardenaar, Klaas J; Conradi, Henk Jan; Bos, Elisabeth H; de Jonge, Peter

    2014-09-01

    Effects of depression treatment are obscured by heterogeneity among patients. Personality types could be one source of heterogeneity that explains variability in treatment response. Clinically meaningful variations in personality patterns could be captured with data-driven subgroups. The aim of this study was to identify such personality types and to explore their predictive value for treatment efficacy. Participants (N = 146) in the current exploratory study came from a randomized controlled trial in primary care depressed patients, conducted between January 1998 and June 2003, comparing different treatments. All participants were diagnosed with a major depressive disorder (MDD) according to the DSM-IV. Primary (care as usual [CAU] or CAU plus a psychoeducational prevention program [PEP]) and specialized (CAU + PEP + psychiatric consultation or cognitive-behavioral therapy) treatment were compared. Personality was assessed with the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). Personality classes were identified with latent profile analysis (LPA). During 1 year, weekly depression ratings were obtained by trimonthly assessment with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Mixed models were used to analyze the effects of personality on treatment efficacy. A 2-class LPA solution fit best to the NEO-FFI data: Class 1 (vulnerable, n = 94) was characterized by high neuroticism, low extraversion, and low conscientiousness, and Class 2 (resilient, n = 52) by medium neuroticism and extraversion and higher agreeableness and conscientiousness. Recovery was quicker in the resilient class (class × time: P < .001). Importantly, specialized treatment had added value only in the vulnerable class, in which it was associated with quicker recovery than primary treatment (class × time × treatment: P < .001). Personality profile may predict whether specialized clinical efforts have added value, showing potential implications for planning of treatments

  17. The role of personality in health care use: Results of a population-based longitudinal study in Germany

    PubMed Central

    König, Hans-Helmut

    2017-01-01

    Objective To determine the role of personality in health care use longitudinally. Methods Data were derived from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), a nationally representative, longitudinal cohort study of German households starting in 1984. Concentrating on the role of personality, we used data from the years 2005, 2009 and 2013. Personality was measured by using the GSOEP Big Five Inventory (BFI-S). Number of physician visits in the last 3 months and hospital stays in the last year were used as measures of health care use. Results Adjusting for predisposing factors, enabling resources, and need factors, fixed effects regressions revealed that physician visits increased with increasing neuroticism, whereas extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness did not affect physician visits in a significant way. The effect of self-rated health on physician visits was significantly moderated by neuroticism. Moreover, fixed effects regressions revealed that the probability of hospitalization in the past year increased with increasing extraversion, whereas the other personality factors did not affect this outcome measure significantly. Conclusion Our findings suggest that changes in neuroticism are associated with changes in physician visits and that changes in extraversion are associated with the probability of hospitalization. Since recent studies have shown that treatments can modify personality traits, developing interventional strategies should take into account personality factors. For example, efforts to intervene in changing neuroticism might have beneficial effects for the healthcare system. PMID:28746388

  18. The Legal Ethical Backbone of Conscientious Refusal.

    PubMed

    Munthe, Christian; Nielsen, Morten Ebbe Juul

    2017-01-01

    This article analyzes the idea of a legal right to conscientious refusal for healthcare professionals from a basic legal ethical standpoint, using refusal to perform tasks related to legal abortion (in cases of voluntary employment) as a case in point. The idea of a legal right to conscientious refusal is distinguished from ideas regarding moral rights or reasons related to conscientious refusal, and none of the latter are found to support the notion of a legal right. Reasons for allowing some sort of room for conscientious refusal for healthcare professionals based on the importance of cultural identity and the fostering of a critical atmosphere might provide some support, if no countervailing factors apply. One such factor is that a legal right to healthcare professionals' conscientious refusal must comply with basic legal ethical tenets regarding the rule of law and equal treatment, and this requirement is found to create serious problems for those wishing to defend the idea under consideration. We conclude that the notion of a legal right to conscientious refusal for any profession is either fundamentally incompatible with elementary legal ethical requirements, or implausible because it undermines the functioning of a related professional sector (healthcare) or even of society as a whole.

  19. Conscientiousness and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

    PubMed

    Samuel, Douglas B; Widiger, Thomas A

    2011-07-01

    A dimensional perspective on personality disorder hypothesizes that the current diagnostic categories represent maladaptive variants of general personality traits. However, a fundamental foundation of this viewpoint is that dimensional models can adequately account for the pathology currently described by these categories. While most of the personality disorders have well established links to dimensional models that buttress this hypothesis, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) has obtained only inconsistent support. The current study administered multiple measures of 1) conscientiousness-related personality traits, 2) DSM-IV OCPD, and 3) specific components of OCPD (e.g., compulsivity and perfectionism) to a sample of 536 undergraduates who were oversampled for elevated OCPD scores. Six existing measures of conscientiousness-related personality traits converged strongly with each other supporting their assessment of a common trait. These measures of conscientiousness correlated highly with scales assessing specific components of OCPD, but obtained variable relationships with measures of DSM-IV OCPD. More specifically, there were differences within the conscientiousness instruments such that those designed to assess general personality functioning had small to medium relationships with OCPD, but those assessing more maladaptive variants obtained large effect sizes. These findings support the view that OCPD does represent a maladaptive variant of normal-range conscientiousness.

  20. Neuroticism Predicts Acculturative Stress in Mexican American College Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mangold, Deborah L.; Veraza, Rafael; Kinkler, Lori; Kinney, Nathan A.

    2007-01-01

    Neuroticism is a risk factor for mood and anxiety disorders and a strong predictor of subjective stress in non-Hispanics. This study examined neuroticism as a predictor of subjective acculturative stress in 122 Mexican American college students. Neuroticism was measured using the Revised Neuroticism Extroversion Openness Personality Inventory…

  1. Neuroticism and stress: the role of displacement behavior.

    PubMed

    Mohiyeddini, Changiz; Bauer, Stephanie; Semple, Stuart

    2015-01-01

    Neuroticism is linked with an impaired ability to cope with stress and is an important risk factor for stress-related disorders. Hence, there is interest in exploring the behavioral correlates of neuroticism and how such behaviors may moderate the link between neuroticism and the response to stress. Displacement behavior - activity such as face touching and scratching - is important to investigate in this respect, as recent studies indicate that such behavior is linked to negative emotional states and has an important stress coping function. Here, we explored the relationship between neuroticism, displacement behavior, and stress in a healthy population of men. This was a cross-sectional, quasiexperimentally controlled study. We assessed participants' levels of neuroticism, and then during a Trier Social Stress Test quantified displacement behavior, physiological, and cognitive indices of the stress response; after the test we measured the self-reported experience of stress. Displacement behavior was negatively correlated with self-reported experience, physiological, and cognitive measures of stress and moderated the relationships between neuroticism, self-reported experience, and cognitive index of stress. Our results suggest displacement behavior plays an important role in shaping the link between neuroticism and the response to stress.

  2. Neuroticism and Attitudes Toward Action in 19 Countries

    PubMed Central

    Ireland, Molly E.; Hepler, Justin; Li, Hong; Albarracín, Dolores

    2018-01-01

    Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism-collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism-collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals’ less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism-collectivism. PMID:24684688

  3. Neuroticism and attitudes toward action in 19 countries.

    PubMed

    Ireland, Molly E; Hepler, Justin; Li, Hong; Albarracín, Dolores

    2015-06-01

    Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism-collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism-collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals' less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism-collectivism. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Dangerous Driving in a Chinese Sample: Associations with Morningness-Eveningness Preference and Personality

    PubMed Central

    Qu, Weina; Ge, Yan; Xiong, Yuexin; Carciofo, Richard; Zhao, Wenguo; Zhang, Kan

    2015-01-01

    Individual differences in morningness-eveningness preference may influence susceptibility and response to sleepiness. These differences could influence driving performance, but the influence of morningness-eveningness preference on driving behavior and accident risk has not been comprehensively studied. As morningness-eveningness preference is associated with personality characteristics, we also investigated how the interaction between morningness-eveningness preference and personality may be related to dangerous driving behaviors. Two hundred and ninety five drivers completed the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Dula Dangerous Driving Index, and personality scales for agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, and reported demographic information (gender, age, level of education, driving years and annual average driving mileage) and self-reported traffic violations (accidents, penalty points and fines). The results showed that more Risky Driving, Aggressive Driving, Negative Cognitive/Emotional Driving and Drunk Driving, as measured by the Dula Dangerous Driving Index, were all significantly correlated with more eveningness, corresponding to lower scores on the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Moreover, eveningness was correlated with self-reported traffic accidents, penalty points and fines. Furthermore, a moderation effect was found: eveningness was more strongly associated with risky driving and negative emotional driving in those who scored high for trait agreeableness. PMID:25615447

  5. Effect of personality traits, age and sex on aggressive driving: Psychometric adaptation of the Driver Aggression Indicators Scale in China.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Huihui; Qu, Weina; Ge, Yan; Sun, Xianghong; Zhang, Kan

    2017-06-01

    This study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Driver Aggression Indicators Scale (DAIS), which measures aggressive driving behaviors. Besides, demographic variables (sex and age) and the big five personality traits were examined as potential impact factors of aggressive driving. A total of 422 participants completed the DAIS, Big Five Personality Inventory (BFPI), and the socio-demographic scale. First, psychometric results confirmed that the DAIS had a stable two-factor structure and acceptable internal consistency. Then, agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively correlated with hostile aggression and revenge committed by the drivers themselves, while neuroticism was positively correlated with aggressive driving committed by the drivers themselves. Meanwhile, more agreeable drivers may perceive less hostile aggression and revenge. More neurotic drivers may perceive more aggressive warning. Finally, the effects of age and sex on aggressive driving were not same as most studies. We found that older age group perceived and committed more hostile acts of aggression and revenge than younger age groups. Female drivers of 49-60 years perceived more aggressive warnings committed by other drivers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. FFMPD scales: Comparisons with the FFM, PID-5, and CAT-PD-SF.

    PubMed

    Crego, Cristina; Oltmanns, Joshua R; Widiger, Thomas A

    2018-01-01

    A series of 8 Five Factor Model Personality Disorder (FFMPD) scales have been developed to assess, from the perspective of the Five Factor Model (FFM), the maladaptive traits included within DSM-5 Section II personality disorders. An extensive body of FFMPD research has accumulated. However, for the most part, each study has been confined to the scales within 1 particular FFMPD Inventory. The current study considered 36 FFMPD scales, at least 1 from each of the 8 FFMPD inventories, including 8 scales considered to be from neuroticism, 8 from extraversion, 5 from openness, 8 from agreeableness, and 7 from conscientiousness. Their convergent, discriminant, and structural relationship with the FFM was considered, and compared with the structural relationship with the FFM obtained by the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) and the Computerized Adaptive Test-Personality Disorder-Static Form (CAT-PD-SF). Support for an FFM structure was obtained (albeit with agreeableness defining 1 factor and antagonism a separate factor). Similarities and differences across the FFMPD, PID-5, and CAT-PD-SF scales were highlighted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Dangerous driving in a Chinese sample: associations with morningness-eveningness preference and personality.

    PubMed

    Qu, Weina; Ge, Yan; Xiong, Yuexin; Carciofo, Richard; Zhao, Wenguo; Zhang, Kan

    2015-01-01

    Individual differences in morningness-eveningness preference may influence susceptibility and response to sleepiness. These differences could influence driving performance, but the influence of morningness-eveningness preference on driving behavior and accident risk has not been comprehensively studied. As morningness-eveningness preference is associated with personality characteristics, we also investigated how the interaction between morningness-eveningness preference and personality may be related to dangerous driving behaviors. Two hundred and ninety five drivers completed the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Dula Dangerous Driving Index, and personality scales for agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism, and reported demographic information (gender, age, level of education, driving years and annual average driving mileage) and self-reported traffic violations (accidents, penalty points and fines). The results showed that more Risky Driving, Aggressive Driving, Negative Cognitive/Emotional Driving and Drunk Driving, as measured by the Dula Dangerous Driving Index, were all significantly correlated with more eveningness, corresponding to lower scores on the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire. Moreover, eveningness was correlated with self-reported traffic accidents, penalty points and fines. Furthermore, a moderation effect was found: eveningness was more strongly associated with risky driving and negative emotional driving in those who scored high for trait agreeableness.

  8. On angry leaders and agreeable followers. How leaders' emotions and followers' personalities shape motivation and team performance.

    PubMed

    Van Kleef, Gerben A; Homan, Astrid C; Beersma, Bianca; van Knippenberg, Daan

    2010-12-01

    Do followers perform better when their leader expresses anger or when their leader expresses happiness? We propose that this depends on the follower's level of agreeableness. Anger is associated with hostility and conflict-states that are at odds with agreeable individuals' goals. Happiness facilitates affiliation and positive relations-states that are in line with agreeable individuals' goals. Accordingly, the two studies we conducted showed that agreeableness moderates the effects of a leader's emotional displays. In a scenario study, participants with lower levels of agreeableness responded more favorably to an angry leader, whereas participants with higher levels of agreeableness responded more favorably to a neutral leader. In an experiment involving four-person teams, teams composed of participants with lower average levels of agreeableness performed better when their leader expressed anger, whereas teams composed of participants with higher average levels of agreeableness performed better when their leader expressed happiness. Team performance was mediated by experienced workload, which was highest among agreeable followers with an angry leader. Besides having important practical implications, the findings shed new light on the fundamental question of how emotional expressions regulate social behavior.

  9. The mediating role of resilience in the relationship between big five personality and anxiety among Chinese medical students: a cross-sectional study.

    PubMed

    Shi, Meng; Liu, Li; Wang, Zi Yue; Wang, Lie

    2015-01-01

    The psychological distress of medical students is a major concern of public health worldwide. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate anxiety symptoms of medical students in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical students, to examine the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms among medical students, and to explore the mediating role of resilience in these relationships. This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2014. Self-reported questionnaires consisting of the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14) and demographic section were distributed to the subjects. A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 2925 medical students (effective response rate: 83.57%) at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of resilience. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 47.3% (SAS index score≥50) among Chinese medical students. After adjusting for the demographic factors, the traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness were all negatively associated with anxiety whereas neuroticism was positively associated with it. Resilience functioned as a mediator in the relationships between agreeableness/conscientiousness/openness and anxiety symptoms. Among Chinese medical students, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was high and resilience mediated the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms. Identifying at-risk individuals and undertaking appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both personality traits and resilience might be more effective to prevent and reduce anxiety symptoms.

  10. Perceived social support predicts increased conscientiousness during older adulthood.

    PubMed

    Hill, Patrick L; Payne, Brennan R; Jackson, Joshua J; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L; Roberts, Brent W

    2014-07-01

    This study examined whether perceived social support predicted adaptive personality change in older adulthood, focusing on the trait of conscientiousness. We tested this hypothesis both at the broad domain level and with respect to the specific lower order facets that comprise conscientiousness: order, self-control, industriousness, responsibility, and traditionalism. A sample of 143 older adults (aged 60-91) completed measures of conscientiousness and social support during 2 assessments 7 months apart. Social support and conscientiousness were positively correlated among older adults. Moreover, older adults who perceived greater social support at baseline were more likely to gain in conscientiousness over time. The magnitude of this effect was relatively similar across the order, self-control, and industriousness facets. Perceived social support provides multiple benefits later in life, and the current results add to this literature by showing that it also promotes conscientiousness. As conscientiousness is linked to a variety of positive outcomes later in life, including health, future research should examine whether conscientiousness change may be an important mechanism through which social support enhances resilience in older adulthood. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  11. The relationship between personality traits and sexual self-esteem and its components.

    PubMed

    Firoozi, Mahbobe; Azmoude, Elham; Asgharipoor, Negar

    2016-01-01

    Women's sexual self-esteem is one of the most important factors that affect women's sexual satisfaction and their sexual anxiety. Various aspects of sexual life are blended with the entire personality. Determining the relationship between personality traits and self-concept aspects such as sexual self-esteem leads to better understanding of sexual behavior in people with different personality traits and helps in identifying the psychological variables affecting their sexual performance. The aim this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits and sexual self-esteem. This correlation study was performed on 127 married women who referred to selected health care centers of Mashhad in 2014-2015. Data collection tools included NEO personality inventory dimensions and Zeanah and Schwarz sexual self-esteem questionnaire. Data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient test and stepwise regression model. The results of Pearson correlation test showed a significant relationship between neuroticism personality dimension (r = -0.414), extroversion (r = 0.363), agreeableness (r = 0.420), and conscientiousness (r = 0.364) with sexual self-esteem (P < 0.05). The relationship between openness with sexual self-esteem was not significant (P > 0.05). In addition, based on the results of the stepwise regression model, three dimensions of agreeableness, neuroticism, and extraversion could predict 27% of the women's sexual self-esteem variance. The results showed a correlation between women's personality characteristics and their sexual self-esteem. Paying attention to personality characteristics may be important to identify at-risk group or the women having low sexual self-esteem in premarital and family counseling.

  12. Big 5 Personality Traits and Interleukin-6: Evidence for “Healthy Neuroticism” in a U.S. Population Sample

    PubMed Central

    Turiano, Nicholas A.; Mroczek, Daniel K.; Moynihan, Jan; Chapman, Benjamin P.

    2012-01-01

    The current study investigated if the Big 5 personality traits predicted interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in a national sample over the course of 5 years. In addition, interactions among the Big 5 were tested to provide a more accurate understanding of how personality traits may influence an inflammatory biomarker. Data included 1,054 participants in the Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) biomarkers subproject. The Big 5 personality traits were assessed in 2005-06 as part of the main MIDUS survey. Medication use, comorbid conditions, smoking behavior, alcohol use, body mass index, and serum levels of IL-6 were assessed in 2005-2009 as part of the biomarkers subproject. Linear regression analyses examined personality associations with IL-6. A significant Conscientiousness*Neuroticism interaction revealed that those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism had lower circulating IL-6 levels than people with all other configurations of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Adjustment for health behaviors diminished the magnitude of this association but did not eliminate it, suggesting that lower comorbid conditions and obesity may partly explain the lower inflammation of those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Our findings suggest, consistent with prior speculation, that average to higher levels of Neuroticism can in some cases be associated with health benefits—in this case when it is accompanied by high Conscientiousness. Using personality to identify those at risk may lead to greater personalization in the prevention and remediation of chronic inflammation. PMID:23123863

  13. Neuroticism, mood, and retrieval of negative personal memories.

    PubMed

    Ruiz-Caballero, J A; Bermúdez, J

    1995-01-01

    Most studies of the effects of neuroticism on memory investigate the recall of self-related material learned during the course of the experimental session. The present study was designed to examine the effects of neuroticism on more complex personal events in real life. High levels of neuroticism were associated with a tendency toward fewer happy thoughts and memories. The results also suggest that neuroticism increased retrieval of negative personal memories independent of depressed mood. These findings are discussed in relation to cognitive vulnerability to depression.

  14. Personality Traits Are Associated with Academic Achievement in Medical School: A Nationally Representative Study.

    PubMed

    Sobowale, Kunmi; Ham, Sandra A; Curlin, Farr A; Yoon, John D

    2018-06-01

    This nationally representative study sought to identify personality traits that are associated with academic achievement in medical school. Third-year medical students, who completed an initial questionnaire in January 2011, were mailed a second questionnaire several months later during their fourth year. Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and burnout, the authors used multivariate logistic regressions to determine whether Big Five personality traits were associated with receiving honors/highest grade in clinical clerkships, failing a course or rotation, and being selected for the Alpha Omega Alpha or Gold Humanism Honor Society. The adjusted response rates for the two surveys were 61 (n = 564/919) and 84% (n = 474/564). The personality trait conscientiousness predicted obtaining honors/highest grade in all clinical clerkships. In contrast, students high in neuroticism were less likely to do well in most specialties. Students with higher conscientiousness were more likely to be inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, while students high in openness or agreeableness traits were more likely to be inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Burnout was not associated with any clinical performance measures. This study suggests the importance of personality traits, particularly conscientiousness, in predicting success during the clinical years of medical school. Medical educators should consider a nuanced examination of personality traits and other non-cognitive factors, particularly for psychiatry.

  15. Perceived parental affectionless control is associated with high neuroticism.

    PubMed

    Takahashi, Nana; Suzuki, Akihito; Matsumoto, Yoshihiko; Shirata, Toshinori; Otani, Koichi

    2017-01-01

    Depressed patients are prone to perceive that they were exposed to affectionless control by parents. Meanwhile, high neuroticism is a well-established risk factor for developing depression. Therefore, this study examined whether perceived parental affectionless control is associated with high neuroticism. The subjects were 664 healthy Japanese volunteers. Perceived parental care and protection were assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument. Parental rearing was categorized into either optimal parenting (high care/low protection) or three dysfunctional parenting styles including affectionless control (low care/high protection). Neuroticism was evaluated by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised. The subjects with paternal affectionless control had higher neuroticism scores than those with paternal optimal parenting. Similar tendency was observed in maternal rearing. Neuroticism scores increased in a stepwise manner with respect to the increase in the number of parents with affectionless control. The present study shows that perceived parental affectionless control is associated with high neuroticism, suggesting that this parental style increases neuroticism in recipients.

  16. An Investigation of Students' Personality Traits and Attitudes toward Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Zuway-R.; Lin, Huann-shyang

    2011-05-01

    The purposes of this study were to validate an instrument of attitudes toward science and to investigate grade level, type of school, and gender differences in Taiwan's students' personality traits and attitudes toward science as well as predictors of attitudes toward science. Nine hundred and twenty-two elementary students and 1,954 secondary students completed the School Student Questionnaire in 2008. Factor analyses, correlation analyses, ANOVAs, and regressions were used to compare the similarities and differences among male and female students in different grade levels. The findings were as follows: female students had higher interest in science and made more contributions in teams than their male counterparts across all grade levels. As students advanced through school, student scores on the personality trait scales of Conscientiousness and Openness sharply declined; students' scores on Neuroticism dramatically increased. Elementary school and academic high school students had significantly higher total scores on interest in science than those of vocational high and junior high school students. Scores on the scales measuring the traits of Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness were the most significant predictors of students' attitudes toward science. Implications of these findings for classroom instruction are discussed.

  17. Factors Related to Cigarette Smoking Initiation and Use among College Students

    PubMed Central

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine the impact of personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), cognitive factors (sense of coherence and self-efficacy), coping resources (family and friend social support) and demographic factors (gender and ethnicity) on cigarette smoking behaviors (initiation, frequency, and amount of cigarette smoking) among college students. A total of 161 U.S. college students, aged 18–26, who enrolled in an introductory psychology course completed self-report questionnaires. The majority of the students had tried smoking (55%); among those who had tried, 42% were current smokers. The majority (77%) who had smoked a whole cigarette did so at age 16 years or younger. Students who reported lower levels of conscientiousness and self-efficacy had a greater likelihood to had tried cigarette smoking. Also, students who had lower levels of self-efficacy reported smoking more frequently and greater quantities of cigarettes than students with higher levels of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was the most significant predictor of smoking behaviors. Health promotion programs focused on self-efficacy may be an effective tool for reducing the initiation, frequency, and amount of cigarette smoking among college students. PMID:19570288

  18. The five and seven factors personality models: differences and similitude between the TCI-R, NEO-FFI-R and ZKPQ-50-CC.

    PubMed

    Aluja, Anton; Blanch, Angel

    2011-11-01

    The present study tests the relationships between the three frequently used personality models evaluated by the Temperament Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R), Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Five Factor Inventory - Revised (NEO-FFI-R) and Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-50- Cross-Cultural (ZKPQ-50-CC). The results were obtained with a sample of 928 volunteer subjects from the general population aged between 17 and 28 years old. Frequency distributions and alpha reliabilities with the three instruments were acceptable. Correlational and factorial analyses showed that several scales in the three instruments share an appreciable amount of common variance. Five factors emerged from principal components analysis. The first factor was integrated by A (Agreeableness), Co (Cooperativeness) and Agg-Host (Aggressiveness-Hostility), with secondary loadings in C (Conscientiousness) and SD (Self-directiveness) from other factors. The second factor was composed by N (Neuroticism), N-Anx (Neuroticism-Anxiety), HA (Harm Avoidance) and SD (Self-directiveness). The third factor was integrated by Sy (Sociability), E (Extraversion), RD (Reward Dependence), ImpSS (Impulsive Sensation Seeking) and NS (novelty Seeking). The fourth factor was integrated by Ps (Persistence), Act (Activity), and C, whereas the fifth and last factor was composed by O (Openness) and ST (Self- Transcendence). Confirmatory factor analyses indicate that the scales in each model are highly interrelated and define the specified latent dimension well. Similarities and differences between these three instruments are further discussed.

  19. Personality Traits and Mental Symptoms are Associated with Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease on Patients' Daily Life.

    PubMed

    Topp, Marie; Vestbo, Jørgen; Mortensen, Erik Lykke

    2016-12-01

    Previous research has shown that personality traits are associated with self-reported health status in the general population. COPD Assessment Test (CAT) is increasingly used to assess health status such as the impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on patients' daily life, but knowledge about the influence of personality traits on CAT score is lacking. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of Big Five personality traits on CAT score and the relation between personality traits and mental symptoms with respect to their influence on CAT score. A sample of 168 patients diagnosed with COPD was consecutively recruited in a secondary care outpatient clinic. All participants completed CAT, NEO Five-Factor Inventory, and Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between personality traits and CAT scores and how this association was influenced by mental symptoms. The personality traits neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness; and the mental symptoms depression and anxiety showed significant influence on CAT score when analysed in separate regression models. Identical R-square (R = 0.24) was found for personality traits and mental symptoms, but combining personality traits and mental symptoms in one regression model showed substantially reduced effect estimates of neuroticism, conscientiousness and anxiety, reflecting the strong correlations between personality traits and mental symptoms. We found that the impact of COPD on daily life measured by CAT was related to personality and mental symptoms, which illustrates the necessity of taking individual differences in personality and mental status into account in the management of COPD.

  20. Personality and Obesity across the Adult Lifespan

    PubMed Central

    Sutin, Angelina R.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Zonderman, Alan B.; Terracciano, Antonio

    2011-01-01

    Personality traits contribute to health outcomes, in part through their association with major controllable risk factors, such as obesity. Body weight, in turn, reflects our behaviors and lifestyle and contributes to the way we perceive ourselves and others. In this study, we use data from a large (N=1,988) longitudinal study that spanned more than 50 years to examine how personality traits are associated with multiple measures of adiposity and with fluctuations in body mass index (BMI). Using 14,531 anthropometric assessments, we modeled the trajectory of BMI across adulthood and tested whether personality predicted its rate of change. Measured concurrently, participants higher on Neuroticism or Extraversion or lower on Conscientiousness had higher BMI; these associations replicated across body fat, waist, and hip circumference. The strongest association was found for the impulsivity facet: Participants who scored in the top 10% of impulsivity weighed, on average, 11Kg more than those in the bottom 10%. Longitudinally, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness, and the facets of these traits related to difficulty with impulse control, were associated with weight fluctuations, measured as the variability in weight over time. Finally, low Agreeableness and impulsivity-related traits predicted a greater increase in BMI across the adult lifespan. BMI was mostly unrelated to change in personality traits. Personality traits are defined by cognitive, emotional, and behavioral patterns that likely contribute to unhealthy weight and difficulties with weight management. Such associations may elucidate the role of personality traits in disease progression and may help to design more effective interventions. PMID:21744974

  1. Personality traits and eating habits in a large sample of Estonians.

    PubMed

    Mõttus, René; Realo, Anu; Allik, Jüri; Deary, Ian J; Esko, Tõnu; Metspalu, Andres

    2012-11-01

    Diet has health consequences, which makes knowing the psychological correlates of dietary habits important. Associations between dietary habits and personality traits were examined in a large sample of Estonians (N = 1,691) aged between 18 and 89 years. Dietary habits were measured using 11 items, which grouped into two factors reflecting (a) health aware and (b) traditional dietary patterns. The health aware diet factor was defined by eating more cereal and dairy products, fish, vegetables and fruits. The traditional diet factor was defined by eating more potatoes, meat and meat products, and bread. Personality was assessed by participants themselves and by people who knew them well. The questionnaire used was the NEO Personality Inventory-3, which measures the Five-Factor Model personality broad traits of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, along with six facets for each trait. Gender, age and educational level were controlled for. Higher scores on the health aware diet factor were associated with lower Neuroticism, and higher Extraversion, Openness and Conscientiousness (effect sizes were modest: r = .11 to 0.17 in self-ratings, and r = .08 to 0.11 in informant-ratings, ps < 0.01 or lower). Higher scores on the traditional diet factor were related to lower levels of Openness (r = -0.14 and -0.13, p < .001, self- and informant-ratings, respectively). Endorsement of healthy and avoidance of traditional dietary items are associated with people's personality trait levels, especially higher Openness. The results may inform dietary interventions with respect to possible barriers to diet change.

  2. Conscientiousness, career success, and longevity: a lifespan analysis.

    PubMed

    Kern, Margaret L; Friedman, Howard S; Martin, Leslie R; Reynolds, Chandra A; Luong, Gloria

    2009-04-01

    Markers of executive functioning, such as prudent planning for the future and impulse control, are related to conscientiousness and may be central to both occupational success and health outcomes. The aim of the study was to examine relations among conscientiousness, career success, and mortality risk across a 65-year period. Using data derived from 693 male participants in the Terman Life Cycle Study, we examined associations among childhood personality, midlife objective career success, and lifelong mortality risk through 2006. Conscientiousness and career success each predicted lower mortality risk (N = 693, relative hazard (rh) = 0.82 [95% confidence interval = 0.74, 0.91] and rh = 0.80 [0.71, 0.91], respectively), with both shared and unique variance. Importantly, childhood personality moderated the success-longevity link; conscientiousness was most relevant for least successful individuals. Conscientiousness and career success predicted longevity, but not in a straightforward manner. Findings highlight the importance of lifespan processes.

  3. Phobic, panic, and major depressive disorders and the five-factor model of personality.

    PubMed

    Bienvenu, O J; Nestadt, G; Samuels, J F; Costa, P T; Howard, W T; Eaton, W W

    2001-03-01

    This study investigated five-factor model personality traits in anxiety (simple phobia, social phobia, agoraphobia, and panic disorder) and major depressive disorders in a population-based sample. In the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Follow-up Study, psychiatrists administered the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry to 333 adult subjects who also completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. All of the disorders except simple phobia were associated with high neuroticism. Social phobia and agoraphobia were associated with low extraversion. In addition, lower-order facets of extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with certain disorders (i.e., low positive emotions in panic disorder; low trust and compliance in certain phobias; and low competence, achievement striving, and self-discipline in several disorders). This study emphasizes the utility of lower-order personality assessments and underscores the need for further research on personality/psychopathology etiologic relationships.

  4. Trait Emotional Intelligence and Personality: Gender-Invariant Linkages Across Different Measures of the Big Five.

    PubMed

    Siegling, Alexander B; Furnham, Adrian; Petrides, K V

    2015-02-01

    This study investigated if the linkages between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and the Five-Factor Model of personality were invariant between men and women. Five English-speaking samples ( N = 307-685) of mostly undergraduate students each completed a different measure of the Big Five personality traits and either the full form or short form of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Across samples, models predicting global TEIQue scores from the Big Five were invariant between genders, with Neuroticism and Extraversion being the strongest trait EI correlates, followed by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. However, there was some evidence indicating that the gender-specific contributions of the Big Five to trait EI vary depending on the personality measure used, being more consistent for women. Discussion focuses on the validity of the TEIQue as a measure of trait EI and its psychometric properties, more generally.

  5. Psychometric Properties of the International Personality Item Pool Big-Five Personality Questionnaire for the Greek population.

    PubMed

    Ypofanti, Maria; Zisi, Vasiliki; Zourbanos, Nikolaos; Mouchtouri, Barbara; Tzanne, Pothiti; Theodorakis, Yannis; Lyrakos, Georgios

    2015-09-30

    Goldberg's International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) big-five personality factor markers currently lack validating evidence. The structure of the 50-item IPIP was examined in two different adult samples (total N=811), in each case justifying a 5-factor solution, with only minor discrepancies. Age differences were comparable to previous findings using other inventories. One sample (N=193) also completed additionally another personality measure (the TIPI Short Form). Conscientiousness, extraversion and emotional stability/neuroticism scales of the IPIP were highly correlated with those of the TIPI (r=0.62 to 0.65, P=0.01). Agreeableness and Intellect/Openness scales correlated less strongly (r=0.54 and 0.58 respectively, P=0.01). The IPIP scales have good internal consistency (a=0.88) and relate strongly to major dimensions of personality assessed by the two questionnaires.

  6. Hostile climate, abusive supervision, and employee coping: does conscientiousness matter?

    PubMed

    Mawritz, Mary B; Dust, Scott B; Resick, Christian J

    2014-07-01

    The current study draws on the transactional theory of stress to propose that employees cope with hostile work environments by engaging in emotion-based coping in the forms of organization-directed deviance and psychological withdrawal. Specifically, we propose that supervisors' hostile organizational climate perceptions act as distal environmental stressors that are partially transmitted through supervisors' abusive actions and that conscientiousness moderates the proposed effects. First, we hypothesize that supervisor conscientiousness has a buffering effect by decreasing the likelihood of abusive supervision. Second, we hypothesize that highly conscientious employees cope differently from less conscientious employees. Among a sample of employees and their immediate supervisors, results indicated that while hostile climate perceptions provide a breeding ground for destructive behaviors, conscientious individuals are less likely to respond to perceived hostility with hostile acts. As supervisor conscientious levels increased, supervisors were less likely to engage in abusive supervision, which buffered employees from the negative effects of hostile climate perceptions. However, when working for less conscientious supervisors, employees experienced the effects of perceived hostile climates indirectly through abusive supervision. In turn, less conscientious employees tended to cope with the stress of hostile environments transmitted through abusive supervision by engaging in acts of organization-directed deviance. At the same time, all employees, regardless of their levels of conscientiousness, tended to cope with their hostile environments by psychologically withdrawing. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

  7. Neuroticism and facial emotion recognition in healthy adults.

    PubMed

    Andric, Sanja; Maric, Nadja P; Knezevic, Goran; Mihaljevic, Marina; Mirjanic, Tijana; Velthorst, Eva; van Os, Jim

    2016-04-01

    The aim of the present study was to examine whether healthy individuals with higher levels of neuroticism, a robust independent predictor of psychopathology, exhibit altered facial emotion recognition performance. Facial emotion recognition accuracy was investigated in 104 healthy adults using the Degraded Facial Affect Recognition Task (DFAR). Participants' degree of neuroticism was estimated using neuroticism scales extracted from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. A significant negative correlation between the degree of neuroticism and the percentage of correct answers on DFAR was found only for happy facial expression (significant after applying Bonferroni correction). Altered sensitivity to the emotional context represents a useful and easy way to obtain cognitive phenotype that correlates strongly with inter-individual variations in neuroticism linked to stress vulnerability and subsequent psychopathology. Present findings could have implication in early intervention strategies and staging models in psychiatry. © 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  8. Agreeableness and pregnancy: Relations with coping and psychiatric symptoms, a longitudinal study on Spanish pregnant women.

    PubMed

    Peñacoba, Cecilia; Rodríguez, Laura; Carmona, Javier; Marín, Dolores

    2018-02-01

    Agreeableness is associated with good mental health during pregnancy. Although different studies have indicated that agreeableness is related to adaptive coping, this relation has scarcely been studied in pregnant women. The aim of this study was to analyze the possible differences between high and low agreeableness in relation to coping strategies and psychiatric symptoms in pregnant women. We conducted a longitudinal prospective study between October 2009 and January 2013. Pregnant women (n = 285) were assessed in the first trimester of pregnancy, and 122 of them were assessed during the third. Data were collected using the Coping Strategies Questionnaire, the Symptom Check List 90-R, and the agreeableness subscale of the NEO-FFI. Using the SPSS 21 statistics package, binary logistic regression, two-way mixed analysis of variance, and multiple regression analyses and a Sobel test were conducted. Higher levels of agreeableness were associated with positive reappraisal and problem-solving, and lower levels of agreeableness were associated with overt emotional expression and negative self-focused coping. Women with low agreeableness had poorer mental health, especially in the first trimester. These findings should be taken into account to improve women's experiences during pregnancy. Nevertheless, given the scarcity of data, additional studies are needed.

  9. Lifetime trauma, personality traits, and health: A pathway to midlife health status.

    PubMed

    Hampson, Sarah E; Edmonds, Grant W; Goldberg, Lewis R; Barckley, Maureen; Klest, Bridget; Dubanoski, Joan P; Hillier, Teresa A

    2016-07-01

    This study investigated whether lifetime experience of trauma is related to personality through instrumental and reactive trait processes, and whether lifetime trauma is a mechanism underlying the association between childhood conscientiousness and objectively assessed adult physical health. Participants (N = 831) were 442 women and 389 men from the Hawaii longitudinal study of personality and health. Teacher assessments of personality were obtained when the participants were in elementary school. Self-reported adult personality assessments, lifetime histories of trauma experience, and objectively assessed physiological dysregulation were obtained between ages 45-55. Women tended to report more high-betrayal trauma than men, whereas men reported more low-betrayal trauma than women. Women who were judged by their teachers to be less agreeable and less conscientious in childhood reported more lifetime trauma, suggesting instrumental trait processes. For both genders, neuroticism and openness/intellect/imagination in adulthood, but not in childhood, were associated with lifetime trauma, suggesting reactive trait processes. For both genders, trauma experience was correlated with dysregulation and with Body Mass Index (BMI). The indirect paths from childhood conscientiousness to adult dysregulation and BMI through total teen and adult trauma were significant for women, but not for men (indirect effect for women's dysregulation = -.025, p = .040, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -.048, -.001; indirect effect for women's BMI = -.037, p = .009, 95% CI = -.067, -.008). Teen and adult trauma experience appears to be a hitherto unidentified mechanism in women underlying the association between conscientiousness and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Personality traits and illicit substances: the moderating role of poverty.

    PubMed

    Sutin, Angelina R; Evans, Michele K; Zonderman, Alan B

    2013-08-01

    Illicit substances increase risk of morbidity and mortality and have significant consequences for society. Personality traits are associated with drug use; we test whether these associations vary by socioeconomic status. Participants (N=412) from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and self-reported use of opiates and cocaine. 50% of participants were living below 125% of the federal poverty line. Mean-level personality differences across never, former, and current opiate/cocaine users were compared. Logistic regressions compared never versus current users and interactions between personality traits and poverty status tested whether these associations varied by socioeconomic status. High Neuroticism and low Agreeableness increased risk of drug use. The association between low Conscientiousness and drug use was moderated by poverty, such that low Conscientiousness was a stronger risk factor for illicit substance use among those with relatively higher SES. For every standard deviation decrease in Conscientiousness, there was a greater than 2-fold increase in risk of illicit substance use (OR=2.15, 95% CI=1.45-3.17). Conscientiousness was unrelated to drug use among participants living below 125% of the federal poverty line. Under favorable economic conditions, the tendency to be organized, disciplined, and deliberate is protective against drug use. These tendencies, however, matter less when financial resources are scarce. In contrast, those prone to emotional distress and antagonism are at greater risk for current drug use, regardless of their economic situation. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

  11. Lifetime Trauma, Personality Traits, and Health: A Pathway to Midlife Health Status

    PubMed Central

    Hampson, Sarah E.; Edmonds, Grant W.; Goldberg, Lewis R.; Barckley, Maureen; Klest, Bridget; Dubanoski, Joan P.; Hillier, Teresa A.

    2016-01-01

    Objective This study investigated whether lifetime experience of trauma is related to personality through instrumental and reactive trait processes, and whether lifetime trauma is a mechanism underlying the association between childhood conscientiousness and objectively assessed adult physical health. Method Participants (N = 831) were 442 women and 389 men from the Hawaii longitudinal study of personality and health. Teacher assessments of personality were obtained when the participants were in elementary school. Self-reported adult personality assessments, lifetime histories of trauma experience, and objectively assessed physiological dysregulation were obtained between ages 45–55. Results Women tended to report more high-betrayal trauma than men, whereas men reported more low-betrayal trauma than women. Women who were judged by their teachers to be less agreeable and less conscientious in childhood reported more lifetime trauma, suggesting instrumental trait processes. For both genders, neuroticism and openness/intellect/imagination in adulthood, but not in childhood, were associated with lifetime trauma, suggesting reactive trait processes. For both genders, trauma experience was correlated with dysregulation and with BMI. The indirect paths from childhood conscientiousness to adult dysregulation and BMI through total teen and adult trauma were significant for women, but not for men (indirect effect for women’s dysregulation = −.025, p = .040, 95% CI = −.048, −.001; indirect effect for women’s BMI = −.037, p = .009, 95% CI = −.067, −.008). Conclusion Teen and adult trauma experience appears to be a hitherto unidentified mechanism in women underlying the association between conscientiousness and health. PMID:27100170

  12. Conscientious objection in healthcare, referral and the military analogy.

    PubMed

    Clarke, Steve

    2017-04-01

    An analogy is sometimes drawn between the proper treatment of conscientious objectors in healthcare and in military contexts. In this paper, I consider an aspect of this analogy that has not, to my knowledge, been considered in debates about conscientious objection in healthcare. In the USA and elsewhere, tribunals have been tasked with the responsibility of recommending particular forms of alternative service for conscientious objectors. Military conscripts who have a conscientious objection to active military service, and whose objections are deemed acceptable, are required either to serve the military in a non-combat role, or assigned some form of community service that does not contribute to the effectiveness of the military. I argue that consideration of the role that military tribunals have played in determining the appropriate form of alternative service for conscripts who are conscientious objectors can help us to understand how conscientious objectors in healthcare ought to be treated. Additionally, I show that it helps us to address the vexed issue of whether or not conscientious objectors who refuse to provide a service requested by a patient should be required to refer that patient to another healthcare professional. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  13. Will Interventions Targeting Conscientiousness Improve Aging Outcomes?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    English, Tammy; Carstensen, Laura L.

    2014-01-01

    The articles appearing in this special section discuss the role that conscientiousness may play in healthy aging. Growing evidence suggests that conscientious individuals live longer and healthier lives. However, the question remains whether this personality trait can be leveraged to improve long-term health outcomes. We argue that even though it…

  14. Personality Traits Predict Emergency Department Utilization Over 3 Years in Older Patients

    PubMed Central

    Chapman, Benjamin P.; Shah, Manish; Friedman, Bruce; Drayer, Rebecca; Duberstein, Paul R.; Lyness, Jeffrey M.

    2009-01-01

    Background Emergency department (ED) utilization by older patients has major implications for morbidity, mortality, and health costs, yet its behavioral determinants remain poorly understood. Powerfully tied to health in older adults, the “Big Five” personality traits of neuroticism, extroversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness may predict ED use. Objectives Investigate the role of personality in prospective ED use among older patients. Research Design Prospective cohort. Subjects Adults aged 65 and older. Measures Participants completed the NEO Five Factor Inventory of personality at baseline, and interviewers administered the Cornell Services Index assessing ED use at baseline and 3 yearly follow-ups. Results Controlling for income, education, gender, age, physician-assessed medical burden and physical functioning, and interviewer-assessed impairments in basic activities of daily living and physical self-maintenance, and depression, lower agreeableness and higher extroversion were each associated with increased odds of an ED visit over the follow-up period. A 1 sample deviation (SD) increase in extroversion (i.e., 50th versus 83rd population percentile) increased the odds of ED use by 51% (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] [95% CI] = 1.51 [1.03-2.21], z = 2.12, N = 923, p = 0.034). A 1-SD decrease in agreeableness (i.e., 50th versus 17th population percentile) increased odds of ED use by 54% (AOR [95% CI] = 1.54 [1.05-2.22], z = -2.25, N = 923, p = 0.034). Conclusion The greater assertiveness and social confidence signified by lower agreeableness and higher extroversion may help older adults overcome potential barriers to the ED. Overly introverted and agreeable older adults may require special encouragement to access the ED—particularly for time-sensitive conditions—to reduce morbidity and mortality. PMID:19461261

  15. Extraversion, neuroticism, immoral judgment and criminal behaviour.

    PubMed

    Addad, M; Leslau, A

    1989-01-01

    The present study examines delinquent behaviour by integrating two approaches until now employed separately: Eysnck's theory linking delinquency to extraversion and neuroticism, and Kohlberg's theory of moral development and its connection to moral behaviour. The study analyzes the relations between extraversion, neuroticism and moral judgment, as well as their independent and/or interactive effect upon the development of anti-social behaviour. The relationships are tested by retrospective measurements of personality traits and moral judgment in three groups: delinquency (N = 203), control (N = 82) and comparative (N = 407) groups. Findings show that criminals are higher than control subjects in neuroticism and immoral judgment but not in extraversion. Similar relationships were found between criminals and the comparative group, with one exception: here extraversion was found to be positively related to delinquency, both independently and interactively with neuroticism. The implications of these results for differential development of anti-social behaviour are discussed.

  16. Genetic Strategies for Probing Conscientiousness and Its Relationship to Aging

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    South, Susan C.; Krueger, Robert F.

    2014-01-01

    Conscientiousness is an important trait for understanding healthy aging. The present article addresses how behavioral and molecular genetics methodologies can aid in furthering explicating the link between conscientiousness and aspects of health and well-being in later life. We review the etiology of conscientiousness documented by both…

  17. Medical students' attitudes towards conscientious objection: a survey.

    PubMed

    Nordstrand, Sven Jakob; Nordstrand, Magnus Andreas; Nortvedt, Per; Magelssen, Morten

    2014-09-01

    To examine medical students' views on conscientious objection and controversial medical procedures. Questionnaire study among Norwegian 5th and 6th year medical students. Five hundred and thirty-one of 893 students (59%) responded. Respondents object to a range of procedures not limited to abortion (up to 19%)-notably euthanasia (62%), ritual circumcision for boys (52%), assisted reproduction for same-sex couples (9.7%) and ultrasound in the setting of prenatal diagnosis (5.0%). A small minority (4.9%) would object to referrals for abortion. In the case of abortion, up to 55% would tolerate conscientious refusals, whereas 42% would not. Higher proportions would tolerate refusals for euthanasia (89%) or ritual circumcision for boys (72%). A majority of Norwegian medical students would object to participation in euthanasia or ritual circumcision for boys. However, in most settings, many medical students think doctors should not be able to refuse participation on grounds of conscience. A minority would accept conscientious refusals for procedures they themselves do not object to personally. Most students would not accept conscientious refusals for referrals. Conscientious objection remains a live issue in the context of several medical procedures not limited to abortion. Although most would want a right to object to participation in euthanasia, tolerance towards conscientious objectors in general was moderate or low. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  18. Conscientious objection in medical students: a questionnaire survey.

    PubMed

    Strickland, Sophie Lm

    2012-01-01

    To explore attitudes towards conscientious objections among medical students in the UK. Medical students at St George's University of London, Cardiff University, King's College London and Leeds University were emailed a link to an anonymous online questionnaire, hosted by an online survey company. The questionnaire contained nine questions. A total of 733 medical students responded. Nearly half of the students in this survey stated that they believed in the right of doctors to conscientiously object to any procedure. Demand for the right to conscientiously object is greater in Muslim medical students when compared with other groups of religious medical students. Abortion continues to be a contentious issue among medical students and this may contribute to the looming crisis in abortion services over the coming years. This project sheds some light on how future doctors view some of their ethical rights and obligations. Using empirical evidence, it reveals that conscientious objection is an issue in the UK medical student body today. These data could help anticipate problems that may arise when these medical students qualify and practise medicine in the community. Clearer guidance is needed for medical students about the issue of conscientious objection at medical school.

  19. Myopia and personality: the genes in myopia (GEM) personality study.

    PubMed

    van de Berg, Robert; Dirani, Mohamed; Chen, Christine Y; Haslam, Nicholas; Baird, Paul N

    2008-03-01

    A long-held view among the medical and broader community is that people who are short-sighted (myopic persons) have distinctive personality characteristics such as introversion and conscientiousness. However, existing research on this question is flawed, and its findings are inconsistent. The authors therefore aimed to determine whether myopia and personality are associated. The authors examined twins recruited through the Australian Twin Registry and a clinical-based family sample through a proband from a Melbourne Excimer Laser Clinic. There was no relation between family members and twins recruited in our study. Each individual underwent a full eye examination, completed a standard medical and general questionnaire, and was administered a five-factor model International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) inventory (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism). Myopia was defined as worse than or equal to -0.50 (DS) spherical equivalent in the eye with the least refractive error. Data from 633 individual twins aged 18 to 83 years (mean, 53.04 years) and 278 family members aged 11 to 90 years (mean, 49.84 years) were analyzed. Prevalence of myopia was 35.7% for twins and 47.6% for family members. Mean spherical equivalent was +0.13 DS (95% CI, +/-0.16) for twins and -1.13 DS (95% CI, +/-0.25) for family members. Correlation and regression results for personality for both sample cohorts after multivariate analysis did not support the view that myopic persons are introverted or conscientious; however, there was a significant but small association between myopia and Agreeableness (r = 0.08, P < 0.05). In multivariate analysis with age, sex, education, and the five personality factors entered as predictors, Openness was the only significant personality predictor of myopia in both samples. This is the first multivariate study to assess links between personality and myopia using the IPIP. The long-held view that myopic persons are introverted and

  20. Conscientious refusals and reason-giving.

    PubMed

    Marsh, Jason

    2014-07-01

    Some philosophers have argued for what I call the reason-giving requirement for conscientious refusal in reproductive healthcare. According to this requirement, healthcare practitioners who conscientiously object to administering standard forms of treatment must have arguments to back up their conscience, arguments that are purely public in character. I argue that such a requirement, though attractive in some ways, faces an overlooked epistemic problem: it is either too easy or too difficult to satisfy in standard cases. I close by briefly considering whether a version of the reason-giving requirement can be salvaged despite this important difficulty. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Psychological traits and the cortisol awakening response: results from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety.

    PubMed

    van Santen, Aafke; Vreeburg, Sophie A; Van der Does, A J Willem; Spinhoven, Philip; Zitman, Frans G; Penninx, Brenda W J H

    2011-02-01

    Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation is often seen in major depression, and is thought to represent a trait vulnerability - rather than merely an illness marker - for depressive disorder and possibly anxiety disorder. Vulnerability traits associated with stress-related disorders might reflect increased sensitivity for the development of psychopathology through an association with HPA axis activity. Few studies have examined the association between psychological trait factors and the cortisol awakening response, with inconsistent results. The present study examined the relationship between multiple psychological trait factors and the cortisol awakening curve, including both the dynamic of the CAR and overall cortisol awakening levels, in a sample of persons without psychopathology, hypothesizing that persons scoring high on vulnerability traits demonstrate an elevated cortisol awakening curve. From 2981 participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), baseline data from 381 controls (aged 18-65) without previous, current and parental depression and anxiety disorders were analyzed. Psychological measures included the Big Five personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) measured using the NEO-FFI, anxiety sensitivity assessed by the Anxiety Sensitivity Index, cognitive reactivity to sadness (hopelessness, acceptance/coping, aggression, control/perfectionism, risk aversion, and rumination) as measured by the LEIDS-R questionnaire, and mastery, assessed using the Pearlin and Schooler Mastery scale. Salivary cortisol levels were measured at awakening, and 30, 45, and 60 min afterwards. In adjusted analyses, high scores of hopelessness reactivity (β=.13, p=.02) were consistently associated with a higher cortisol awakening response. In addition, although inconsistent across analyses, persons scoring higher on extraversion, control/perfectionism reactivity, and

  2. Followers' agreeableness and extraversion and their loyalty towards authentic leadership.

    PubMed

    Monzani, Lucas; Ripoll, Pilar; Peiró, José María

    2014-01-01

    Effective leaders understand that loyal followers are the key for success. To win their loyalty, leaders usually build social exchange relationships with them, through a wide range of behaviours, such as honouring agreements or using open and transparent communication. However, the effect of these behaviours on their followers' loyalty can differ depending on followers' individual differences, especially in relational traits such as agreeableness and extraversion. We explored the moderating role of followers' agreeableness and extraversion in the relationship between authentic leadership (using transactional leadership as reference group) and followers' loyalty. A two-wave experiment, where 224 participants with and without work experience were randomly assigned to either a transactional or authentic leadership style condition was conducted. Our results show that followers in the authentic leadership condition had higher levels of loyalty toward their leader. Moreover, followers' agreeableness played a negative moderating role in this relationship whereas extraversion played a positive moderating role in it. Our results indicate that followers' characteristics influence the effect of situational factors on their attitudes, such as loyalty, providing support for the need of a more integrative approach to leadership, where followers need to be considered as active elements of this process ofinfluence.

  3. The Mediating Role of Resilience in the Relationship between Big Five Personality and Anxiety among Chinese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

    PubMed Central

    Shi, Meng; Liu, Li; Wang, Zi Yue; Wang, Lie

    2015-01-01

    Backgrounds The psychological distress of medical students is a major concern of public health worldwide. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate anxiety symptoms of medical students in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical students, to examine the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms among medical students, and to explore the mediating role of resilience in these relationships. Methods This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2014. Self-reported questionnaires consisting of the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14) and demographic section were distributed to the subjects. A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 2925 medical students (effective response rate: 83.57%) at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of resilience. Results The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 47.3% (SAS index score≥50) among Chinese medical students. After adjusting for the demographic factors, the traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness were all negatively associated with anxiety whereas neuroticism was positively associated with it. Resilience functioned as a mediator in the relationships between agreeableness/conscientiousness/openness and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Among Chinese medical students, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was high and resilience mediated the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms. Identifying at-risk individuals and undertaking appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both personality traits and resilience might be more effective to prevent and reduce anxiety symptoms. PMID:25794003

  4. The relationship between personality traits and sexual self-esteem and its components

    PubMed Central

    Firoozi, Mahbobe; Azmoude, Elham; Asgharipoor, Negar

    2016-01-01

    Background: Women's sexual self-esteem is one of the most important factors that affect women's sexual satisfaction and their sexual anxiety. Various aspects of sexual life are blended with the entire personality. Determining the relationship between personality traits and self-concept aspects such as sexual self-esteem leads to better understanding of sexual behavior in people with different personality traits and helps in identifying the psychological variables affecting their sexual performance. The aim this study was to determine the relationship between personality traits and sexual self-esteem. Materials and Methods: This correlation study was performed on 127 married women who referred to selected health care centers of Mashhad in 2014–2015. Data collection tools included NEO personality inventory dimensions and Zeanah and Schwarz sexual self-esteem questionnaire. Data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient test and stepwise regression model. Results: The results of Pearson correlation test showed a significant relationship between neuroticism personality dimension (r = −0.414), extroversion (r = 0.363), agreeableness (r = 0.420), and conscientiousness (r = 0.364) with sexual self-esteem (P < 0.05). The relationship between openness with sexual self-esteem was not significant (P > 0.05). In addition, based on the results of the stepwise regression model, three dimensions of agreeableness, neuroticism, and extraversion could predict 27% of the women's sexual self-esteem variance. Conclusions: The results showed a correlation between women's personality characteristics and their sexual self-esteem. Paying attention to personality characteristics may be important to identify at-risk group or the women having low sexual self-esteem in premarital and family counseling. PMID:27186198

  5. Neuroticism modifies psychophysiological responses to fearful films.

    PubMed

    Reynaud, Emmanuelle; El Khoury-Malhame, Myriam; Rossier, Jérôme; Blin, Olivier; Khalfa, Stéphanie

    2012-01-01

    Neuroticism is a personality component frequently found in anxious and depressive psychiatric disorders. The influence of neuroticism on negative emotions could be due to its action on stimuli related to fear and sadness, but this remains debated. Our goal was thus to better understand the impact of neuroticism through verbal and physiological assessment in response to stimuli inducing fear and sadness as compared to another negative emotion (disgust). Fifteen low neurotic and 18 high neurotic subjects were assessed on an emotional attending task by using film excerpts inducing fear, disgust, and sadness. We recorded skin conductance response (SCR) and corrugator muscle activity (frowning) as indices of emotional expression. SCR was larger in high neurotic subjects than in low neurotics for fear relative to sadness and disgust. Moreover, corrugator activity and SCR were larger in high than in low neurotic subjects when fear was induced. After decades of evidence that individuals higher in neuroticism experience more intense emotional reactions to even minor stressors, our results indicate that they show greater SCR and expressive reactivity specifically to stimuli evoking fear rather than to those inducing sadness or disgust. Fear processing seems mainly under the influence of neuroticism. This modulation of autonomic activity by neurotics in response to threat/fear may explain their increased vulnerability to anxious psychopathologies such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

  6. Neuroticism Modifies Psychophysiological Responses to Fearful Films

    PubMed Central

    Reynaud, Emmanuelle; El Khoury-Malhame, Myriam; Rossier, Jérôme; Blin, Olivier; Khalfa, Stéphanie

    2012-01-01

    Background Neuroticism is a personality component frequently found in anxious and depressive psychiatric disorders. The influence of neuroticism on negative emotions could be due to its action on stimuli related to fear and sadness, but this remains debated. Our goal was thus to better understand the impact of neuroticism through verbal and physiological assessment in response to stimuli inducing fear and sadness as compared to another negative emotion (disgust). Methods Fifteen low neurotic and 18 high neurotic subjects were assessed on an emotional attending task by using film excerpts inducing fear, disgust, and sadness. We recorded skin conductance response (SCR) and corrugator muscle activity (frowning) as indices of emotional expression. Results SCR was larger in high neurotic subjects than in low neurotics for fear relative to sadness and disgust. Moreover, corrugator activity and SCR were larger in high than in low neurotic subjects when fear was induced. Conclusion After decades of evidence that individuals higher in neuroticism experience more intense emotional reactions to even minor stressors, our results indicate that they show greater SCR and expressive reactivity specifically to stimuli evoking fear rather than to those inducing sadness or disgust. Fear processing seems mainly under the influence of neuroticism. This modulation of autonomic activity by neurotics in response to threat/fear may explain their increased vulnerability to anxious psychopathologies such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). PMID:22479326

  7. Big Five personality traits: are they really important for the subjective well-being of Indians?

    PubMed

    Tanksale, Deepa

    2015-02-01

    This study empirically examined the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being (SWB) in India. SWB variables used were life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect. A total of 183 participants in the age range 30-40 years from Pune, India, completed the personality and SWB measures. Backward stepwise regression analysis showed that the Big Five traits accounted for 17% of the variance in life satisfaction, 35% variance in positive affect and 28% variance in negative affect. Conscientiousness emerged as the strongest predictor of life satisfaction. In line with the earlier research findings, neuroticism and extraversion were found to predict negative affect and positive affect, respectively. Neither openness to experience nor agreeableness contributed to SWB. The research emphasises the need to revisit the association between personality and SWB across different cultures, especially non-western cultures. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

  8. A method of emotion contagion for crowd evacuation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cao, Mengxiao; Zhang, Guijuan; Wang, Mengsi; Lu, Dianjie; Liu, Hong

    2017-10-01

    The current evacuation model does not consider the impact of emotion and personality on crowd evacuation. Thus, there is large difference between evacuation results and the real-life behavior of the crowd. In order to generate more realistic crowd evacuation results, we present a method of emotion contagion for crowd evacuation. First, we combine OCEAN (Openness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness) model and SIS (Susceptible Infected Susceptible) model to construct the P-SIS (Personalized SIS) emotional contagion model. The P-SIS model shows the diversity of individuals in crowd effectively. Second, we couple the P-SIS model with the social force model to simulate emotional contagion on crowd evacuation. Finally, the photo-realistic rendering method is employed to obtain the animation of crowd evacuation. Experimental results show that our method can simulate crowd evacuation realistically and has guiding significance for crowd evacuation in the emergency circumstances.

  9. Why do measures of normal and disordered personality correlate? A study of genetic comorbidity.

    PubMed

    Jang, K L; Livesley, W J

    1999-01-01

    The genetic and environmental correlations between measures of normal (NEO-FFI) and abnormal personality (Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology: DAPP-BQ) were estimated in a sample of 545 volunteer general population twin pairs (269 monozygotic and 276 dizygotic pairs). The largest genetic correlations were observed between the 18 DAPP-BQ dimensions and NEO-FFI neuroticism (range = .05 to .81; median = .48), extraversion (range = -.65 to .33; median = -.28), agreeableness (range = -.65 to .00; median = -.38), and conscientiousness (range = -.76 to .52; median = -.31). The smallest genetic correlations were found between the DAPP-BQ dimensions and NEO-FFI openness (range = -.17 to .20; median = -.04). The environmental correlations are lower in magnitude but show the same pattern of correlations between DAPP-BQ and NEO-FFI scales. These results indicate that these two scales share a common broad-based genetic architecture, whereas the environmental influences show greater scale specificity.

  10. Trait Emotional Intelligence and Personality

    PubMed Central

    Furnham, Adrian; Petrides, K. V.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated if the linkages between trait emotional intelligence (trait EI) and the Five-Factor Model of personality were invariant between men and women. Five English-speaking samples (N = 307-685) of mostly undergraduate students each completed a different measure of the Big Five personality traits and either the full form or short form of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue). Across samples, models predicting global TEIQue scores from the Big Five were invariant between genders, with Neuroticism and Extraversion being the strongest trait EI correlates, followed by Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. However, there was some evidence indicating that the gender-specific contributions of the Big Five to trait EI vary depending on the personality measure used, being more consistent for women. Discussion focuses on the validity of the TEIQue as a measure of trait EI and its psychometric properties, more generally. PMID:25866439

  11. Social curiosity and interpersonal perception: a judge x trait interaction.

    PubMed

    Hartung, Freda-Marie; Renner, Britta

    2011-06-01

    The present study examined the impact of social curiosity on the utilization of social information and the accuracy of personality judgments. In total, 182 individuals who never met each other before were asked to interact for 10 minutes and afterwards to evaluate the personality (Big Five) of their interaction partner. High socially curious judges were more accurate in evaluating the degree of Extraversion and Openness of their interaction partners. Interestingly, high and low curious judges differed significantly in the utilization of verbal and nonverbal cues displayed by their interaction partner. Specifically, high socially curious judges more often used valid cues for inferring Extraversion and Openness. No differences in interpersonal accuracy and cue utilization were found for Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness. The results suggest that high socially curious individuals are more accurate in judging visible traits and that this higher accuracy is grounded in a more comprehensive utilization of valid cues.

  12. Influence of social desirability on age differences in self-reports of mood and personality

    PubMed Central

    Soubelet, Andrea; Salthouse, Timothy A.

    2011-01-01

    Increased age has been found to be associated with differences in affect and personality which have been interpreted in terms of better emotional regulation and increased maturity. However, these findings have largely been based on self-report data, and the primary goal of the current research was to investigate the hypothesis that age-related differences in affect and in certain desirable personality traits might, at least partially, reflect age differences in social desirability. As expected, increased age was associated with lower levels of negative affect and neuroticism and higher levels of positive affect, life satisfaction, agreeableness and conscientiousness, and scores on the social desirability scale were positively related to age and to desirable self-report characteristics, but negatively related to undesirable self-report characteristics. Importantly, controlling for the variance in the social desirability measure resulted in less positive age trends in both types of self-report measures. PMID:21682727

  13. Similar associations between personality dimensions and anxiety or depressive disorders in a population study of Turkish-Dutch, Moroccan-Dutch, and native Dutch subjects.

    PubMed

    Schrier, Agnes C; de Wit, Matty A S; Krol, Anneke; Fassaert, Thijs J L; Verhoeff, Arnoud P; Kupka, Ralph W; Dekker, Jack; Beekman, Aartjan T F

    2013-05-01

    It is well established that personality traits are associated with anxiety and depressive disorders in Western populations, but it is not known whether this is true also for people from non-Western cultures. In this study, we examined whether ethnicity moderates the association between personality dimensions and anxiety or depressive disorders or symptoms. In a random urban population sample, stratified by ethnicity, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, we interviewed 309 native Dutch subjects, 203 Turkish-Dutch subjects, and 170 Moroccan-Dutch subjects. Dimensions of personality were measured using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Anxiety and depressive disorders and symptom levels were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. The association between personality factors and disorders or symptoms of anxiety and depression was very similar in the three ethnic groups: all show the typical profile of high neuroticism and low extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

  14. [Medicine and conscientious objection].

    PubMed

    Martínez, K

    2007-01-01

    Conscientious objection to democratically accepted laws in democratic societies is a fact, both among citizens and among professionals. Due respect for laws is a prima facie duty in these societies. But democratic justice must at the same time respect peoples' conscience for it constitutes the ethical identity of individuals. And both law and ethics are necessary - although neither of them is sufficient - for its realization. The problem of conscientious objection among healthcare professionals is analysed from this standpoint and the conclusion is that objection is not an absolute right to exemption from several duties, but that the responsibility of the professional and of the institutions towards the citizenry must always be taken into account. Some solutions are suggested that try to protect both the professionals and the citizens in a bi-directional way.

  15. Personality and All-Cause Mortality: Individual-Participant Meta-Analysis of 3,947 Deaths in 76,150 Adults

    PubMed Central

    Jokela, Markus; Batty, G. David; Nyberg, Solja T.; Virtanen, Marianna; Nabi, Hermann; Singh-Manoux, Archana; Kivimäki, Mika

    2013-01-01

    Personality may influence the risk of death, but the evidence remains inconsistent. We examined associations between personality traits of the five-factor model (extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and the risk of death from all causes through individual-participant meta-analysis of 76,150 participants from 7 cohorts (the British Household Panel Survey, 2006–2009; the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, 2005–2010; the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, 2006–2010; the US Health and Retirement Study, 2006–2010; the Midlife in the United States Study, 1995–2004; and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study's graduate and sibling samples, 1993–2009). During 444,770 person-years at risk, 3,947 participants (54.4% women) died (mean age at baseline = 50.9 years; mean follow-up = 5.9 years). Only low conscientiousness—reflecting low persistence, poor self-control, and lack of long-term planning—was associated with elevated mortality risk when taking into account age, sex, ethnicity/nationality, and all 5 personality traits. Individuals in the lowest tertile of conscientiousness had a 1.4 times higher risk of death (hazard ratio = 1.37, 95% confidence interval: 1.18, 1.58) compared with individuals in the top 2 tertiles. This association remained after further adjustment for health behaviors, marital status, and education. In conclusion, of the higher-order personality traits measured by the five-factor model, only conscientiousness appears to be related to mortality risk across populations. PMID:23911610

  16. Agreeableness and alcohol-related aggression: the mediating effect of trait aggressivity.

    PubMed

    Miller, Cameron A; Parrott, Dominic J; Giancola, Peter R

    2009-12-01

    This study investigated the mediating effect of trait aggressivity on the relation between agreeableness and alcohol-related aggression in a laboratory setting. Participants were 116 healthy male social drinkers between 21 and 30 years of age. Agreeableness and trait aggressivity were measured using the Big Five Inventory and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, respectively. Following the consumption of an alcohol or no-alcohol control beverage, participants completed a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm, in which electric shocks were received from and administered to a fictitious opponent during a competitive task. Aggression was operationalized as the proportion of the most extreme shocks delivered to the fictitious opponent under conditions of low and high provocation. Results indicated that lower levels of agreeableness were associated with higher levels of trait aggressivity. In turn, higher levels of trait aggressivity predicted extreme aggression in intoxicated, but not sober, participants under low, but not high, provocation. Findings highlight the importance of examining determinants of intoxicated aggression within a broader theoretical framework of personality.

  17. Personality traits and appearance-ideal internalization: Differential associations with body dissatisfaction and compulsive exercise.

    PubMed

    Martin, Shelby J; Racine, Sarah E

    2017-12-01

    Thin-ideal internalization is a robust risk factor for body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. Conversely, athletic-ideal internalization is often unrelated to body dissatisfaction, but predicts compulsive exercise (i.e., rigid, rule-driven exercise that is continued despite adverse consequences). Distinct personality traits could relate to internalization of different appearance ideals, which may be associated with divergent eating disorder outcomes. Past research has shown that neuroticism is related to body dissatisfaction, whereas extraversion and conscientiousness have been associated with regular and problematic exercise. The current study examined associations among personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, conscientiousness), appearance-ideal internalization (i.e., thin- and athletic-ideal), and eating disorder cognitions/behaviors (i.e., body dissatisfaction, compulsive exercise) among 531 college men and women. Moreover, we tested whether appearance-ideal internalization mediated the relationships between personality traits with body dissatisfaction and compulsive exercise. As expected, body dissatisfaction was positively related to neuroticism, and compulsive exercise was positively associated with extraversion. Thin-ideal internalization positively correlated with neuroticism, athletic-ideal internalization positively correlated with conscientiousness, and both thin- and athletic-ideal internalization were positively related to extraversion. After controlling for gender, body mass index, the other appearance-ideal internalization, and the remaining personality traits, the indirect effects of both neuroticism and extraversion on body dissatisfaction through thin-ideal internalization were significant. Extraversion and conscientiousness were indirectly related to compulsive exercise through athletic-ideal internalization, whereas the indirect effect of neuroticism was dependent on covariates. As such, personality traits may be related to

  18. Fermented foods, neuroticism, and social anxiety: An interaction model.

    PubMed

    Hilimire, Matthew R; DeVylder, Jordan E; Forestell, Catherine A

    2015-08-15

    Animal models and clinical trials in humans suggest that probiotics can have an anxiolytic effect. However, no studies have examined the relationship between probiotics and social anxiety. Here we employ a cross-sectional approach to determine whether consumption of fermented foods likely to contain probiotics interacts with neuroticism to predict social anxiety symptoms. A sample of young adults (N=710, 445 female) completed self-report measures of fermented food consumption, neuroticism, and social anxiety. An interaction model, controlling for demographics, general consumption of healthful foods, and exercise frequency, showed that exercise frequency, neuroticism, and fermented food consumption significantly and independently predicted social anxiety. Moreover, fermented food consumption also interacted with neuroticism in predicting social anxiety. Specifically, for those high in neuroticism, higher frequency of fermented food consumption was associated with fewer symptoms of social anxiety. Taken together with previous studies, the results suggest that fermented foods that contain probiotics may have a protective effect against social anxiety symptoms for those at higher genetic risk, as indexed by trait neuroticism. While additional research is necessary to determine the direction of causality, these results suggest that consumption of fermented foods that contain probiotics may serve as a low-risk intervention for reducing social anxiety. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Empirical Identification of the Major Facets of Conscientiousness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacCann, Carolyn; Duckworth, Angela Lee; Roberts, Richard D.

    2009-01-01

    Conscientiousness is often found to predict academic outcomes, but is defined differently by different models of personality. High school students (N = 291) completed a large number of Conscientiousness items from different models and the Big Five Inventory (BFI). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of the items uncovered eight facets:…

  20. Childhood personality as a harbinger of competence and resilience in adulthood.

    PubMed

    Shiner, Rebecca L; Masten, Ann S

    2012-05-01

    This study examined the significance of childhood Big Five personality traits for competence and resilience in early adulthood. Resilience was defined in terms of adaptive success in age-salient developmental tasks despite significant adversity throughout childhood/adolescence. The Project Competence Longitudinal Study tracked 205 young people from childhood (around age 10) to emerging adulthood (EA, age 20) and young adulthood (YA, age 30; 90% retention). Multimethod composites were created for personality traits, adversity exposure, and adult outcomes of academic achievement, work, rule-abiding conduct, friendship, and romantic relationships. Regressions showed significant main effects of childhood personality predicting adult outcomes, controlling for adversity, with few interaction effects. In person-focused analyses, the resilient group in EA and YA (high competence, high adversity) showed higher childhood conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness and lower neuroticism than the maladaptive group (low competence, high adversity). The competent (high competence, low adversity) and resilient groups showed similar childhood traits. Turnaround cases, who changed from the maladaptive group in EA to the resilient group in YA, exhibited higher childhood conscientiousness than persistently maladaptive peers. Findings suggest that children on pathways to success in adulthood, whether facing low or high adversity, have capacities for emotion regulation, empathy and connection, dedication to schoolwork, and mastery and exploration.

  1. The association between personality traits and treatment outcomes in Korean patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH): a preliminary study.

    PubMed

    Koh, Jun Sung; Ko, Hyo Jung; Cho, Kang Joon; Kim, Joon Chul; Lee, Soo-Jung; Pae, Chi-Un

    2014-01-01

    We investigated the association between personality traits and treatment outcomes in male Korean patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). We evaluated the personality traits and the severity of LUTS/BPH symptoms at baseline using the Korean versions of the 44-item Big Five Inventory (BFI-K) and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), respectively. The IPSS was re-administered following a 12-week routine treatment regime, and we examined the relationship between treatment outcome and personality traits. Of the 176 patients initially screened, 101 agreed to participate in the study. Of those, 93 (92.1%) completed the 12-week trial and the BFI-K. Neuroticism was associated with a significantly worse treatment response, whereas extraversion was associated with a significantly better treatment response, and openness was associated with a high responder rate. Agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness were associated with improved week-12 IPSS total scores; however, the results were not statistically significant. We found an association between treatment response and personality traits of neuroticism, extraversion and openness in patients with LUTS/BPH. However, further studies with larger samples and an improved design are needed to support our findings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Personality and Stressor-Related Affect

    PubMed Central

    Leger, Kate A.; Charles, Susan T.; Turiano, Nicholas A.; Almeida, David M.

    2015-01-01

    Greater increases in negative affect and greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur portend poorer mental and physical health years later. Although personality traits influence stressor-related affect, only neuroticism and extraversion among the Big Five personality traits have been examined in any detail. Moreover, personality traits may shape how people appraise daily stressors, yet few studies have examined how stressor-related appraisals may account for associations between personality and stressor-related affect. Two studies used participants (N=2022, age 30–84) from the National Study of Daily Experiences II (NSDE II) to examine the associations between Big Five personality traits and stressor-related affect, in addition to how appraisals may account for these relationships. Results from Study 1 indicate that higher levels of extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, and lower levels of neuroticism, are related to less stressor-related negative affect. Only agreeableness was associated with stressor-related positive affect, such that higher levels were related to greater decreases in positive affect on days stressors occur. The second study found that stressor-related appraisals partially accounted for the significant associations between stressor-related negative affect and personality. Implications for these findings in relation to how personality may influence physical and emotional health are discussed. PMID:26796984

  3. Gut feelings, deliberative thought, and paranoid ideation: A study of experiential and rational reasoning

    PubMed Central

    Freeman, Daniel; Evans, Nicole; Lister, Rachel

    2012-01-01

    Rapid intuitive hunches or gut feelings may be a compelling source of evidence for paranoid ideas. Conversely, a failure to apply effortful analytic thinking may contribute to the persistence of such thoughts. Our main aim was to examine for the first time the associations of persecutory thinking with experiential and rational thinking styles. Five hundred individuals recruited from the general population completed self-report assessments of current persecutory ideation, general reasoning styles and personality traits. Persecutory ideation was independently associated with greater use of experiential reasoning and less use of rational reasoning. The correlations were small. Persecutory ideation was also positively associated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. There was no evidence of an interaction between neuroticism and experiential reasoning in the prediction of paranoia, but high experiential reasoning in the context of low rational reasoning was particularly associated with persecutory ideation. Overall, the study provides rare evidence of self-reported general reasoning styles being associated with delusional ideation. Perceived reliance on intuition is associated with paranoid thinking, while perceived reliance on deliberation is associated with fewer such thoughts. The dual process theory of reasoning may provide a framework to contribute to the understanding of paranoid thinking. PMID:22406393

  4. The Mediation Effect of Coping Style on the Relations between Personality and Life Satisfaction in Chinese Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Xu, Le; Liu, Ru-De; Ding, Yi; Mou, Xiaohong; Wang, Jia; Liu, Ying

    2017-01-01

    Previous findings showed the associations between each of the Big Five personality trait and adolescents’ life satisfaction were different. Some traits (extraversion and neuroticism) correlated with adolescents’ life satisfaction, while other traits did not have the same associations with adolescents’ life satisfaction. In order to explain why the Big Five traits differed in their associations with adolescents’ life satisfaction, the present study verified the relations between each of the Big Five personality traits and life satisfaction, and demonstrated the mediating effects of coping style on the relations between these personality traits and life satisfaction in a sample of 2,357 Chinese adolescents. The results demonstrated that four of the Big Five personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) had significant associations with life satisfaction. Further, coping style partially mediated the relations between these four traits and life satisfaction, whereas coping style fully mediated the relation between openness to new experience and life satisfaction. The results implied a plausible explanation for why the Big Five traits differed in their associations with life satisfaction found among the previous literature: that there might be some partial or full mediation variables (such as coping style in this study) left unexamined. Theoretical and practical implications of this study on further research and educational practice are discussed. PMID:28706496

  5. Gut feelings, deliberative thought, and paranoid ideation: a study of experiential and rational reasoning.

    PubMed

    Freeman, Daniel; Evans, Nicole; Lister, Rachel

    2012-05-15

    Rapid intuitive hunches or gut feelings may be a compelling source of evidence for paranoid ideas. Conversely, a failure to apply effortful analytic thinking may contribute to the persistence of such thoughts. Our main aim was to examine for the first time the associations of persecutory thinking with experiential and rational thinking styles. Five hundred individuals recruited from the general population completed self-report assessments of current persecutory ideation, general reasoning styles and personality traits. Persecutory ideation was independently associated with greater use of experiential reasoning and less use of rational reasoning. The correlations were small. Persecutory ideation was also positively associated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness. There was no evidence of an interaction between neuroticism and experiential reasoning in the prediction of paranoia, but high experiential reasoning in the context of low rational reasoning was particularly associated with persecutory ideation. Overall, the study provides rare evidence of self-reported general reasoning styles being associated with delusional ideation. Perceived reliance on intuition is associated with paranoid thinking, while perceived reliance on deliberation is associated with fewer such thoughts. The dual process theory of reasoning may provide a framework to contribute to the understanding of paranoid thinking. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Personality traits and perceptions of organisational justice.

    PubMed

    Törnroos, Maria; Elovainio, Marko; Hintsa, Taina; Hintsanen, Mirka; Pulkki-Råback, Laura; Jokela, Markus; Lehtimäki, Terho; Raitakari, Olli T; Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa

    2018-01-04

    This study examined the association between five-factor model personality traits and perceptions of organisational justice. The sample for the study comprised 903 participants (35-50 years old; 523 women) studied in 2007 and 2012. Measures used were the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Five-Factor Inventory questionnaire and the short organisational justice measure. The results showed that high neuroticism was associated with low distributive, procedural and interactional justice. Furthermore, high agreeableness was associated with high procedural and interactional justice and high openness with high distributive justice. This study suggests that neuroticism, agreeableness and openness are involved in perceptions of organisational justice and that personality should be considered in research and in practices at the workplace. © 2018 International Union of Psychological Science.

  7. Self-esteem instability and personality: the connections between feelings of self-worth and the big five dimensions of personality.

    PubMed

    Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Holden, Christopher J; Enjaian, Brian; Southard, Ashton C; Besser, Avi; Li, Haijiang; Zhang, Qinglin

    2015-02-01

    Relatively few studies have focused on the connections between self-esteem and basic personality dimensions. The purpose of the present studies was to examine whether self-esteem level and self-esteem instability were associated with the Big Five personality dimensions and whether self-esteem instability moderated the associations that self-esteem level had with these personality features. This was accomplished by conducting a series of studies that included samples from the United States, Israel, and China. Across these studies, self-esteem level was associated with high levels of extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, whereas self-esteem instability was associated with low levels of emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Individuals with stable high self-esteem reported the highest levels of emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, whereas those with stable low self-esteem had the lowest levels of openness. The results of these studies suggest that feelings of self-worth are associated with self-reported and perceived personality features. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

  8. The effect of personality dimensions on functional outcomes in mood disorders.

    PubMed

    Leen, Jessica; Soczynska, Joanna K; Gallaugher, Laura Ashley; Woldeyohannes, Hanna O; Alsuwaidan, Mohammad T; Cha, Danielle S; Dale, Roman M; Muzina, David J; Kennedy, Sidney H; McIntyre, Roger S

    2013-07-01

    Functional impairment associated with mood disorders may be related to a characteristic "profile" of normative personality dimensions. Individuals (age ≥ 18 years) with MDD (n = 400) or BD (n = 317), as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR), were enrolled in the IMDCP. Personality was evaluated with the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and functionality with the Sheehan Disability Scale and Endicott Work Productivity Scale. Path analysis using linear multiple regressions was performed to identify direct and indirect effects of personality on functional impairment. Lower conscientiousness exerted a significant direct effect on global (p = 0.017) and family life dysfunction in individuals with MDD (p = 0.002), as well as lower work productivity in both MDD (p = 0.020) and BD (p = 0.018). Lower extraversion exerted a significant direct effect on social impairment in individuals with BD (p = 0.017). Higher neuroticism and agreeableness as well as lower extraversion exerted indirect effects on global and social dysfunction in individuals with MDD via their effects on depression severity. In BD, higher neuroticism and openness indirectly affected global dysfunction. Family dysfunction was indirectly affected by higher neuroticism and openness as well as lower extraversion in MDD and BD. The results suggest that discrete personality dimensions may exert direct and indirect effects on functional outcomes in individuals with mood disorders. Personalizing disease management approaches in mood disorders with emphasis on vocational rehabilitation may benefit from measurement and intervention targeting personality.

  9. The genetic association between personality and major depression or bipolar disorder. A polygenic score analysis using genome-wide association data

    PubMed Central

    Middeldorp, C M; de Moor, M H M; McGrath, L M; Gordon, S D; Blackwood, D H; Costa, P T; Terracciano, A; Krueger, R F; de Geus, E J C; Nyholt, D R; Tanaka, T; Esko, T; Madden, P A F; Derringer, J; Amin, N; Willemsen, G; Hottenga, J-J; Distel, M A; Uda, M; Sanna, S; Spinhoven, P; Hartman, C A; Ripke, S; Sullivan, P F; Realo, A; Allik, J; Heath, A C; Pergadia, M L; Agrawal, A; Lin, P; Grucza, R A; Widen, E; Cousminer, D L; Eriksson, J G; Palotie, A; Barnett, J H; Lee, P H; Luciano, M; Tenesa, A; Davies, G; Lopez, L M; Hansell, N K; Medland, S E; Ferrucci, L; Schlessinger, D; Montgomery, G W; Wright, M J; Aulchenko, Y S; Janssens, A C J W; Oostra, B A; Metspalu, A; Abecasis, G R; Deary, I J; Räikkönen, K; Bierut, L J; Martin, N G; Wray, N R; van Duijn, C M; Smoller, J W; Penninx, B W J H; Boomsma, D I

    2011-01-01

    The relationship between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) remains controversial. Previous research has reported differences and similarities in risk factors for MDD and BD, such as predisposing personality traits. For example, high neuroticism is related to both disorders, whereas openness to experience is specific for BD. This study examined the genetic association between personality and MDD and BD by applying polygenic scores for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness to both disorders. Polygenic scores reflect the weighted sum of multiple single-nucleotide polymorphism alleles associated with the trait for an individual and were based on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality traits including 13 835 subjects. Polygenic scores were tested for MDD in the combined Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN-MDD) and MDD2000+ samples (N=8921) and for BD in the combined Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder and Wellcome Trust Case–Control Consortium samples (N=6329) using logistic regression analyses. At the phenotypic level, personality dimensions were associated with MDD and BD. Polygenic neuroticism scores were significantly positively associated with MDD, whereas polygenic extraversion scores were significantly positively associated with BD. The explained variance of MDD and BD, ∼0.1%, was highly comparable to the variance explained by the polygenic personality scores in the corresponding personality traits themselves (between 0.1 and 0.4%). This indicates that the proportions of variance explained in mood disorders are at the upper limit of what could have been expected. This study suggests shared genetic risk factors for neuroticism and MDD on the one hand and for extraversion and BD on the other. PMID:22833196

  10. Attributes of conscientiousness throughout the animal kingdom: An empirical and evolutionary overview.

    PubMed

    Delgado, Mikel M; Sulloway, Frank J

    2017-08-01

    Conscientiousness is a fundamental aspect of human personality, one that is closely linked with various favorable life outcomes. Despite its importance in humans, conscientiousness has received little attention as to how it may have evolved, or whether it provides similar fitness benefits in other animals. To date, research in animal personality has found consistent support for the presence of all major dimensions of human personality in other animals except conscientiousness. In this review, we investigate conscientiousness at the level of traits and facets (clusters of closely related traits). A systematic review of the literature retrieved 876 relevant publications describing attributes of conscientiousness in other animal species. A factor analysis of citation counts revealed 2 major dimensions representing 9 distinct facets of conscientiousness in nonhumans. These facets, together with their underlying personality traits, exhibit individual variability, are generally known to be heritable, and often offer clear fitness benefits to individuals. Other facets of conscientiousness appear to be unique to humans. Publication biases, research biases, and anthropomorphism may all play a role in the structure of the evidence we report. We conclude by suggesting fruitful areas of future research to further elucidate the presence and functional roles of conscientiousness in animals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Neuroticism, acculturation and the cortisol awakening response in Mexican American adults.

    PubMed

    Mangold, Deborah; Mintz, Jim; Javors, Martin; Marino, Elise

    2012-01-01

    Neuroticism is associated with greater susceptibility to the adverse effects of stress and greater exposure to the stressors associated with acculturation in U.S. born Mexican Americans. Neuroticism and acculturation have been associated with injury to crucial stress response systems and are known risk factors for certain mood and anxiety disorders. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of neuroticism, and acculturation on the cortisol awakening response (CAR) in healthy Mexican-American adults. Salivary cortisol samples were collected at awakening and 30, 45, and 60 min thereafter, on two consecutive weekdays from 59 healthy Mexican American adult males (26) and females (33), ages 18 to 38 years. Participants were assessed for level of neuroticism and acculturation. Data were analyzed using a mixed effects regression model with repeated measures at four time points. Results showed a significant Neuroticism×Acculturation×Time interaction. The CAR was virtually eliminated in highly acculturated Mexican Americans with greater Anglo orientation and high neuroticism compared with less acculturated Mexican Americans with greater Mexican orientation and lower neuroticism. Findings suggest that some Mexican Americans with high levels of neuroticism may be particularly susceptible to certain challenges and stressors associated with acculturation leading over time to the development of allostatic load, desensitization of the Hypothalamic CRF system and attenuation of the CAR. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Neuroticism, coping strategies, and negative well-being among caregivers.

    PubMed

    Patrick, J H; Hayden, J M

    1999-06-01

    Neuroticism was incorporated into a model for predicting the well-being of family caregivers. Using data from 596 women with an adult child with a chronic disability, the model hypothesizes direct effects of neuroticism on a caregiver's perceptions of the stressor, on her wishful-escapism and problem-focused coping, and on psychological well-being. Results indicate that neuroticism exerts direct and indirect effects on negative well-being. Results also indicate that stressors have direct effects on both wishful-escapism coping and problem-focused coping. Burden had direct effects on negative psychological well-being. Diagnosis influences the model by having direct effects on stressors and wishful-escapism coping but not on problem-focused coping or burden. Inclusion of individual level variables, such as neuroticism, results in a substantial amount of explained variance in negative well-being.

  13. Compassion Fatigue Among Palliative Care Clinicians: Findings on Personality Factors and Years of Service.

    PubMed

    O'Mahony, Sean; Ziadni, Maisa; Hoerger, Michael; Levine, Stacie; Baron, Aliza; Gerhart, James

    2018-02-01

    Palliative medicine is a rewarding field, but providers encounter patient trauma on a routine basis. Compassion fatigue, marked by burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and low satisfaction may result. However, professionals differ markedly in how they respond to patient trauma. The objective of the current study was to determine whether personality traits of neuroticism and agreeableness relate to aspects of compassion fatigue, after accounting for time spent working in the field. Sixty-six palliative medicine physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains completed validated measures of personality traits, compassion fatigue, and work background. Providers who had worked longer reported higher levels of satisfaction and lower levels of burnout. Neuroticism demonstrated strong significant associations with secondary traumatic stress and burnout ( Ps < .001). Agreeableness was significantly and strongly associated with compassion satisfaction ( P < .001). These associations held after accounting for years spent working in the field. Personality traits of neuroticism and agreeableness may convey risk and resilience, respectively, for palliative care professionals. More research is needed to determine if assessing personality traits can help identify providers at risk for adverse reactions to patient trauma.

  14. The Conscientious Responders Scale Helps Researchers Verify the Integrity of Personality Questionnaire Data.

    PubMed

    Marjanovic, Zdravko; Bajkov, Lisa; MacDonald, Jennifer

    2018-01-01

    The Conscientious Responders Scale is a five-item embeddable validity scale that differentiates between conscientious and indiscriminate responding in personality-questionnaire data (CR & IR). This investigation presents further evidence of its validity and generalizability across two experiments. Study 1 tests its sensitivity to questionnaire length, a known cause of IR, and tries to provoke IR by manipulating psychological reactance. As expected, short questionnaires produced higher Conscientious Responders Scale scores than long questionnaires, and Conscientious Responders Scale scores were unaffected by reactance manipulations. Study 2 tests concerns that the Conscientious Responders Scale's unusual item content could potentially irritate and baffle responders, ironically increasing rates of IR. We administered two nearly identical questionnaires: one with an embedded Conscientious Responders Scale and one without the Conscientious Responders Scale. Psychometric comparisons revealed no differences across questionnaires' means, variances, interitem response consistencies, and Cronbach's alphas. In sum, the Conscientious Responders Scale is highly sensitive to questionnaire length-a known correlate of IR-and can be embedded harmlessly in questionnaires without provoking IR or changing the psychometrics of other measures.

  15. Mistakes and missed opportunities regarding cosmetic surgery and conscientious objection.

    PubMed

    Saad, Toni C

    2017-04-24

    In her paper 'Cosmetic surgery and conscientious objection', Minerva rightly identifies cosmetic surgery as an interesting test case for the question of conscientious objection in medicine. Her treatment of this important subject, however, seems problematic. It is argued that Minerva's suggestion that a doctor has a prima facie duty to satisfy patient preferences even against his better clinical judgment, which we call Patient Preference Absolutism, must be regarded with scepticism. This is because (1) it overlooks an important distinction regarding autonomy's meaning and place in clinical practice, and (2) it makes obsolete the important concepts of expert clinical judgment and beneficence. Finally, we discuss two ideas which emerge from consideration of cosmetic surgery in relation to conscientious objection. These are the possible analogy between clinical judgment and conscientious objection, and the possible role the goals of medicine can play in defining the scope of conscientious objection. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  16. Mystical Experiences Occasioned by the Hallucinogen Psilocybin Lead to Increases in the Personality Domain of Openness

    PubMed Central

    MacLean, Katherine A.; Johnson, Matthew W.; Griffiths, Roland R.

    2012-01-01

    A large body of evidence, including longitudinal analyses of personality change, suggests that core personality traits are predominantly stable after age 30. To our knowledge, no study has demonstrated changes in personality in healthy adults after an experimentally manipulated discrete event. Intriguingly, double-blind controlled studies have shown that the classic hallucinogen psilocybin occasions personally and spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict long-term changes in behaviors, attitudes and values. In the present report we assessed the effect of psilocybin on changes in the five broad domains of personality - Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Consistent with participant claims of hallucinogen-occasioned increases in aesthetic appreciation, imagination, and creativity, we found significant increases in Openness following a high-dose psilocybin session. In participants who had mystical experiences during their psilocybin session, Openness remained significantly higher than baseline more than one year after the session. The findings suggest a specific role for psilocybin and mystical-type experiences in adult personality change. PMID:21956378

  17. Mystical experiences occasioned by the hallucinogen psilocybin lead to increases in the personality domain of openness.

    PubMed

    MacLean, Katherine A; Johnson, Matthew W; Griffiths, Roland R

    2011-11-01

    A large body of evidence, including longitudinal analyses of personality change, suggests that core personality traits are predominantly stable after age 30. To our knowledge, no study has demonstrated changes in personality in healthy adults after an experimentally manipulated discrete event. Intriguingly, double-blind controlled studies have shown that the classic hallucinogen psilocybin occasions personally and spiritually significant mystical experiences that predict long-term changes in behaviors, attitudes and values. In the present report we assessed the effect of psilocybin on changes in the five broad domains of personality - Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Consistent with participant claims of hallucinogen-occasioned increases in aesthetic appreciation, imagination, and creativity, we found significant increases in Openness following a high-dose psilocybin session. In participants who had mystical experiences during their psilocybin session, Openness remained significantly higher than baseline more than 1 year after the session. The findings suggest a specific role for psilocybin and mystical-type experiences in adult personality change.

  18. Age differences in the Big Five across the life span: evidence from two national samples.

    PubMed

    Donnellan, M Brent; Lucas, Richard E

    2008-09-01

    Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were investigated using 2 large datasets from Great Britain and Germany: the British Household Panel Study (BHPS; N > or = 14,039) and the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSEOP; N > or = 20,852). Participants, who ranged in age from 16 to the mid-80s, completed a 15-item version of the Big Five Inventory (e.g., John & Srivastava, 1999) in either 2005 or 2006. The observed age trends were generally consistent across both datasets. Extraversion and Openness were negatively associated with age, whereas Agreeableness was positively associated with age. Average levels of Conscientiousness were highest for participants in middle age. The only exception was Neuroticism, which was slightly negatively associated with age in the BHPS and slightly positively associated with age in the GSEOP. Neither gender nor education level were consistent moderators of age differences in the Big Five. (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved

  19. Personality and well-being: reexamining methods and meanings.

    PubMed

    Schmutte, P S; Ryff, C D

    1997-09-01

    Because measures of personality and well-being share common affective underpinnings and items, previously reported links between these domains may be tautological. To explicate the connections between personality and well-being, 2 samples of midlife adults (N = 215 and N = 139) completed measures of personality (NEO Five Factor Inventory; P.T. Costa & R.R. McCrae, 1992) and psychological well-being (C. D. Ryff's, 1989b, Psychological Well-Being [PWB] inventory) that were maximally distinct, both conceptually and methodologically. Analyses included additional controls for source overlap, common affective underpinnings, and shared item content. Distinctive personality correlates were observed for the 6 PWB outcomes: self-acceptance, environmental mastery, and purpose in life were linked with Neuroticism (N) Extraversion (E) and Conscientiousness (C); personal growth was linked with Openness to Experience (O) and E; positive relations with others was linked with Agreeableness (A) and E; autonomy was linked with N. Psychological wellness and its personality correlates may be more complex than prior studies suggest.

  20. Goal and personality trait development in a transitional period: assessing change and stability in personality development.

    PubMed

    Lüdtke, Oliver; Trautwein, Ulrich; Husemann, Nicole

    2009-04-01

    This longitudinal study examined continuity and change in the Big Five personality traits and in the importance of life goals from eight domains (Personal Growth, Relationships, Community, Health, Wealth, Fame, Image, and Hedonism) in 2,141 students in a 2-year period at the transition from school to college or employment. Both personality traits and life goals demonstrated high levels of rank-order and structural stability and showed significant individual differences in individual change. Moreover, mean-level changes were in line with the maturity principle: Scores on Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness increased over time, whereas Neuroticism decreased. However, the importance of life goals decreased in all domains except health. Reciprocal effects models revealed that there were effects of prior personality traits on subsequent life goal importance but almost no effects of prior life goal importance on subsequent personality traits. Separate analyses by gender showed that the findings were almost invariant across gender.

  1. Narratives and traits in personality development among New Zealand Māori, Chinese, and European adolescents.

    PubMed

    Reese, Elaine; Chen, Yan; McAnally, Helena M; Myftari, Ella; Neha, Tia; Wang, Qi; Jack, Fiona

    2014-07-01

    Narrative and trait levels of personality were assessed in a sample of 268 adolescents from age 12 to 21 from New Zealand Māori, Chinese, and European cultures. Adolescents narrated three critical events and completed a Big Five personality inventory. Each narrative was coded for causal and thematic coherence. NZ Chinese adolescents reported lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, and higher levels of neuroticism, than NZ Māori or European adolescents. Cultural differences were also evident in narrative coherence. Adolescents in all three groups demonstrated age-related increases in thematic coherence, but only NZ European adolescents demonstrated the expected age-related increases in causal coherence. Narrative identity and traits were distinct aspects of personality for younger adolescents, but were linked for middle and older adolescents. These findings support the importance of both narrative identity and traits in understanding personality development in adolescents across cultures. Copyright © 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Health-Related Behavior Mediates the Association Between Personality and Memory Performance in Older Adults.

    PubMed

    Allen, Mark S; Laborde, Sylvain; Walter, Emma E

    2017-03-01

    This prospective study explored the potential mediating role of health-related behavior (alcohol involvement, diet, television viewing, and physical activity) in the association between personality and change in memory performance over 2 years. A nationally representative sample of 8,376 U.K. participants aged 55 years and older (4,572 women, 3,804 men) completed self-report measures of personality and health-related behavior in 2010, and completed a memory performance task in 2010 and 2012. After removing variance associated with potential confounding variables, neuroticism and agreeableness had negative associations, and openness and conscientiousness positive associations with change in memory performance. There were no moderation effects by age, sex, education level, or ethnicity. Multiple mediator models demonstrated that physical activity, television viewing, and alcohol intake mediated associations between personality and change in memory performance. These findings provide evidence that the association between personality and memory performance in older adults can be explained, in part, through health-related behavior.

  3. Wishes, gender, personality, and well-being.

    PubMed

    King, L A; Broyles, S J

    1997-03-01

    Study participants (175 men, 230 women) made three wishes and completed measures of the five-factor model of personality, optimism, life satisfaction, and depression. Common wishes were for achievement, affiliation, intimacy, and power as well as for happiness and money. T tests showed women were more likely to wish for improved appearance, happiness, and health; men were more likely to make power wishes and wishes for sex. Among participants who were highly involved in the wishing process, Extraversion was related to making more interpersonal wishes and wishes for positive affect. Neuroticism was related to wishes for emotional stability. Agreeableness and Openness to Experience related to wishes reflective of these traits. Conscientiousness was related to low impulsivity. Depression was related to making highly idiosyncratic, specific wishes, suggesting the use of wishful thinking as a coping mechanism. In addition, happy participants were more likely to rate their wishes as likely to come true. Results indicate that the relatively commonplace process of wishing relates to traits, gender, and well-being.

  4. Associations Between Changes in Normal Personality Traits and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms over 16 years

    PubMed Central

    Wright, Aidan G.C.; Hopwood, Christopher J.; Zanarini, Mary C.

    2014-01-01

    There has been significant movement toward conceptualizing borderline personality disorder (BPD) with normal personality traits. However one critical assumption underlying this transition, that longitudinal trajectories of BPD symptoms and normal traits track together, has not been tested. We evaluated the prospective longitudinal associations of changes in five-factor model traits and BPD symptoms over the course of 16 years using parallel process latent growth curve models in 362 patients with BPD (N=290) or other PDs (N=72). Moderate to strong cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were observed between BPD symptoms and Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. This study is the first to demonstrate a longitudinal link between changes in BPD symptoms and changes in traits over an extended interval in a clinical sample. These findings imply that changes in BPD symptoms occur in concert with changes in normal traits, and support the proposed transition to conceptualizing BPD, at least in part, with trait dimensions. PMID:25364942

  5. An interest in fame: confirming the measurement and empirical conceptualization of fame interest.

    PubMed

    Maltby, John

    2010-08-01

    The following paper introduces and develops the conceptualization of Fame Interest. Study 1 (N=1,978), through the use of factor analysis techniques, introduces the Fame Interest Scale which comprises six dimensions of Fame Interest (intensity, vulnerability, celebrity life-style, drive, perceived suitability, and altruistic) with evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. Study 2 (N=376) examined the relationship between an interest in fame and measures of the five-factor model of personality, narcissism, self-esteem, curiosity, attachment style and perceived family, and peer and media influence. From this second study four findings emerge; (1) Fame Interest typified by a perceived suitability and intensity for a celebrity life-style was associated with perceived family, peer and media influence, (2) Fame Interest that arises from a vulnerability is a reflection of neuroticism, low self-esteem, and problematic attachments, (3) Fame Interest for altruistic reasons is associated with agreeableness, and (4) Fame Interest that reflects an overall drive is associated with conscientiousness.

  6. Associations between changes in normal personality traits and borderline personality disorder symptoms over 16 years.

    PubMed

    Wright, Aidan G C; Hopwood, Christopher J; Zanarini, Mary C

    2015-01-01

    There has been significant movement toward conceptualizing borderline personality disorder (BPD) with normal personality traits. However, 1 critical assumption underlying this transition, that longitudinal trajectories of BPD symptoms and normal traits track together, has not been tested. We evaluated the prospective longitudinal associations of changes in Five-Factor Model traits and BPD symptoms over the course of 16 years using parallel process latent growth curve models in 362 patients with BPD (n = 290) or other PDs (n = 72). Moderate to strong cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were observed between BPD symptoms and Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. This study is the first to demonstrate a longitudinal link between changes in BPD symptoms and changes in traits over an extended interval in a clinical sample. These findings imply that changes in BPD symptoms occur in concert with changes in normal traits, and support the proposed transition to conceptualizing BPD, at least in part, with trait dimensions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  7. Brain Biochemistry and Personality: A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

    PubMed Central

    Ryman, Sephira G.; Gasparovic, Chuck; Bedrick, Edward J.; Flores, Ranee A.; Marshall, Alison N.; Jung, Rex E.

    2011-01-01

    To investigate the biochemical correlates of normal personality we utilized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Our sample consisted of 60 subjects ranging in age from 18 to 32 (27 females). Personality was assessed with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). We measured brain biochemistry within the precuneus, the cingulate cortex, and underlying white matter. We hypothesized that brain biochemistry within these regions would predict individual differences across major domains of personality functioning. Biochemical models were fit for all personality domains including Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Our findings involved differing concentrations of Choline (Cho), Creatine (Cre), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in regions both within (i.e., posterior cingulate cortex) and white matter underlying (i.e., precuneus) the Default Mode Network (DMN). These results add to an emerging literature regarding personality neuroscience, and implicate biochemical integrity within the default mode network as constraining major personality domains within normal human subjects. PMID:22073190

  8. Elucidating the relationship between noise sensitivity and personality.

    PubMed

    Shepherd, Daniel; Heinonen-Guzejev, Marja; Hautus, Michael J; Heikkilä, Kauko

    2015-01-01

    Sensitivity to unwanted sounds is common in general and clinical populations. Noise sensitivity refers to physiological and psychological internal states of an individual that increase the degree of reactivity to noise in general. The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and noise sensitivity using the 240-item NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and 35-item The Noise-Sensitivity-Questionnaire (NoiSeQ) scales, respectively. Overall, the Big Five accounted for 33% of the variance in noise sensitivity, with the Introversion-Extroversion dimension explaining the most variability. Furthermore, the Big Five personality dimensions (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) had an independent effect on noise sensitivity, which were linear. However, additional analyses indicated that the influence of gender and age must be considered when examining the relationship between personality and noise sensitivity. The findings caution against pooling data across genders, not controlling for age, and using personality dimensions in isolation.

  9. Elucidating the relationship between noise sensitivity and personality

    PubMed Central

    Shepherd, Daniel; Heinonen-Guzejev, Marja; Hautus, Michael J.; Heikkilä, Kauko

    2015-01-01

    Sensitivity to unwanted sounds is common in general and clinical populations. Noise sensitivity refers to physiological and psychological internal states of an individual that increase the degree of reactivity to noise in general. The current study investigated the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and noise sensitivity using the 240-item NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) and 35-item The Noise-Sensitivity-Questionnaire (NoiSeQ) scales, respectively. Overall, the Big Five accounted for 33% of the variance in noise sensitivity, with the Introversion-Extroversion dimension explaining the most variability. Furthermore, the Big Five personality dimensions (neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) had an independent effect on noise sensitivity, which were linear. However, additional analyses indicated that the influence of gender and age must be considered when examining the relationship between personality and noise sensitivity. The findings caution against pooling data across genders, not controlling for age, and using personality dimensions in isolation. PMID:25913556

  10. Who takes risks in high-risk sports? A typological personality approach.

    PubMed

    Castanier, Carole; Le Scanff, Christine; Woodman, Tim

    2010-12-01

    We investigated the risk-taking behaviors of 302 men involved in high-risk sports (downhill skiing mountaineering rock climbing, paragliding, or skydiving). The sportsmen were classified using a typological approach to personality based on eight personality types, which were constructed from combinations of neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Results showed that personality types with a configuration of low conscientiousness combined with high extraversion and/or high neuroticism (impulsive, hedonistic, insecure) were greater risk-takers. Conversely, personality types with a configuration of high conscientiousness combined with low extraversion and/or high extraversion (skeptic, brooder, entrepreneur) were lower risk-takers. Results are discussed in the context of typology and other approaches to understanding who takes risks in high-risk domains.

  11. Associations Between the Big Five Personality Traits and the Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs for Cognitive Enhancement.

    PubMed

    Sattler, Sebastian; Schunck, Reinhard

    2015-01-01

    While the number of studies of the non-medical use of prescription drugs to augment cognitive functions is growing steadily, psychological factors that can potentially help explain variance in such pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement (CE) behavior are often neglected in research. This study investigates the association between the Big Five personality traits and a retrospective (prior CE-drug use) as well as a prospective (willingness to use CE drugs) measure of taking prescription drugs with the purpose of augmenting one's cognitive functions (e.g., concentration, memory, or vigilance) without medical necessity. We use data from a large representative survey of German employees (N = 6454, response rate = 29.8%). The Five Factor Model (FFM) of Personality was measured with a short version of the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory (BFI-S), which includes: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Together with this, demographic variables such as gender, age, education, and income were used as potential confounders in multiple logistic regression models. Our results show a 2.96% lifetime prevalence of CE-drug use and a 10.45% willingness to (re)use such drugs in the future. We found that less conscientious and more neurotic respondents have a higher probability of prior CE-drug use and a greater willingness to use CE drugs in the future. No significant effects were found for openness, extraversion, or agreeableness. Prior CE-drug use was strongly associated with a greater willingness to take such drugs in the future. This study shows that specific personality traits are not only associated with prior enhancement behavior, but also affect the willingness to (re)use such drugs. It helps increase understanding of the risk factors of CE-drug use, which is a health-related behavior that can entail severe side-effects for consumers. The knowledge gathered can thus help improve interventions aimed at minimizing health

  12. Associations Between the Big Five Personality Traits and the Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs for Cognitive Enhancement

    PubMed Central

    Sattler, Sebastian; Schunck, Reinhard

    2016-01-01

    While the number of studies of the non-medical use of prescription drugs to augment cognitive functions is growing steadily, psychological factors that can potentially help explain variance in such pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement (CE) behavior are often neglected in research. This study investigates the association between the Big Five personality traits and a retrospective (prior CE-drug use) as well as a prospective (willingness to use CE drugs) measure of taking prescription drugs with the purpose of augmenting one's cognitive functions (e.g., concentration, memory, or vigilance) without medical necessity. We use data from a large representative survey of German employees (N = 6454, response rate = 29.8%). The Five Factor Model (FFM) of Personality was measured with a short version of the Big Five Personality Traits Inventory (BFI-S), which includes: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Together with this, demographic variables such as gender, age, education, and income were used as potential confounders in multiple logistic regression models. Our results show a 2.96% lifetime prevalence of CE-drug use and a 10.45% willingness to (re)use such drugs in the future. We found that less conscientious and more neurotic respondents have a higher probability of prior CE-drug use and a greater willingness to use CE drugs in the future. No significant effects were found for openness, extraversion, or agreeableness. Prior CE-drug use was strongly associated with a greater willingness to take such drugs in the future. This study shows that specific personality traits are not only associated with prior enhancement behavior, but also affect the willingness to (re)use such drugs. It helps increase understanding of the risk factors of CE-drug use, which is a health-related behavior that can entail severe side-effects for consumers. The knowledge gathered can thus help improve interventions aimed at minimizing health

  13. Personality Predicts Utilization of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction During and Post-Intervention in a Community Sample of Older Adults

    PubMed Central

    Barkan, Tessa; Gallegos, Autumn M.; Turiano, Nicholas A.; Duberstein, Paul R.; Moynihan, Jan A.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Objectives: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a promising intervention for older adults seeking to improve quality of life. More research is needed, however, to determine who is most willing to use the four techniques taught in the program (yoga, sitting meditation, informal meditation, and body scanning). This study evaluated the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) and use of MBSR techniques both during the intervention and at a 6-month follow-up. The hypothesis was that those with higher levels of openness and agreeableness would be more likely to use the techniques. Methods: Participants were a community sample of 100 older adults who received an 8-week manualized MBSR intervention. Personality was assessed at baseline by using the 60-item NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Use of MBSR techniques was assessed through weekly practice logs during the intervention and a 6-month follow-up survey. Regression analyses were used to examine the association between each personality dimension and each indicator of MBSR use both during and after the intervention. Results: As hypothesized, openness and agreeableness predicted greater use of MBSR both during and after the intervention, while controlling for demographic differences in age, educational level, and sex. Openness was related to use of a variety of MBSR techniques during and after the intervention, while agreeableness was related to use of meditation techniques during the intervention. Mediation analysis suggested that personality explained postintervention MBSR use, both directly and by fostering initial uptake of MBSR during treatment. Conclusions: Personality dimensions accounted for individual differences in the use of MBSR techniques during and 6 months after the intervention. Future studies should consider how mental health practitioners would use these findings to target and tailor MBSR

  14. Resting State Functional Connectivity within the Cingulate Cortex Jointly Predicts Agreeableness and Stressor-Evoked Cardiovascular Reactivity

    PubMed Central

    Ryan, John P.; Sheu, Lei K.; Gianaros, Peter J.

    2010-01-01

    Exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to stress confers risk for cardiovascular disease. Further, individual differences in stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity covary with the functionality of cortical and limbic brain areas, particularly within the cingulate cortex. What remains unclear, however, is how individual differences in personality traits interact with cingulate functionality in the prediction of stressor-evoked cardiovascular reactivity. Accordingly, we tested the associations between (i) a particular personality trait, Agreeableness, which is associated with emotional reactions to conflict, (ii) resting state functional connectivity within the cingulate cortex, and (iii) stressor-evoked blood pressure (BP) reactivity. Participants (N=39, 19 men, aged 20–37 yrs) completed a resting functional connectivity MRI protocol, followed by two standardized stressor tasks that engaged conflict processing and evoked BP reactivity. Agreeableness covaried positively with BP reactivity across individuals. Moreover, connectivity analyses demonstrated that a more positive functional connectivity between the posterior cingulate (BA31) and the perigenual anterior cingulate (BA32) covaried positively with Agreeableness and with BP reactivity. Finally, statistical mediation analyses demonstrated that BA31–BA32 connectivity mediated the covariation between Agreeableness and BP reactivity. Functional connectivity within the cingulate appears to link Agreeableness and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stressor-evoked BP reactivity. PMID:21130172

  15. What Is Conscientiousness and How Can It Be Assessed?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roberts, Brent W.; Lejuez, Carl; Krueger, Robert F.; Richards, Jessica M.; Hill, Patrick L.

    2014-01-01

    Conscientiousness is a personality construct that is a core determinant of health, positive aging, and human capital. A large body of work has contributed to our understanding of this important aspect of personality, but there are multiple conceptual and methodological issues that complicate our understanding of conscientiousness. Toward this end,…

  16. Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Verbal Conditioning of Affective Self-Disclosures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hekmat, Hamid

    1971-01-01

    Subjects were assigned to four experimental groups: neurotic extraverts, stable extraverts, neurotic introverts, stable introverts, and a control group. Results indicated that introversion, and not neuroticism, facilitated conditioning processes. Neuroticism, however, did not interact on the conditioning of affective self disclosures. Introverted…

  17. White matter tract network disruption explains reduced conscientiousness in multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Fuchs, Tom A; Dwyer, Michael G; Kuceyeski, Amy; Choudhery, Sanjeevani; Carolus, Keith; Li, Xian; Mallory, Matthew; Weinstock-Guttman, Bianca; Jakimovski, Dejan; Ramasamy, Deepa; Zivadinov, Robert; Benedict, Ralph H B

    2018-05-08

    Quantifying white matter (WM) tract disruption in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) provides a novel means for investigating the relationship between defective network connectivity and clinical markers. PwMS exhibit perturbations in personality, where decreased Conscientiousness is particularly prominent. This trait deficit influences disease trajectory and functional outcomes such as work capacity. We aimed to identify patterns of WM tract disruption related to decreased Conscientiousness in PwMS. Personality assessment and brain MRI were obtained in 133 PwMS and 49 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC). Lesion maps were applied to determine the severity of WM tract disruption between pairs of gray matter regions. Next, the Network-Based-Statistics tool was applied to identify structural networks whose disruption negatively correlates with Conscientiousness. Finally, to determine whether these networks explain unique variance above conventional MRI measures and cognition, regression models were applied controlling for age, sex, brain volume, T2-lesion volume, and cognition. Relative to HCs, PwMS exhibited lower Conscientiousness and slowed cognitive processing speed (p = .025, p = .006). Lower Conscientiousness in PwMS was significantly associated with WM tract disruption between frontal, frontal-parietal, and frontal-cingulate pathways in the left (p = .02) and right (p = .01) hemisphere. The mean disruption of these pathways explained unique additive variance in Conscientiousness, after accounting for conventional MRI markers of pathology and cognition (ΔR 2  = .049, p = .029). Damage to WM tracts between frontal, frontal-parietal, and frontal-cingulate cortical regions is significantly correlated with reduced Conscientiousness in PwMS. Tract disruption within these networks explains decreased Conscientiousness observed in PwMS as compared with HCs. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Toward accommodating physicians' conscientious objections: an argument for public disclosure.

    PubMed

    Harter, Thomas D

    2015-03-01

    This paper aims to demonstrate how public disclosure can be used to balance physicians' conscientious objections with their professional obligations to patients--specifically respect for patient autonomy and informed consent. It is argued here that physicians should be permitted to exercise conscientious objections, but that they have a professional obligation to provide advance notification to patients about those objections. It is further argued here that public disclosure is an appropriate and ethically justifiable limit to the principle of advance notification. The argument for publicly disclosing physicians' conscientious objections is made in this paper by discussing three practical benefits of public disclosure in medicine, and then addressing how publicly disclosing physicians' conscientious objections is not an undue invasion of privacy. Three additional concerns with public disclosure of physicians' conscientious objections are briefly addressed--potential harassment of physicians, workplace discrimination, and mischaracterising physicians' professional aptitude--concluding that each of these concerns requires further deliberation in the realm of business ethics. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  19. Dispositional pathways to trust: Self-esteem and agreeableness interact to predict trust and negative emotional disclosure.

    PubMed

    McCarthy, Megan H; Wood, Joanne V; Holmes, John G

    2017-07-01

    Expressing our innermost thoughts and feelings is critical to the development of intimacy (Reis & Shaver, 1988), but also risks negative evaluation and rejection. Past research suggests that people with high self-esteem are more expressive and self-disclosing because they trust that others care for them and will not reject them (Gaucher et al., 2012). However, feeling good about oneself may not always be enough; disclosure may also depend on how we feel about other people. Drawing on the principles of risk regulation theory (Murray et al., 2006), we propose that agreeableness-a trait that refers to the positivity of interpersonal motivations and behaviors-is a key determinant of trust in a partner's caring and responsiveness, and may work in conjunction with self-esteem to predict disclosure. We examined this possibility by exploring how both self-esteem and agreeableness predict a particularly risky and intimate form of self-disclosure, the disclosure of emotional distress. In 6 studies using correlational, partner-report, and experimental methods, we demonstrate that self-esteem and agreeableness interact to predict disclosure: People who are high in both self-esteem and agreeableness show higher emotional disclosure. We also found evidence that trust mediates this effect. People high in self-esteem and agreeableness are most self-revealing, it seems, because they are especially trusting of their partners' caring. Self-esteem and agreeableness were particularly important for the disclosure of vulnerable emotions (i.e., sadness; Study 5) and disclosures that were especially risky (Study 6). These findings illustrate how dispositional variables can work together to explain behavior in close relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. Job stress and family social behavior: the moderating role of neuroticism.

    PubMed

    Wang, Shu-wen; Repetti, Rena L; Campos, Belinda

    2011-10-01

    We investigated the role of neuroticism in the associations between job stress and working adults' social behavior during the first hour after work with their spouse and school-age children. Thirty dual-earner families were videotaped in their homes on two weekday afternoons and evenings. An observational coding system was developed to assess behavioral involvement and negative emotion expression. Participants also completed self-report measures of job stressors and trait neuroticism. There were few overall associations between job stress and social behavior during the first hour adults were at home with their spouse and school-age children. However, significant moderator effects indicated that linkages between work experiences and family behavior varied for men who reported different levels of trait neuroticism, which captures a dispositional tendency toward emotional instability. Among men who reported high neuroticism, job stress was linked to more active and more negative social behavior. Conversely, for men reporting low neuroticism, job stress was related to less talking and less negative emotion. These patterns were not found for the women in the study. The findings suggest that when work is stressful, men who are higher on neuroticism (i.e., less emotionally stable) may show a negative spillover effect, whereas men who are lower on neuroticism (i.e., more emotionally stable) may withdraw from social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

  1. 32 CFR 1636.2 - The claim of conscientious objection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... CLASSIFICATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS § 1636.2 The claim of conscientious objection. A claim to classification in Class 1-A-0 or Class 1-0, must be made by the registrant in writing. Claims and documents in... or after the Director has made a specific request for submission of such documents. All claims or...

  2. 32 CFR 1636.2 - The claim of conscientious objection.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... CLASSIFICATION OF CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS § 1636.2 The claim of conscientious objection. A claim to classification in Class 1-A-0 or Class 1-0, must be made by the registrant in writing. Claims and documents in... or after the Director has made a specific request for submission of such documents. All claims or...

  3. Development of a Conceptual Model and Survey Instrument to Measure Conscientious Objection to Abortion Provision.

    PubMed

    Harris, Laura Florence; Awoonor-Williams, John Koku; Gerdts, Caitlin; Gil Urbano, Laura; González Vélez, Ana Cristina; Halpern, Jodi; Prata, Ndola; Baffoe, Peter

    2016-01-01

    Conscientious objection to abortion, clinicians' refusal to perform legal abortions because of their religious or moral beliefs, has been the subject of increasing debate among bioethicists, policymakers, and public health advocates in recent years. Conscientious objection policies are intended to balance reproductive rights and clinicians' beliefs. However, in practice, clinician objection can act as a barrier to abortion access-impinging on reproductive rights, and increasing unsafe abortion and related morbidity and mortality. There is little information about conscientious objection from a medical or public health perspective. A quantitative instrument is needed to assess prevalence of conscientious objection and to provide insight on its practice. This paper describes the development of a survey instrument to measure conscientious objection to abortion provision. A literature review, and in-depth formative interviews with stakeholders in Colombia were used to develop a conceptual model of conscientious objection. This model led to the development of a survey, which was piloted, and then administered, in Ghana. The model posits three domains of conscientious objection that form the basis for the survey instrument: 1) beliefs about abortion and conscientious objection; 2) actions related to conscientious objection and abortion; and 3) self-identification as a conscientious objector. The instrument is intended to be used to assess prevalence among clinicians trained to provide abortions, and to gain insight on how conscientious objection is practiced in a variety of settings. Its results can inform more effective and appropriate strategies to regulate conscientious objection.

  4. Neuroticism, introversion, and major depressive disorder--traits, states, or scars?

    PubMed

    Jylhä, Pekka; Melartin, Tarja; Rytsälä, Heikki; Isometsä, Erkki

    2009-01-01

    The extent to which measures of the personality dimensions of neuroticism and introversion are influenced by symptoms of depression and anxiety or by episodes of depression, and whether neuroticism alone or both traits predispose one to depression remain unclear. Major depressive disorder patients (n=193) from the Vantaa Depression Study were interviewed at baseline and at 6 and 18 months, and a general population comparison group (n=388) was surveyed by mail. Patients' scores of neuroticism and extraversion-introversion were compared between time points, and before and after a possible recurrence of depression between interviews. Patients' scores at an index interview, when the level of depression was lowest, were compared with scores of the general population, after controlling for anxiety and depression. Among depressive patients, neuroticism scores declined (from 17.2, SD 3.7-13.7, SD 5.6, P<0.001) and extraversion scores increased (from 10.0, SD 4.7-11.2, SD 4.5, P<0.001) with recovery during follow-up. The scores were not influenced by a recurrence of depression between measurements. In logistic regression, patients had higher neuroticism (odds ratio, OR 1.11, P=0.001) and lower extraversion (OR 0.92, P=0.003) than the general population. The overall level of neuroticism is markedly and introversion somewhat higher in depressive patients than in the general population. Anxiety symptoms have some, and depressive symptoms a strong influence on neuroticism scores, but only depression has an impact on introversion during a depressive episode. In medium-term follow-up, depressive episodes are unlikely to result in a personality scar persisting after recovery from an episode. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  5. The Relationship between Neuroticism, Hopelessness, and Depression in Older Korean Immigrants

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Bum Jung; Linton, Kristen; Cho, Sean; Ha, Jung-Hwa

    2016-01-01

    Purpose This study aimed to investigate the relationship between neuroticism, hopelessness, and depression among older Korean immigrants. To extend this line of research, this study aimed to examine the effects of neuroticism and hopelessness in predicting depression among older Korean immigrants. Methods Data for this study came from a survey of 220 first generation Korean immigrants aged 65 years or older in Los Angeles County in 2012. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews with trained social workers using a structured questionnaire translated into Korean. All interviews were conducted in Korean. The neuroticism sub-scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was used to assess neuroticism (EPQN). Hopelessness was measured by the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). Depression was measured by the 20-item Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Results The study found that age (β = .26, p< .01), gender (β = -.13, p< .01), income (β = -.13, p< .01), neuroticism (β = .51, p< .01), and hopelessness (β = .15, p< .01) were significant predictors of depression. Conclusion The study provides preventive strategies that would help in the development of depression-reduction services or programs for the population, especially for those living with neuroticism and hopelessness. PMID:26727476

  6. Connectomics and neuroticism: an altered functional network organization.

    PubMed

    Servaas, Michelle N; Geerligs, Linda; Renken, Remco J; Marsman, Jan-Bernard C; Ormel, Johan; Riese, Harriëtte; Aleman, André

    2015-01-01

    The personality trait neuroticism is a potent risk marker for psychopathology. Although the neurobiological basis remains unclear, studies have suggested that alterations in connectivity may underlie it. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to shed more light on the functional network organization in neuroticism. To this end, we applied graph theory on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data in 120 women selected based on their neuroticism score. Binary and weighted brain-wide graphs were constructed to examine changes in the functional network structure and functional connectivity strength. Furthermore, graphs were partitioned into modules to specifically investigate connectivity within and between functional subnetworks related to emotion processing and cognitive control. Subsequently, complex network measures (ie, efficiency and modularity) were calculated on the brain-wide graphs and modules, and correlated with neuroticism scores. Compared with low neurotic individuals, high neurotic individuals exhibited a whole-brain network structure resembling more that of a random network and had overall weaker functional connections. Furthermore, in these high neurotic individuals, functional subnetworks could be delineated less clearly and the majority of these subnetworks showed lower efficiency, while the affective subnetwork showed higher efficiency. In addition, the cingulo-operculum subnetwork demonstrated more ties with other functional subnetworks in association with neuroticism. In conclusion, the 'neurotic brain' has a less than optimal functional network organization and shows signs of functional disconnectivity. Moreover, in high compared with low neurotic individuals, emotion and salience subnetworks have a more prominent role in the information exchange, while sensory(-motor) and cognitive control subnetworks have a less prominent role.

  7. The role of white matter in personality traits and affective processing in bipolar disorder.

    PubMed

    Bauer, Isabelle E; Wu, Mon-Ju; Meyer, Thomas D; Mwangi, Benson; Ouyang, Austin; Spiker, Danielle; Zunta-Soares, Giovana B; Huang, Hao; Soares, Jair C

    2016-09-01

    Bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by affective processing bias and variations in personality traits. It is still unknown whether these features are linked to the same structural brain alterations. The aim of this study was to investigate relationships between specific personality traits, white matter (WM) properties, and affective processing in BD and HC. 24 healthy controls (HC) and 38 adults with BDI (HC: 29.47 ± 2.23 years, 15 females; BDI: 32.44 ± 1.84 years, 20 females) completed clinical scales and the Big Five Inventory. They were also administered the Affective Go/No-Go (AGN) and the Rapid Visual Processing (RVP) tasks of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) assessed the microstructure of WM tracts. In BDI measures of WM properties were reduced across all major brain white matter tracts. As expected, individuals with BDI reported greater neuroticism, lower agreeableness and conscientiousness, and made a greater number of errors in response to affective stimuli in the AGN task compared to HC. High neuroticism scores were associated with faster AGN latency, and overall reduced AGN accuracy in both HC and BDI. Elevated FA values were associated with reduced neuroticism and increased cognitive processing in HC but not in BDI. Our findings showed important potential links between personality, affective processing and WM integrity in BD. In the future therapeutic interventions for BD using brain stimulation protocols might benefit from the use of DTI to target pathways underlying abnormal affective processing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Personality and achievement along medical training: Evidence from a cross-lagged analysis

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Evidence on personality traits change implies it should be studied as an outcome and not only as an explanatory effect. Therefore, we aimed to assess how personality and academic achievement sway each other. Three cohorts of medical students (n = 181) comprised of school leavers and graduates, completed NEO-FFI when admitted (baseline) and later on medical training (follow-up). Previous achievement was measured as mean scores on national school examinations, and academic achievement as medical course average. Causal relations were studied by cross-lagged analysis. Results Cross-sectional analysis at baseline showed differences between graduates and school leavers on personality, with graduates scoring lower on neuroticism (β = -12.344, p<0.001), and higher on openness to experience (β = 5.257, p<0.001), conscientiousness (β = 2.345, p = 0.004,) and agreeableness (β = 6.993, p<0.001). Longitudinal analyses indicated that personality traits and achievement tracked over time. Cross-lagged analysis found a positive significant association between academic achievement and neuroticism at baseline (β = 0.031, p = 0.014) and with being a graduate student (β = 0.766, p = 0.006). After adjusting, no association was found between previous achievement and personality at follow-up. Conclusions Some neuroticism may enhance medical academic achievement. The blurring of the initial differences between graduates and school leavers suggests a reasonable possibility of personality traits change along the medical course. Future research on medical selection processes cannot afford to ignore the influence of the medical school environment on personality traits change. PMID:29040277

  9. How to Allow Conscientious Objection in Medicine While Protecting Patient Rights.

    PubMed

    Ancell, Aaron; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter

    2017-01-01

    Paradigmatic cases of conscientious objection in medicine are those in which a physician refuses to provide a medical service or good because doing so would conflict with that physician's personal moral or religious beliefs. Should such refusals be allowed in medicine? We argue that (1) many conscientious objections to providing certain services must be allowed because they fall within the range of freedom that physicians have to determine which services to offer in their practices; (2) at least some conscientious objections to serving particular groups of patients should be allowed because they are not invidiously discriminatory; and (3) even in cases of invidiously discriminatory conscientious objections, legally prohibiting individual physicians from refusing to serve patients on the basis of such objections is not always the best solution.

  10. How personality traits affect clinician-supervisors' work engagement and subsequently their teaching performance in residency training.

    PubMed

    Scheepers, Renée A; Arah, Onyebuchi A; Heineman, Maas Jan; Lombarts, Kiki M J M H

    2016-11-01

    Clinician-supervisors often work simultaneously as doctors and teachers. Supervisors who are more engaged for their teacher work are evaluated as better supervisors. Work engagement is affected by the work environment, yet the role of supervisors' personality traits is unclear. This study examined (i) the impact of supervisors' personality traits on work engagement in their doctors' and teachers' roles and (ii) how work engagement in both roles affects their teaching performance. Residents evaluated supervisors' teaching performance, using the validated System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities. Supervisors' reported work engagement in doctor and teacher roles separately using the validated Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Supervisors' personality traits were measured using the Big Five Inventory's five factor model covering conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, emotional stability and openness. Overall, 549 (68%) residents and 636 (78%) supervisors participated. Conscientiousness, extraversion and agreeableness were positively associated with supervisors' engagement in their teacher work, which was subsequently positively associated with teaching performance. Conscientious, extraverted, and agreeable supervisors showed more engagement with their teacher work, which made them more likely to deliver adequate residency training. In addition to optimizing the work environment, faculty development and career planning could be tailor-made to fit supervisors' personality traits.

  11. Aging: empirical contribution. A longitudinal analysis of personality disorder dimensions and personality traits in a community sample of older adults: perspectives from selves and informants.

    PubMed

    Cooper, Luke D; Balsis, Steve; Oltmanns, Thomas F

    2014-02-01

    Research has indicated that personality disorders (PDs) and normal-range personality traits generally "get better" with time, as evidenced by mean-level decreases in PD traits and mean-level increases in broad factors such as emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. One limitation of many of these studies is their reliance on self reported data. In the current study, the authors analyzed the 2.5-year course of PD dimensions and normal personality traits in a representative sample of adults approaching later life (originally ages 55-65) by using a semistructured diagnostic interview as well as self- and informant-reported data from two personality inventories. Consistent with previous literature, many self-reported PD traits showed mean-level decreases over time, and self-reported normal-range personality traits generally showed positive aging effects (e.g., mean-level increases in emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Surprisingly, however, informant-reported PD traits often demonstrated small but significant increases over time, and informant-reported normal-range personality generally "worsened" with age (e.g., mean-level decreases in extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). Informant reports may challenge the finding that personality and PDs tend to "improve" over time.

  12. A pathway from neuroticism to depression: examining the role of emotion regulation.

    PubMed

    Yoon, Kathleen Lira; Maltby, John; Joormann, Jutta

    2013-09-01

    We examined whether the relation between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms is mediated by emotion regulation. At the same time, we examined whether the type of emotion regulation strategy (maladaptive vs. adaptive) moderates the effects of neuroticism on depression severity. Community participants (N=533; 235 women and 298 men) completed a set of questionnaires over the Internet. We used structural equation modeling to examine the mediational role of emotion regulation in linking neuroticism and the levels of depressive symptoms. The well-documented relation between neuroticism and depression is mediated by individual differences in the use of different emotion regulation strategies. More specifically, the use of maladaptive forms of emotion regulation, but not reappraisal, fully mediated the association between neuroticism and the severity of depressive symptoms.

  13. The Curvilinear Relationship between Age and Emotional Aperture: The Moderating Role of Agreeableness

    PubMed Central

    Faber, Anna; Walter, Frank

    2017-01-01

    The capability to correctly recognize collective emotion expressions [i.e., emotional aperture (EA)] is crucial for effective social and work-related interactions. Yet, little remains known about the antecedents of this ability. The present study therefore aims to shed new light onto key aspects that may promote or diminish an individual’s EA. We examine the role of age for this ability in an online sample of 181 participants (with an age range of 18–72 years, located in Germany), and we investigate agreeableness as a key contingency factor. Among individuals with lower agreeableness, on the one hand, our results indicate a curvilinear relationship between age and EA, such that EA remains at a relatively high level until these individuals’ middle adulthood (with a slight increase until their late 30s) and declines afterward. Individuals with higher agreeableness, on the other hand, exhibit relatively high EA irrespective of their age. Together, these findings offer new insights for the emerging literature on EA, illustrating that specific demographic and personality characteristics may jointly shape such collective emotion recognition. PMID:28769843

  14. Distinctions among agency, communion, and unmitigated agency and communion according to the interpersonal circumplex, Five-factor model, and social-emotional correlates.

    PubMed

    Ghaed, Shiva G; Gallo, Linda C

    2006-02-01

    In this study, we examined common measures of agency (AG), communion (CM), and unmitigated agency (UA) and unmitigated communion (UC) using the interpersonal circumplex and Five-factor models (FFM) as conceptual frameworks. AG aligned with interpersonal dominance in circumplex space and related positively to conscientiousness and inversely to neuroticism. CM corresponded with interpersonal affiliation and related positively to conscientiousness. UA was consistent with hostile-dominance and related to lower conscientiousness and higher neuroticism. UC related to friendly submission but was not strongly represented in the circumplex and did not relate to the FFM. Each construct showed distinct social-emotional correlates. These findings support the convergent and divergent properties of the constructs but suggest that additional attention to the conceptual definition and measurement of UC is warranted.

  15. Effects of Gender and Personality on First Impression

    PubMed Central

    Marzocchi, Michele; Vicari, Alba

    2015-01-01

    The present study explores whether and to what extent individual differences (i.e., gender and personality traits of perceiver) predict inferences of trustworthiness from emotionally neutral unfamiliar faces and the related confidence in judgment. Four hundred and ten undergraduate students participated in the study. Personality was assessed using the Big Five model (i.e., Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness to experience) and measures of trait anxiety and aggression. The results suggest that trustworthiness judgments are affected by the gender of the perceiver, although this effect depends on the valence of the face. Women tend to judge trustworthy-looking faces as significantly more trustworthy than men do, and this is particularly pronounced for judgments of female faces. There were no gender differences for judgments of untrustworthy-looking or neutral faces. Gender also seems to affect the confidence in judgment. Specifically, women were generally less confident than men in judging trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces. Personality also affected judgment. Both low agreeable individuals and high trait aggressive individuals tend to perceive unfamiliar faces as less trustworthy. The present findings suggest that both gender and personality traits are relevant for understanding how people evaluate the trustworthiness of others. Whom we decide to trust is a function not only of their facial features but also of gender and individual differences in personality traits. PMID:26331610

  16. Personality Traits, Motivations, and Emotional Consequences of Social Media Usage.

    PubMed

    Lin, Jhih-Syuan; Lee, Yen-I; Jin, Yan; Gilbreath, Bob

    2017-10-01

    This study explores social media users' personality traits and motivations for the usage of two different social media platforms, Facebook and Pinterest, as well as how the varied uses impact users' negative emotional experiences. The findings suggest that the intensity of social media usage is positively related to negative emotions. For Facebook users, socialization, entertainment, and information seeking motivations significantly influence their platform use intensity and, subsequently, lead to negative emotions. Self-status seeking also has a direct effect on Facebook users' negative emotions. For Pinterest users, socialization is not a significant motivation for usage of that platform. However, entertainment, information seeking, and self-status seeking significantly predict their platform use intensity, which subsequently lead to negative emotions. Similarly, all four motivations for Facebook and Pinterest uses are influenced by users' personality traits: extraversion and openness. Yet, openness has a greater impact on using Pinterest than Facebook in terms of fulfilling socialization needs. Neuroticism has a positive impact on socialization and information seeking motives for use of both platforms, while conscientiousness and agreeableness have a negative influence on fulfilling self-status seeking needs. In addition, agreeable social networking site users are less likely to use Facebook than Pinterest for fulfilling self-status related gratifications, while they are likely to use Pinterest instead of Facebook for entertainment and information needs. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.

  17. Effects of Gender and Personality on First Impression.

    PubMed

    Mattarozzi, Katia; Todorov, Alexander; Marzocchi, Michele; Vicari, Alba; Russo, Paolo Maria

    2015-01-01

    The present study explores whether and to what extent individual differences (i.e., gender and personality traits of perceiver) predict inferences of trustworthiness from emotionally neutral unfamiliar faces and the related confidence in judgment. Four hundred and ten undergraduate students participated in the study. Personality was assessed using the Big Five model (i.e., Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness to experience) and measures of trait anxiety and aggression. The results suggest that trustworthiness judgments are affected by the gender of the perceiver, although this effect depends on the valence of the face. Women tend to judge trustworthy-looking faces as significantly more trustworthy than men do, and this is particularly pronounced for judgments of female faces. There were no gender differences for judgments of untrustworthy-looking or neutral faces. Gender also seems to affect the confidence in judgment. Specifically, women were generally less confident than men in judging trustworthiness of unfamiliar faces. Personality also affected judgment. Both low agreeable individuals and high trait aggressive individuals tend to perceive unfamiliar faces as less trustworthy. The present findings suggest that both gender and personality traits are relevant for understanding how people evaluate the trustworthiness of others. Whom we decide to trust is a function not only of their facial features but also of gender and individual differences in personality traits.

  18. How do medical students engaging in elective courses on acupuncture and homeopathy differ from unselected students? A survey.

    PubMed

    Jocham, Alexandra; Kriston, Levente; Berberat, Pascal O; Schneider, Antonius; Linde, Klaus

    2017-03-09

    We aimed to investigate whether students at German medical schools participating in elective courses on acupuncture and homeopathy differ from an unselected group of students regarding attitudes and personality traits. Elective courses on acupuncture and homeopathy in the academic half-year 2013/14 all over Germany were identified and participants invited to fill in a questionnaire including nineteen questions on attitudes towards Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), orientation towards science, care and status orientation, and a short validated instrument (Big-Five-Inventory-10) to measure personality traits (extraversion, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness). Participants of a mandatory family medicine course at one university served as unselected control group. Two hundred twenty and 113 students from elective courses on acupuncture and homeopathy, respectively, and 315 control students participated (response rate 93%). Students participating in elective courses had much more positive attitudes towards CAM, somewhat lower science and status orientation, and somewhat higher care orientation than control group students (all p-values for three-group comparisons < 0.001). There were no differences between the three groups regarding personality traits with the exception of lower values for agreeableness in controls (p = 0.009). The findings of this study show that attitudes of students participating in elective courses on acupuncture or homeopathy at German medical schools differ to a considerable degree from the attitudes of unselected students.

  19. Neuroticism and quality of life: Multiple mediating effects of smartphone addiction and depression.

    PubMed

    Gao, Tingting; Xiang, Yu-Tao; Zhang, Han; Zhang, Zhao; Mei, Songli

    2017-12-01

    The purposes of this study were to investigate the mediating effect of smartphone addiction and depression on neuroticism and quality of life. Self-reported measures of neuroticism, smart-phone addiction, depression, and quality of life were administered to 722 Chinese university students. Results showed smartphone addiction and depression were both significantly affected neuroticism and quality of life. The direct effect of neuroticism on quality of life was significant, and the chain-mediating effect of smartphone addiction and depression was also significant. In conclusion, neuroticism, smartphone addiction, and depression are important variables that worsen quality of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Motivation but not valence modulates neuroticism-dependent cingulate cortex and insula activity.

    PubMed

    Deng, Yaling; Li, Shijia; Zhou, Renlai; Walter, Martin

    2018-04-01

    Neuroticism has been found to specifically modulate amygdala activations during differential processing of valence and motivation while other brain networks yet are unexplored for associated effects. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether neural mechanisms processing valence or motivation are prone to neuroticism in the salience network (SN), a network that is anchored in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the anterior insula. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and an approach/avoid emotional pictures task to investigate brain activations modulated by pictures' valence or motivational status between high and low neurotic individuals. We found that neuroticism-dependent SN and the parahippocampal-fusiform area activations were modulated by motivation but not valence. Valence in contrast interacted with neuroticism in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. We suggested that neuroticism modulated valence and motivation processing, however, under the influence of the two distinct networks. Neuroticism modulated the motivation through the SN while it modulated the valence through the orbitofrontal networks. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  1. Personality structure in the domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus), Scottish wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), snow leopard (Panthera uncia), and African lion (Panthera leo): a comparative study.

    PubMed

    Gartner, Marieke Cassia; Powell, David M; Weiss, Alexander

    2014-11-01

    Although the study of nonhuman personality has increased in the last decade, there are still few studies on felid species, and the majority focus on domestic cats. We assessed the structure of personality and its reliability in five felids-domestic cats, clouded leopards, snow leopards, African lions, and previous data on Scottish wildcats-and compared the results. In addition to the benefits of understanding more about this taxon, comparative studies of personality structure have the potential to provide information on evolutionary relationships among closely related species. Each of the species studied was found to have three factors of personality. Scottish wildcats' factors were labeled Dominance, Agreeableness, and Self Control; domestic cats' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness, and Neuroticism; clouded leopards' factors were Dominance/Impulsiveness, Agreeableness/Openness, and Neuroticism; snow leopards' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness/Openness, and Neuroticism; and African lions' factors were Dominance, Impulsiveness, and Neuroticism. The Neuroticism and Impulsiveness factors were similar, as were two of the Dominance factors. A taxon-level personality structure also showed three similar factors. Age and sex effects are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

  2. Negative and positive life events are associated with small but lasting change in neuroticism.

    PubMed

    Jeronimus, B F; Ormel, J; Aleman, A; Penninx, B W J H; Riese, H

    2013-11-01

    High neuroticism is prospectively associated with psychopathology and physical health. However, within-subject changes in neuroticism due to life experiences (LEs) or state effects of current psychopathology are largely unexplored. In this 2-year follow-up study, four hypotheses were tested: (1) positive LEs (PLEs) decrease and negative LEs (NLEs) increase neuroticism; (2) LE-driven change in neuroticism is partly long-lasting; and (3) partly independent of LE-driven changes in anxiety/depression; and (4) childhood adversity (before age 16 years) moderates the influence of NLEs/PLEs on neuroticism scores in adult life. Data came from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety [NESDA, n = 2981, mean age 41.99 years (s.d. = 13.08), 66.6% women]. At follow-up (T₂) we assessed PLEs/NLEs with the List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) over the prior 24 months and categorized them over recent and distant PLE/NLE measures (1-3 and 4-24 months prior to T₂ respectively) to distinguish distant NLE/PLE-driven change in trait neuroticism (using the Dutch version of the Neuroticism-Extroversion-Openness Five Factor Inventory, NEO-FFI) from state deviations due to changes in symptoms of depression (self-rated version of the 30-item Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, IDS-SR30) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory, BAI). Distant NLEs were associated with higher and distant PLEs with lower neuroticism scores. The effects of distant LEs were weak but long-lasting, especially for distant PLEs. Distant NLE-driven change in neuroticism was associated with change in symptoms of anxiety/depression whereas the effect of distant PLEs on neuroticism was independent of any such changes. Childhood adversity weakened the impact of distant NLEs but enhanced the impact of distant PLEs on neuroticism. Distant PLEs are associated with small but long-lasting decreases in neuroticism regardless of changes in symptom levels of anxiety/depression. Long-lasting increases in neuroticism

  3. Trait Neuroticism, Depression, and Cognitive Function in Older Primary Care Patients

    PubMed Central

    Boyle, Lisa L.; Lyness, Jeffrey M.; Duberstein, Paul R.; Karuza, Jurgis; King, Deborah A.; Messing, Susan; Tu, Xin

    2010-01-01

    Objective Prior studies on the association of trait neuroticism and cognitive function in older adults have yielded mixed findings. We tested hypotheses that neuroticism is associated with measures of cognition and that depression moderates these relationships. Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting Primary care offices. Participants Primary care patients age ≥65 years. Measurements Trait neuroticism was assessed by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory. Major and minor depression (MDD, MinD) were determined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and depressive symptom severity by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D). Cognitive measures included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Initiation-Perseveration subscale of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, and Trail-Making Tests A and B. Results In multiple regression analyses, neuroticism was associated with MMSE score independent of depression diagnosis (β = −0.04, χ2 = 14.2, df = 1, p = 0.0002, 95% CI = −0.07, −0.02) and Ham-D score (β = −0.04, χ2 = 8.97, df = 1, p = 0.003, 95% CI = −0.06, −0.01). Interactions between neuroticism and depression diagnosis (χ2 = 7.21, df = 2, p = 0.03) and Ham-D scores (χ2 = 0.55, df = 1, p = 0.46) failed to lend strong support to the moderation hypothesis. Conclusion Neuroticism is associated with lower MMSE scores. Findings do not confirm a moderating role for depression, but suggest that depression diagnosis may confer additional risk for poorer global cognitive function in patients with high neuroticism. Further study is necessary. PMID:20220585

  4. Birth order, neuroticism, and psychoticism among Iranian children.

    PubMed

    Makaremi, A

    1992-12-01

    To investigate the effects of birth order, parents' education, and parents' occupation on four dimensions of the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, 262 elementary school students (100 boys and 162 girls) were selected randomly from four elementary schools in Shiraz. Analyses showed the main effects of birth order were significant on Neuroticism and Lie scales. Further, the effects of mothers' occupation on the Lie scale and fathers' education on the Neuroticism scale were significant.

  5. The burden of conscientiousness? Examining brain activation and cortisol response during social evaluative stress.

    PubMed

    Dahm, Anne-Sophie; Schmierer, Phöbe; Veer, Ilya M; Streit, Fabian; Görgen, Anna; Kruschwitz, Johann; Wüst, Stefan; Kirsch, Peter; Walter, Henrik; Erk, Susanne

    2017-04-01

    Although conscientiousness has for a long time been considered generally adaptive, there are findings challenging this view, suggesting that conscientiousness might be less advantageous during uncontrollable stress. We here examined the impact of conscientiousness on brain activation during and the cortisol response following an uncontrollable social evaluative stress task in order to test this hypothesis. Brain activation and cortisol levels were measured during an fMRI stress task, where subjects (n=86) performed cognitive tasks containing preprogrammed failure under time pressure, while being monitored by a panel of experts inducing social-evaluative threat. The degree of conscientiousness was measured using the NEO-FFI. We observed a positive correlation between conscientiousness and salivary cortisol levels in response to the stressful task in male subjects only. In male subjects conscientiousness correlated positively with activation in right amygdala and left insula, and, moreover, mediated the influence of amygdala and insula activation on cortisol output. This pattern of brain activation can be interpreted as a disadvantageous response to uncontrollable stress to which highly conscientious individuals might be predisposed. This is the first study showing the effect of conscientiousness on physiology and brain activation to an uncontrollable psychosocial stressor. Our results provide neurobiological evidence for the hypothesis that conscientiousness should not just be seen as beneficial, but rather as a trait associated with either costs or benefits depending on the extent to which one is in control of the situation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The Big Five of Personality and structural imaging revisited: a VBM - DARTEL study.

    PubMed

    Liu, Wei-Yin; Weber, Bernd; Reuter, Martin; Markett, Sebastian; Chu, Woei-Chyn; Montag, Christian

    2013-05-08

    The present study focuses on the neurostructural foundations of the human personality. In a large sample of 227 healthy human individuals (168 women and 59 men), we used MRI to examine the relationship between personality traits and both regional gray and white matter volume, while controlling for age and sex. Personality was assessed using the German version of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory that measures individual differences in the 'Big Five of Personality': extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. In contrast to most previous studies on neural correlates of the Big Five, we used improved processing strategies: white and gray matter were independently assessed by segmentation steps before data analysis. In addition, customized sex-specific diffeomorphic anatomical registration using exponentiated lie algebra templates were used. Our results did not show significant correlations between any dimension of the Big Five and regional gray matter volume. However, among others, higher conscientiousness scores correlated significantly with reductions in regional white matter volume in different brain areas, including the right insula, putamen, caudate, and left fusiformis. These correlations were driven by the female subsample. The present study suggests that many results from the literature on the neurostructural basis of personality should be reviewed carefully, considering the results when the sample size is larger, imaging methods are rigorously applied, and sex-related and age-related effects are controlled.

  7. The relations between conscientiousness and mental health in a North-European and a West-Asian culture.

    PubMed

    Farahani, Mohammad-Naghy; Kormi-Nouri, Reza; De Raad, Boele

    2017-07-04

    The relationship between conscientiousness, mental health and mental illness has been an issue for the last two decades. By using a dual model of mental health, the present study examined a non-linear relationship between conscientiousness and healthy or non-healthy symptoms in two different cultures. Participants in this study were 296 Iranian and 310 Swedish university students (18-24 years of age). We used two different conscientiousness scales; the 12-item conscientiousness subscale of the NEO/FFI as an imported (etic) scale, and a 10-item Iranian conscientiousness scale as an indigenous (emic) and culture-dependent scale. In both conscientiousness scales, multivariate analysis of variance showed that conscientiousness differentiated among four mental health groups (languishing, troubled, symptomatic and flourishing), although languishing and troubled individuals were less conscientious than flourishing and symptomatic individuals. Furthermore, the non-healthy symptomatic individuals were more conscientiousness than flourishing individuals. The results showed no significant differences between the two cultures in terms of the four mental health categories. It was concluded that the relationship between conscientiousness and mental health/mental illness is more a non-linear relationship than a linear one.

  8. Perceived Emotion Control Moderates the Relationship between Neuroticism and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Bourgeois, Michelle L.; Brown, Timothy A.

    2015-01-01

    The relationships between neuroticism, perceived emotion control, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) severity were examined in 293 individuals diagnosed with GAD at a specialty anxiety disorders clinic. Hierarchical regression analyses performed within a structural equation modeling framework revealed that (1) neuroticism and perceived emotion control both predicted a latent variable of GAD in the expected direction, and (2) perceived emotion control moderated the relationship between neuroticism and GAD severity, such that lower levels of perceived emotion control were associated with a stronger relationship between neuroticism and GAD severity. The other dimensions of perceived control (i.e., stress and threat control) did not moderate the effect of neuroticism on GAD severity. The findings are discussed with regard to their implications to conceptual models of the psychopathology of GAD, and theory-based differential relationships between dimensions of vulnerability, perceived control, and anxiety disorders. PMID:26236059

  9. Linking big five personality traits to sexuality and sexual health: A meta-analytic review.

    PubMed

    Allen, Mark S; Walter, Emma E

    2018-06-07

    This meta-analytic review addresses whether the major dimensions of trait personality relate to components of human sexuality. A comprehensive literature search identified 137 studies that met inclusion criteria (761 effect sizes; total n = 420,595). Pooled mean effects were computed using inverse-variance weighted random effects meta-analysis. Mean effect sizes from 100 separate meta-analyses provided evidence that personality relates to theoretically predicted components of sexuality and sexual health. Neuroticism was positively related to sexual dissatisfaction (r+ = .18), negative emotions (r+ = .42), and symptoms of sexual dysfunction (r+ = .16). Extraversion was positively related to sexual activity (r+ = .17) and risky sexual behavior (r+ = .18), and negatively related to symptoms of sexual dysfunction (r+ = -.17). Openness was positively related to homosexual orientation (r+ = .16) and liberal attitudes toward sex (r+ = .19). Agreeableness and conscientiousness were negatively related to sexually aggressive behavior (r+ = -.20; r+ = -.14) and sexual infidelity (r+ = -.18; r+ = -.17). Less robust evidence indicated that extraversion related negatively, and neuroticism positively, to child sexual abuse, and that openness related negatively to homophobic attitudes. Random effects metaregression identified age, gender, and study quality as important moderators of pooled mean effects. These findings might be of interest to health care professionals developing health care services that aim to promote sexually healthy societies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  10. Morningness-eveningness, sex, and the Alternative Five Factor Model of personality.

    PubMed

    Muro, Anna; Gomà-i-Freixanet, Montserrat; Adan, Ana

    2009-08-01

    Recent research on personality and circadian typology indicates that evening-type subjects are more extraverted, impulsive, and novelty-seeking, while morning ones tend to be more introverted, conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences between circadian typologies on the Zuckerman's Alternative Five Factor Model of personality (AFFM), which has a strong biological basis, controlling for sex and age. A sample of 533 university students (168 men) participated in the study. Results showed that morning-type subjects had significant higher scores than evening-type and neither-type subjects in Activity, and in its subscales General Activity and Work Activity. A significant interaction between circadian typology and sex was found for Neuroticism-Anxiety: morning-type men showed higher scores than evening-type and neither-type, who had the lowest scores. Women presented the opposite pattern: neither-type obtained the highest scores, while morning-type showed the lowest. This is the first time the AFFM has been used in the context of circadian rhythms research. The results suggest that activity is the only trait related to extraversion associated with morningness, while Neuroticism-Anxiety was modulated by sex. These results might help highlight previous results on the association between morningness-eveningness and other models of personality assessment, and they offer new data that calls for further research.

  11. Influence of caregiver personality on the burden of family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients.

    PubMed

    Kim, Ha-Hyun; Kim, Seon-Young; Kim, Jae-Min; Kim, Sung-Wan; Shin, Il-Seon; Shim, Hyun-Jeong; Hwang, Jun-Eul; Chung, Ik-Joo; Yoon, Jin-Sang

    2016-02-01

    To determine the influence of caregiver personality and other factors on the burden of family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients. We investigated a wide range of factors related to the patient-family caregiver dyad in a palliative care setting using a cross-sectional design. Caregiver burden was assessed using the seven-item short version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI-7). Caregiver personality was assessed using the 10-item short version of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-10), which measures the following five personality dimensions: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness. Patient- and caregiver-related sociodemographic and psychological factors were included in the analysis because of their potential association with caregiver burden. Clinical patient data were obtained from medical charts or by using other measures. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to identify the independent factors associated with caregiver burden. We analyzed 227 patient-family caregiver dyads. The multivariate analysis revealed that caregiver extroversion was protective against caregiver burden, whereas depressive symptoms in caregivers were related to increased burden. Neuroticism was positively correlated with caregiver burden, but this relationship was nonsignificant following adjustment for depressive symptoms. Patient-related factors were not significantly associated with caregiver burden. Evaluating caregiver personality traits could facilitate identification of individuals at greater risk of high burden. Furthermore, depression screening and treatment programs for caregivers in palliative care settings are required to decrease caregiver burden.

  12. Surface-based morphometry reveals the neuroanatomical basis of the five-factor model of personality

    PubMed Central

    Riccelli, Roberta; Toschi, Nicola; Nigro, Salvatore; Terracciano, Antonio

    2017-01-01

    Abstract The five-factor model (FFM) is a widely used taxonomy of human personality; yet its neuro anatomical basis remains unclear. This is partly because past associations between gray-matter volume and FFM were driven by different surface-based morphometry (SBM) indices (i.e. cortical thickness, surface area, cortical folding or any combination of them). To overcome this limitation, we used Free-Surfer to study how variability in SBM measures was related to the FFM in n = 507 participants from the Human Connectome Project. Neuroticism was associated with thicker cortex and smaller area and folding in prefrontal–temporal regions. Extraversion was linked to thicker pre-cuneus and smaller superior temporal cortex area. Openness was linked to thinner cortex and greater area and folding in prefrontal–parietal regions. Agreeableness was correlated to thinner prefrontal cortex and smaller fusiform gyrus area. Conscientiousness was associated with thicker cortex and smaller area and folding in prefrontal regions. These findings demonstrate that anatomical variability in prefrontal cortices is linked to individual differences in the socio-cognitive dispositions described by the FFM. Cortical thickness and surface area/folding were inversely related each others as a function of different FFM traits (neuroticism, extraversion and consciousness vs openness), which may reflect brain maturational effects that predispose or protect against psychiatric disorders. PMID:28122961

  13. Neuronal correlates of the five factor model (FFM) of human personality: Multimodal imaging in a large healthy sample.

    PubMed

    Bjørnebekk, Astrid; Fjell, Anders M; Walhovd, Kristine B; Grydeland, Håkon; Torgersen, Svenn; Westlye, Lars T

    2013-01-15

    Advances in neuroimaging techniques have recently provided glimpse into the neurobiology of complex traits of human personality. Whereas some intriguing findings have connected aspects of personality to variations in brain morphology, the relations are complex and our current understanding is incomplete. Therefore, we aimed to provide a comprehensive investigation of brain-personality relations using a multimodal neuroimaging approach in a large sample comprising 265 healthy individuals. The NEO Personality Inventory was used to provide measures of core aspects of human personality, and imaging phenotypes included measures of total and regional brain volumes, regional cortical thickness and arealization, and diffusion tensor imaging indices of white matter (WM) microstructure. Neuroticism was the trait most clearly linked to brain structure. Higher neuroticism including facets reflecting anxiety, depression and vulnerability to stress was associated with smaller total brain volume, widespread decrease in WM microstructure, and smaller frontotemporal surface area. Higher scores on extraversion were associated with thinner inferior frontal gyrus, and conscientiousness was negatively associated with arealization of the temporoparietal junction. No reliable associations between brain structure and agreeableness and openness, respectively, were found. The results provide novel evidence of the associations between brain structure and variations in human personality, and corroborate previous findings of a consistent neuroanatomical basis of negative emotionality. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR).

    PubMed

    Fredborg, Beverley; Clark, Jim; Smith, Stephen D

    2017-01-01

    Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a perceptual condition in which the presentation of particular audio-visual stimuli triggers intense, pleasurable tingling sensations in the head and neck regions, which may spread to the periphery of the body. These triggering stimuli are often socially intimate in nature, and usually involve repetition of movements and/or sounds (e.g., hearing whispering, watching someone brush her hair). Reports of ASMR experiences first appeared in online communities in 2010; since this time, these communities have expanded, with some groups consisting of over 100,000 members. However, despite the apparent prevalence of ASMR, there is currently no research on the personality characteristics that co-occur with this condition. In the current study, 290 individuals with ASMR and 290 matched controls completed the Big Five Personality Inventory (BFI; John et al., 1991); participants with ASMR also completed a questionnaire related to their ASMR phenomenology. Individuals with ASMR demonstrated significantly higher scores on Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism, and significantly lower levels of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness compared to matched controls. Further, ratings of subjective ASMR intensity in response to 14 common ASMR stimuli were positively correlated with the Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism dimensions of the BFI. These results provide preliminary evidence that ASMR is associated with specific personality traits and suggest avenues for further investigation.

  15. An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)

    PubMed Central

    Fredborg, Beverley; Clark, Jim; Smith, Stephen D.

    2017-01-01

    Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a perceptual condition in which the presentation of particular audio-visual stimuli triggers intense, pleasurable tingling sensations in the head and neck regions, which may spread to the periphery of the body. These triggering stimuli are often socially intimate in nature, and usually involve repetition of movements and/or sounds (e.g., hearing whispering, watching someone brush her hair). Reports of ASMR experiences first appeared in online communities in 2010; since this time, these communities have expanded, with some groups consisting of over 100,000 members. However, despite the apparent prevalence of ASMR, there is currently no research on the personality characteristics that co-occur with this condition. In the current study, 290 individuals with ASMR and 290 matched controls completed the Big Five Personality Inventory (BFI; John et al., 1991); participants with ASMR also completed a questionnaire related to their ASMR phenomenology. Individuals with ASMR demonstrated significantly higher scores on Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism, and significantly lower levels of Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness compared to matched controls. Further, ratings of subjective ASMR intensity in response to 14 common ASMR stimuli were positively correlated with the Openness-to-Experience and Neuroticism dimensions of the BFI. These results provide preliminary evidence that ASMR is associated with specific personality traits and suggest avenues for further investigation. PMID:28280478

  16. Pettiness: Conceptualization, measurement and cross-cultural differences.

    PubMed

    Ng, Reuben; Levy, Becca

    2018-01-01

    Although pettiness, defined as the tendency to get agitated over trivial matters, is a facet of neuroticism which has negative health implications, no measure exists. The goal of the current study was to develop, and validate a short pettiness scale. In Study 1 (N = 2136), Exploratory Factor Analysis distilled a one-factor model with five items. Convergent validity was established using the Big Five Inventory, DASS, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale. As predicted, pettiness was positively associated with neuroticism, depression, anxiety and stress but negatively related to extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, life satisfaction and resilience. Also, as predicted, pettiness was not significantly related to physical functioning, or blind and constructive patriotism, indicating discriminant validity. Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Study 2 (N = 734) revealed a stable one-factor model of pettiness. In Study 3 (N = 532), the scale, which showed a similar factor structure in the USA and Singapore, also reflected predicted cross-cultural patterns: Pettiness was found to be significantly lower in the United States, a culture categorized as "looser" than in Singapore, a culture classified as "tighter" in terms of Gelfand and colleagues' framework of national tendencies to oppose social deviance. Results suggest that this brief 5-item tool is a reliable and valid measure of pettiness, and its use in health research is encouraged.

  17. Personality disorders and traits in patients with body dysmorphic disorder.

    PubMed

    Phillips, K A; McElroy, S L

    2000-01-01

    Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have been postulated to have schizoid, narcissistic, and obsessional personality traits and to be sensitive, introverted, perfectionistic, and insecure. However, data on personality traits and disorders in BDD are limited. This study assessed 148 subjects with BDD, 26 of whom participated in a fluvoxamine treatment study; 74 subjects were assessed for personality disorders with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIII-R Personality Disorders (SCID-II), 100 subjects completed the NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), and 51 subjects completed the Rathus Assertiveness Scale. Forty-two subjects (57%) had one or more personality disorders, with avoidant personality disorder (43%) being most common, followed by dependent (15%), obsessive-compulsive (14%), and paranoid (14%) personality disorders. On the NEO-FFI, the mean scores were in the very high range for neuroticism, the low range for extraversion and conscientiousness, the low-average range for agreeableness, and the average range for openness to experience. On the Rathus Assertiveness Scale, the mean score was -17.1 +/- 32.0 for women and -17.0 +/- 32.3 for men. Among fluvoxamine responders, the number of personality disorders significantly decreased between the study baseline and endpoint. These findings suggest that the rate of personality disorders in BDD is relatively high, with avoidant personality disorder being most common. The high neuroticism scores and low extraversion scores are consistent with this finding.

  18. Personality trait changes among young Finns: the role of life events and transitions.

    PubMed

    Leikas, Sointu; Salmela-Aro, Katariina

    2015-02-01

    Recent research has shown that personality traits continue to develop throughout the life span, but most profound changes are typically found during young adulthood. Increasing evidence suggests that life events play a significant role in many of these changes. The present longitudinal study examined the role of work, education, social, and health-related life events in the development of the Big Five traits among young Finns. Participants were originally recruited in 2004 through elementary schools in a middle-sized Finnish city. Participants' Big Five traits and life events were measured via self-reports at ages 20 and 23 (Ns = 597 and 588, respectively). Entering work life, beginning a relationship, and studying in university predicted increases in Conscientiousness, trying drugs predicted increases in Neuroticism, and onset of a chronic disease predicted increases in Neuroticism and Conscientiousness between ages 20 and 23. The results suggest that mature life transitions relate to stronger increases in Conscientiousness in young adulthood, and that non-normative life choices and events may predict increases in Neuroticism. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  19. Personality and leader effectiveness: a moderated mediation model of leadership self-efficacy, job demands, and job autonomy.

    PubMed

    Ng, Kok-Yee; Ang, Soon; Chan, Kim-Yin

    2008-07-01

    The trait theory of leadership is advanced by a joint investigation of the mediating role of (a) leadership self-efficacy (LSE = leader's perceived capabilities to perform leader roles) in linking neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness with leader effectiveness and (b) the moderating role of job demands and job autonomy in influencing the mediation. Using K. J. Preacher, D. D. Rucker, and A. F. Hayes' (2007) moderated mediation framework, the authors tested the model (over a 2-year period) with matched data from 394 military leaders and their supervisors. Results showed that LSE mediated the relationships for neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness with leader effectiveness. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that LSE mediated the relationships for (a) all 3 personality variables for only those leaders with low job demands; (b) neuroticism and conscientiousness for only those leaders with high job autonomy; and (c) extraversion, regardless of a leader's level of job autonomy. Results underscore the importance of accounting for leaders' situational contexts when examining the relationships between personality, LSE, and effectiveness.

  20. The conscientious objection: debate on emergency contraception.

    PubMed

    Montanari Vergallo, G; Zaami, S; Di Luca, N M; Marinelli, E

    2017-01-01

    The authors discuss the emergency contraception (EC) topic, assessing scientific and ethical aspects. The almost totality of the studies carried out tends to report on the use of drugs as an emergency measure to prevent pregnancy. However, it is not yet completely excluded that emergency contraceptives can induce medical abortion. The debate on side effects of EC continues to be a highly emotional and controversial issue both for advocates who believe they will lower considerably the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions, and for opponents who believe that using emergency contraception amounts to an abortion. This latter hypothesis highlights the conflicting aspect of the conscientious objection to abortion of physicians and pharmacists. This research work is aimed at investigating the emergency contraception issue, paying particular attention to the medico-legal and regulatory aspects of this subject. Particularly, the authors focus on the conscientious objection in order to assess, if any, legal protection for physicians and pharmacists who claim a right to conscientious objection. Inappropriate use of EC could be resolved through a registry of user. This registry, of course, would not have the intention of persecution, but would only serve to detect possible cases of subjugation, exploitation and harassment.

  1. Task-Contingent Conscientiousness as a Unit of Personality at Work

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Minbashian, Amirali; Wood, Robert E.; Beckmann, Nadin

    2010-01-01

    The present study examined the viability of incorporating task-contingent units into the study of personality at work, using conscientiousness as an illustrative example. We used experience-sampling data from 123 managers to show that (a) momentary conscientiousness at work is contingent on the difficulty and urgency demands of the tasks people…

  2. When Is Higher Neuroticism Protective Against Death? Findings From UK Biobank

    PubMed Central

    Gale, Catharine R.; Čukić, Iva; Batty, G. David; McIntosh, Andrew M.; Weiss, Alexander; Deary, Ian J.

    2017-01-01

    We examined the association between neuroticism and mortality in a sample of 321,456 people from UK Biobank and explored the influence of self-rated health on this relationship. After adjustment for age and sex, a 1-SD increment in neuroticism was associated with a 6% increase in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 1.06, 95% confidence interval = [1.03, 1.09]). After adjustment for other covariates, and, in particular, self-rated health, higher neuroticism was associated with an 8% reduction in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 0.92, 95% confidence interval = [0.89, 0.95]), as well as with reductions in mortality from cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease, but not external causes. Further analyses revealed that higher neuroticism was associated with lower mortality only in those people with fair or poor self-rated health, and that higher scores on a facet of neuroticism related to worry and vulnerability were associated with lower mortality. Research into associations between personality facets and mortality may elucidate mechanisms underlying neuroticism’s covert protection against death. PMID:28703694

  3. Neuroticism and Negative Urgency in Problematic Alcohol Use: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Papachristou, Harilaos; Nederkoorn, Chantal; Jansen, Anita

    2016-09-18

    Problematic alcohol use is common among university students and personality might account for individual differences in developing this maladaptive behavior. Two personality dispositions implicated in problematic alcohol use are negative urgency and neuroticism. However, the relationship of these traits to problematic alcohol use is unclear. In college students high neuroticism is not directly linked to problematic alcohol use. On the other hand, the experience of emotional distress in people high in neuroticism could impair the capacity for impulse control. Loss of impulse control under conditions of negative affect could trigger impulsive drinking and problematic alcohol use in the long run. We investigated this idea by testing whether negative urgency mediates the relationship of neuroticism to problematic alcohol use. Participants were 60 undergraduate university students who completed the Urgency subscale of the Urgency, (lack of) Premeditation, (lack of) Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Positive Urgency Impulsive Behaviour scale (UPPS-P), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and the Neuroticism subscale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised short form (EPQ-RSS). The results confirmed our hypothesis as we found an indirect effect of negative urgency on the relationship between neuroticism and problematic alcohol use. It appears that it is not distress but the tendency to act rashly when distressed that is important in developing problematic alcohol drinking in university students.

  4. Conscientious objection in healthcare: why tribunals might be the answer.

    PubMed

    Hughes, Jonathan A

    2017-04-01

    A recent focus of the debate on conscientious objection in healthcare is the question of whether practitioners should have to justify their refusal to perform certain functions. A recent article by Cowley addresses a practical aspect of this controversy, namely the question of whether doctors claiming conscientious objector status in relation to abortion should be required, like their counterparts claiming exemption from military conscription, to defend their claim before a tribunal. Cowley argues against the use of tribunals in the medical case, on the grounds that there are likely to be fewer unjustified claims to conscientious objection in this context than in the military, and that in any case tribunals will not be an effective way of distinguishing genuine and false cases. I reject these arguments and propose a different conception of the role of a medical conscientious objection tribunal. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  5. Neuroticism and responsiveness to error feedback: adaptive self-regulation versus affective reactivity.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Michael D; Moeller, Sara K; Fetterman, Adam K

    2010-10-01

    Responsiveness to negative feedback has been seen as functional by those who emphasize the value of reflecting on such feedback in self-regulating problematic behaviors. On the other hand, the very same responsiveness has been viewed as dysfunctional by its link to punishment sensitivity and reactivity. The present 4 studies, involving 203 undergraduate participants, sought to reconcile such discrepant views in the context of the trait of neuroticism. In cognitive tasks, individuals were given error feedback when they made mistakes. It was found that greater tendencies to slow down following error feedback were associated with higher levels of accuracy at low levels of neuroticism but lower levels of accuracy at high levels of neuroticism. Individual differences in neuroticism thus appear crucial in understanding whether behavioral alterations following negative feedback reflect proactive versus reactive mechanisms and processes. Implications for understanding the processing basis of neuroticism and adaptive self-regulation are discussed.

  6. Genome-wide analysis of over 106 000 individuals identifies 9 neuroticism-associated loci

    PubMed Central

    Smith, D J; Escott-Price, V; Davies, G; Bailey, M E S; Colodro-Conde, L; Ward, J; Vedernikov, A; Marioni, R; Cullen, B; Lyall, D; Hagenaars, S P; Liewald, D C M; Luciano, M; Gale, C R; Ritchie, S J; Hayward, C; Nicholl, B; Bulik-Sullivan, B; Adams, M; Couvy-Duchesne, B; Graham, N; Mackay, D; Evans, J; Smith, B H; Porteous, D J; Medland, S E; Martin, N G; Holmans, P; McIntosh, A M; Pell, J P; Deary, I J; O'Donovan, M C

    2016-01-01

    Neuroticism is a personality trait of fundamental importance for psychological well-being and public health. It is strongly associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and several other psychiatric conditions. Although neuroticism is heritable, attempts to identify the alleles involved in previous studies have been limited by relatively small sample sizes. Here we report a combined meta-analysis of genome-wide association study (GWAS) of neuroticism that includes 91 370 participants from the UK Biobank cohort, 6659 participants from the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS) and 8687 participants from a QIMR (Queensland Institute of Medical Research) Berghofer Medical Research Institute (QIMR) cohort. All participants were assessed using the same neuroticism instrument, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R-S) Short Form's Neuroticism scale. We found a single-nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability estimate for neuroticism of ∼15% (s.e.=0.7%). Meta-analysis identified nine novel loci associated with neuroticism. The strongest evidence for association was at a locus on chromosome 8 (P=1.5 × 10−15) spanning 4 Mb and containing at least 36 genes. Other associated loci included interesting candidate genes on chromosome 1 (GRIK3 (glutamate receptor ionotropic kainate 3)), chromosome 4 (KLHL2 (Kelch-like protein 2)), chromosome 17 (CRHR1 (corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1) and MAPT (microtubule-associated protein Tau)) and on chromosome 18 (CELF4 (CUGBP elav-like family member 4)). We found no evidence for genetic differences in the common allelic architecture of neuroticism by sex. By comparing our findings with those of the Psychiatric Genetics Consortia, we identified a strong genetic correlation between neuroticism and MDD and a less strong but significant genetic correlation with schizophrenia, although not with bipolar disorder. Polygenic risk scores derived from the primary UK Biobank sample captured

  7. Genome-wide analysis of over 106 000 individuals identifies 9 neuroticism-associated loci.

    PubMed

    Smith, D J; Escott-Price, V; Davies, G; Bailey, M E S; Colodro-Conde, L; Ward, J; Vedernikov, A; Marioni, R; Cullen, B; Lyall, D; Hagenaars, S P; Liewald, D C M; Luciano, M; Gale, C R; Ritchie, S J; Hayward, C; Nicholl, B; Bulik-Sullivan, B; Adams, M; Couvy-Duchesne, B; Graham, N; Mackay, D; Evans, J; Smith, B H; Porteous, D J; Medland, S E; Martin, N G; Holmans, P; McIntosh, A M; Pell, J P; Deary, I J; O'Donovan, M C

    2016-06-01

    Neuroticism is a personality trait of fundamental importance for psychological well-being and public health. It is strongly associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) and several other psychiatric conditions. Although neuroticism is heritable, attempts to identify the alleles involved in previous studies have been limited by relatively small sample sizes. Here we report a combined meta-analysis of genome-wide association study (GWAS) of neuroticism that includes 91 370 participants from the UK Biobank cohort, 6659 participants from the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS) and 8687 participants from a QIMR (Queensland Institute of Medical Research) Berghofer Medical Research Institute (QIMR) cohort. All participants were assessed using the same neuroticism instrument, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised (EPQ-R-S) Short Form's Neuroticism scale. We found a single-nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability estimate for neuroticism of ∼15% (s.e.=0.7%). Meta-analysis identified nine novel loci associated with neuroticism. The strongest evidence for association was at a locus on chromosome 8 (P=1.5 × 10(-15)) spanning 4 Mb and containing at least 36 genes. Other associated loci included interesting candidate genes on chromosome 1 (GRIK3 (glutamate receptor ionotropic kainate 3)), chromosome 4 (KLHL2 (Kelch-like protein 2)), chromosome 17 (CRHR1 (corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1) and MAPT (microtubule-associated protein Tau)) and on chromosome 18 (CELF4 (CUGBP elav-like family member 4)). We found no evidence for genetic differences in the common allelic architecture of neuroticism by sex. By comparing our findings with those of the Psychiatric Genetics Consortia, we identified a strong genetic correlation between neuroticism and MDD and a less strong but significant genetic correlation with schizophrenia, although not with bipolar disorder. Polygenic risk scores derived from the primary UK Biobank sample captured

  8. Conscientiousness and reactions to psychological contract breach: a longitudinal field study.

    PubMed

    Orvis, Karin A; Dudley, Nicole M; Cortina, Jose M

    2008-09-01

    The authors examined the role of employee conscientiousness as a moderator of the relationships between psychological contract breach and employee behavioral and attitudinal reactions to the breach. They collected data from 106 newly hired employees within the 1st month of employment (Time 1), 3 months later (Time 2), and 8 months after Time 1 (Time 3) to observe the progression through contract development, breach, and reaction. Results suggest that conscientiousness is a significant moderator for 4 of the 5 contract breach-employee reaction relationships examined (turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, job satisfaction, and 1 of 2 facets of job performance). Specifically, employees who were lower in conscientiousness had more negative reactions to perceived breach with respect to turnover intentions, organizational loyalty, and job satisfaction. In contrast, employees who were higher in conscientiousness reduced their job performance to a greater degree in response to contract breach. Future research directions are discussed.

  9. The Downsides of Extreme Conscientiousness for Psychological Well-being: The Role of Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies.

    PubMed

    Carter, Nathan T; Guan, Li; Maples, Jessica L; Williamson, Rachel L; Miller, Joshua D

    2016-08-01

    Although conscientiousness exhibits positive relations with psychological well-being, theoretical and empirical work suggests individuals can be too conscientious, resulting in obsessive-compulsiveness, and therein less positive individual outcomes. However, the potential for curvilinearity between conscientiousness and well-being has been underexplored. We measured 912 subjects on facets of conscientiousness, obsessive-compulsive personality, and well-being variables (life satisfaction, job satisfaction, self-esteem, positive affect, negative affect, work stress). Methods of scoring included traditional sum-scoring, traditional item response theory (IRT), and a relatively new IRT approach. Structural models were estimated to evaluate curvilinearity. Results confirmed the curvilinear relationship between conscientiousness and well-being, and demonstrated that differential facet-level relationships underlie weaker curvilinearity at the general trait level. Consistency was found in the strength of relation between conscientiousness facets with their obsessive-compulsive variants and their contribution to decreased well-being. The most common association was that higher standing on conscientiousness facets was positively related to negative affect. Findings support the idea that extreme standing on facets of conscientiousness more strongly linked to their obsessive-compulsive variants contributed to lower well-being, highlighting the importance of considering alternative functional representations of the relationship between personality and other constructs. Future work should seek to further clarify the link between conscientiousness and negative affect. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Conscientious objection and abortion: rights and duties of public sector physicians.

    PubMed

    Diniz, Debora

    2011-10-01

    The paper analyzes conscientious objection by physicians, through the concrete situation of legal abortion in Brazil. It reviews the two main ethical frameworks about conscientious objection in public health, the incompatibility thesis and the integrity thesis, to analyze the reality of legal abortion services in the referral services of the Brazilian public health care system. From these two perspectives, a third perspective is proposed - the justification thesis, to manage the right to conscientious objection among physicians in referral services. This analysis may contribute to the organization of services for legal abortion and to the education of future physicians working in emergency obstetric care.

  11. Legal briefing: conscience clauses and conscientious refusal.

    PubMed

    Pope, Thaddeus Mason

    2010-01-01

    This issue's "Legal Briefing" column covers legal developments pertaining to conscience clauses and conscientious refusal. Not only has this topic been the subject of recent articles in this journal, but it has also been the subject of numerous public and professional discussions. Over the past several months, conscientious refusal disputes have had an unusually high profile not only in courthouses, but also in legislative and regulatory halls across the United States. Healthcare providers' own moral beliefs have been obstructing and are expected to increasingly obstruct patients' access to medical services. For example, some providers, on ethical or moral grounds, have denied: (1) sterilization procedures to pregnant patients, (2) pain medications in end-of-life situations, and (3) information about emergency contraception to rape victims. On the other hand, many healthcare providers have been forced to provide medical treatment that is inconsistent with their moral beliefs. There are two fundamental types of conscientious objection laws. First, there are laws that permit healthcare workers to refuse providing - on ethical, moral, or religious grounds healthcare services that they might otherwise have a legal or employer-mandated obligation to provide. Second, there are laws directed at forcing healthcare workers to provide services to which they might have ethical, moral, or religious objections. Both types of laws are rarely comprehensive, but instead target: (1) certain types of healthcare providers, (2) specific categories of healthcare services, (3) specific patient circumstances, and (4) certain conditions under which a right or obligation is triggered. For the sake of clarity, I have grouped recent legal developments concerning conscientious refusal into eight categories: 1. Abortion: right to refuse 2. Abortion: duty to provide 3. Contraception: right to refuse 4. Contraception: duty to provide 5. Sterilization: right to refuse 6. Fertility, HIV, vaccines

  12. Social investment and personality: a meta-analysis of the relationship of personality traits to investment in work, family, religion, and volunteerism.

    PubMed

    Lodi-Smith, Jennifer; Roberts, Brent W

    2007-02-01

    Investing in normative, age-graded social roles has broad implications for both the individual and society. The current meta-analysis examines the way in which personality traits relate to four such investments -- work, family, religion, and volunteerism. The present study uses meta-analytic techniques (K = 94) to identify the cross-sectional patterns of relationships between social investment in these four roles and the personality trait domains of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability. Results show that the extent of investment in social roles across these domains is positively related to agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and low psychoticism. These findings are more robust when individuals are psychologically committed to rather than simply demographically associated with the investment role.

  13. The Careless or the Conscientious: Who Profits Most from Goal Progress?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hulsheger, Ute R.; Maier, Gunter W.

    2010-01-01

    Although research indicates that making progress on personal work goals predicts positive job attitudes, little is known about the role of conscientiousness in moderating this relationship. Congruence theories suggest that job attitudes will be more dependent on goal progress when employees are high in conscientiousness, whereas compensation…

  14. Conscientious refusal in healthcare: the Swedish solution.

    PubMed

    Munthe, Christian

    2017-04-01

    The Swedish solution to the legal handling of professional conscientious refusal in healthcare is described. No legal right to conscientious refusal for any profession or class of professional tasks exists in Sweden, regardless of the religious or moral background of the objection. The background of this can be found in strong convictions about the importance of public service provision and related civic duties, and ideals about rule of law, equality and non-discrimination. Employee's requests to change work tasks are handled on a case-by-case basis within the frames of labour law, ensuring full voluntariness, and also employer's privilege regarding the organisation and direction of work, and duties of public institutions to provide services. Two complicating aspects of this solution related to the inclusion of 'alternative medical' service providers in a national health service, and professional insistence on conscientious refusal rights to accept legalised assisted dying are discussed. The latter is found to undermine the pragmatic reasons behind recent attempts by prolife groups to challenge the Swedish solution related to legal abortion in courts. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  15. Acquaintance ratings of the Big Five personality traits: incremental validity beyond and interactive effects with self-reports in the prediction of workplace deviance.

    PubMed

    Kluemper, Donald H; McLarty, Benjamin D; Bing, Mark N

    2015-01-01

    It is widely established that the Big Five personality traits of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability are antecedents to workplace deviance (Berry, Ones, & Sackett, 2007). However, these meta-analytic findings are based on self-reported personality traits. A recent meta-analysis by Oh, Wang, and Mount (2011) identified the value of acquaintance-reported personality in the prediction of job performance. The current investigation extends prior work by comparing the validities of self- and acquaintance-reported personality in the prediction of workplace deviance across 2 studies. We also hypothesized and tested an interactive, value-added integration of self- with acquaintance-reported personality using socioanalytic personality theory (R. T. Hogan, 1991). Both studies assessed self- and acquaintance-rated Big Five traits, along with supervisor-rated workplace deviance. However, the studies varied the measures of workplace deviance, and the 2nd study also included a self-rated workplace deviance criterion for additional comparison. Across both studies, the traits of conscientiousness and agreeableness were strong predictors of workplace deviance, and acquaintance-reported personality provided incremental validity beyond self-reports. Additionally, acquaintance-reported conscientiousness and agreeableness moderated the prediction of workplace deviance by interacting with the corresponding self-reported traits. Implications for personality theory and measurement are discussed along with applications for practice. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

  16. [Conscientious objection for health professionals in ethics and deontology].

    PubMed

    Martínez León, Mercedes; Rabadán Jiménez, José

    2010-01-01

    The main objective of this paper is to highlight the numerous conflicts enters the consciousness and the laws are becoming more frequent health professionals in daily clinical practice. Clarify and define concepts such as ″conscientious objection for health professionals, to avoid confusion with other terms. This is work that aims to address the objection of conscience, not from the law but from the ethics and deontology, reviewing existing regulations both internationally and nationally. In addition to complete the studio, in a last part we discuss the state of the ″conscientious objection″ tars the recent passage of the organic law 2 / 2010, 3 march, sexual and reproductive health and the interruption of pregnancy. As a final conclusion we can say that ″conscientious objection″ is recognized in international declarations and even in the european constitution. in spain, the code of ethics and medical ethics, is one of the places where the objection of conscience of health professionals has great development for years, states that the doctor can refrain from the practice of certain professional acts such as abortion, in vitro fertilization or sterilization, if they are in contradiction with its ethical and scientific beliefs. Also recently, the general assembly of october 24, 2009, the central committee of ethics has made a declaration on ″conscientious objection″, insisting on its recognition. Finally, the organic law 2 / 2010, 3 march, sexual and reproductive health and the interruption of pregnancy, seems to be recognized ″the right to exercise conscientious objection″ of health professionals directly involved in the voluntary termination of pregnancy, after much discussion, but it is still early to assess the implementation of this right because, until july 5, 2010, will come into force this law, what will the future that we clarify the development of this important right for health professionals.

  17. Religiousness, spiritual seeking, and personality: findings from a longitudinal study.

    PubMed

    Wink, Paul; Ciciolla, Lucia; Dillon, Michele; Tracy, Allison

    2007-10-01

    The hypothesis that personality characteristics in adolescence can be used to predict religiousness and spiritual seeking in late adulthood was tested using a structural equation modeling framework to estimate cross-lagged and autoregressive effects in a two-wave panel design. The sample consisted of 209 men and women participants in the Berkeley Guidance and Oakland Growth studies. In late adulthood, religiousness was positively related to Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, and spiritual seeking was related to Openness to Experience. Longitudinal models indicated that Conscientiousness in adolescence significantly predicted religiousness in late adulthood above and beyond adolescent religiousness. Similarly, Openness in adolescence predicted spiritual seeking in late adulthood. The converse effect, adolescent religiousness to personality in late adulthood, was not significant in either model. Among women, adolescent Agreeableness predicted late-life religiousness and adolescent religiousness predicted late-life Agreeableness; both these effects were absent among men. Adolescent personality appears to shape late-life religiousness and spiritual seeking independent of early religious socialization.

  18. Public reason and the limited right to conscientious objection: a response to Magelssen.

    PubMed

    Greenblum, Jake

    2018-03-01

    In a recent article for this journal, Morten Magelssen argues that the right to conscientious objection in healthcare is grounded in the moral integrity of healthcare professionals, a good for both professionals and society. In this paper, I argue that there is no right to conscientious objection in healthcare, at least as Magelssen conceives of it. Magelssen's conception of the right to conscientious objection is too expansive in nature. Although I will assume that there is a right to conscientious objection, it does not extend to objections that are purely religious in nature. i Thus, this right is considerably more restricted than Magelssen thinks. In making my case, I draw on John Rawls's later work in arguing for the claim that conscientious objection based on purely religious considerations fails to benefit society in the appropriate way. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  19. Are the costs of neuroticism inevitable? Evidence of attenuated effects in U.S. Latinas.

    PubMed

    Campos, Belinda; Busse, David; Yim, Ilona S; Dayan, Adam; Chevez, Linett; Schoebi, Dominik

    2014-07-01

    Neuroticism is the heritable and stable personality trait defined by the tendency to experience negative emotion, be easily stressed, and slow to soothe. Neuroticism poses a risk for poor social and health outcomes that has been identified as a major public health concern. To date, factors that attenuate neuroticism's costs have not been identified. The goal of this work was to test the hypothesis that the costs of neuroticism would be attenuated in sociocultural contexts that emphasize readily accessible social support, emotional positivity, and physical proximity in interdependent relationships. U.S. Latino culture fits these characteristics. Two studies, an online survey study (Study 1) and a laboratory study (Study 2), tested whether three key costs of high neuroticism-less support (Study 1), more distress (Study 2), and blunted cortisol reactivity (Study 2)-would be attenuated in U.S. Latinas relative to non-Latinas of European and East Asian cultural background. Consistent with previous research, neuroticism was associated with less perceived support, more distress, and blunted cortisol reactivity in non-Latina women of European and East Asian cultural background. For Latina women, however, these effects were attenuated. Latina women who were high in neuroticism continued to feel supported, were not as distressed, and their cortisol reactivity was less blunted. The role of sociocultural context for generating a better understanding of personality processes and the social malleability of neuroticism's costs are discussed.

  20. Neuroticism and maladaptive coping in patients with functional somatic syndromes.

    PubMed

    Frølund Pedersen, Heidi; Frostholm, Lisbeth; Søndergaard Jensen, Jens; Ørnbøl, Eva; Schröder, Andreas

    2016-11-01

    The cognitive-behavioural model of functional somatic syndromes (FSS) proposes a multifactorial aetiology consisting of predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factors. In this study, we sought to investigate three questions that can be drawn from this model: (1) Do patients with FSS show high levels of neuroticism? (2) Does neuroticism affect physical health and social functioning, either directly or indirectly through maladaptive coping? (3) Does more adaptive coping mediate the effect of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) on outcome? Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) using additional data. We used yet unpublished data on neuroticism (measured with Temperament and Character Inventory, Revised) and coping (measured with Coping Strategies Questionnaire) together with already reported outcomes (physical health and social functioning measured with SF-36) from an RCT comparing group CBT with enhanced usual care in 120 patients with a range of FSS. Neuroticism was measured at referral, while coping and outcomes were measured at referral, baseline, 4 and 16 months after randomization. Our hypotheses were explored through a series of cross-sectional (linear regression and structural equation models) and longitudinal (mediation) analyses. Patients with FSS showed higher levels of neuroticism than two healthy comparison groups. At referral, symptom catastrophizing partly mediated the negative association between neuroticism and outcome. Reduction in symptom catastrophizing during group CBT partially mediated its long-term effect. The results give support to a generic cognitive-behavioural model of FSS. Targeting symptom catastrophizing may be an essential component in CBT for patients with FSS, regardless of their specific diagnosis. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Previous studies have found support for single components of the cognitive-behavioural model such as dysfunctional illness beliefs or avoidant

  1. Do students learn to be more conscientious at medical school?

    PubMed

    Chaytor, Andrew T; Spence, Jacqueline; Armstrong, Ann; McLachlan, John C

    2012-07-11

    Professionalism in medical students is not only difficult to define but difficult to teach and measure. As negative behaviour in medical students is associated with post-graduate disciplinary action it would be useful to have a model whereby unprofessional behaviour at the undergraduate level can easily be identified to permit appropriate intervention. We have previously developed a scalar measure of conscientiousness, the Conscientiousness Index (CI), which positively correlates to estimates of professional behaviour in undergraduate medical students. By comparing CI points awarded in year 1 and year 2 of study we were able to use the CI model to determine whether teaching and clinical exposure had any effect on students' conscientiousness. CI points were collected by administrative staff from 3 successive cohorts of students in years 1 and 2 of study. Points were awarded to students for activities such as submission of immunisation status and criminal record checks, submission of summative assignments by a specified date and attendance at compulsory teaching sessions. CI points were then converted to a percentage of maximal possible scores (CI %) to permit direct comparison between years 1 and 2 of study. CI % scores were generally high with each year of study for each cohort showing negatively skewed normal distributions with peaks > 89%. There was a high degree of correlation of CI % scores between year 1 and year 2 of study for each cohort alone and when cohort data was combined. When the change in CI % from year 1 to year 2 for all students was compared there was no significant difference in conscientiousness observed. We have provided evidence that use of a CI model in undergraduate medical students provides a reliable measure of conscientiousness that is easy to implement. Importantly this study shows that measurement of conscientiousness by the CI model in medical students does not change between years 1 and 2 study suggesting that it is a stable

  2. Clarifying the role of neuroticism in suicidal ideation and suicide attempt among women with major depressive disorder.

    PubMed

    Rappaport, L M; Flint, J; Kendler, K S

    2017-10-01

    Prior research consistently demonstrates that neuroticism increases risk for suicidal ideation, but the association between neuroticism and suicidal behavior has been inconsistent. Whereas neuroticism is recommended as an endophenotype for suicidality, the association of neuroticism with attempted suicide warrants clarification. In particular, prior research has not distinguished between correlates of attempted suicide, correlates of suicidal ideation, and correlates of comorbid psychopathology. The present study used the CONVERGE study, a sample of 5864 women with major depressive disorder (MD) and 5783 women without MD throughout China. Diagnoses, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Neuroticism was assessed with the neuroticism portion of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Results replicate prior findings on the correlates of suicidal ideation, particularly elevated neuroticism among individuals who report prior suicidal ideation. Moreover, as compared with individuals who reported having experienced only suicidal ideation, neuroticism was associated with decreased likelihood of having attempted suicide. The association of neuroticism with suicidality is more complicated than has been previously described. Whereas neuroticism increases risk for suicidal ideation, neuroticism may decrease risk for a suicide attempt among individuals with suicidal ideation. These results have implications for the assessment of risk for a suicide attempt among individuals who report suicidal ideation and addresses prior discordant findings by clarifying the association between neuroticism and attempted suicide.

  3. Clarifying the Role of Neuroticism in Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempt among Women with Major Depressive Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Rappaport, Lance M; Flint, Jonathan; Kendler, Kenneth S

    2017-01-01

    Background Prior research consistently demonstrates that neuroticism increases risk for suicidal ideation, but the association between neuroticism and suicidal behavior has been inconsistent. Whereas neuroticism is recommended as an endophenotype for suicidality, the association of neuroticism with attempted suicide warrants clarification. In particular, prior research has not distinguished between correlates of attempted suicide, correlates of suicidal ideation, and correlates of comorbid psychopathology. Methods The present study used the CONVERGE study, a sample of 5,864 women with major depressive disorder and 5,783 women without major depressive disorder throughout China. Diagnoses, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Neuroticism was assessed with the neuroticism portion of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Results Results replicate prior findings on the correlates of suicidal ideation, particularly elevated neuroticism among individuals who report prior suicidal ideation. Moreover, as compared to individuals who reported having experienced only suicidal ideation, neuroticism was associated with decreased likelihood of having attempted suicide. Conclusions The association of neuroticism with suicidality is more complicated than has been previously described. Whereas neuroticism increases risk for suicidal ideation, neuroticism may decrease risk for a suicide attempt among individuals with suicidal ideation. These results have implications for the assessment of risk for a suicide attempt among individuals who report suicidal ideation and addresses prior discordant findings by clarifying the association between neuroticism and attempted suicide. PMID:28397619

  4. Sex differences in personality traits and gender-related occupational preferences across 53 nations: testing evolutionary and social-environmental theories.

    PubMed

    Lippa, Richard A

    2010-06-01

    Using data from over 200,000 participants from 53 nations, I examined the cross-cultural consistency of sex differences for four traits: extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and male-versus-female-typical occupational preferences. Across nations, men and women differed significantly on all four traits (mean ds = -.15, -.56, -.41, and 1.40, respectively, with negative values indicating women scoring higher). The strongest evidence for sex differences in SDs was for extraversion (women more variable) and for agreeableness (men more variable). United Nations indices of gender equality and economic development were associated with larger sex differences in agreeableness, but not with sex differences in other traits. Gender equality and economic development were negatively associated with mean national levels of neuroticism, suggesting that economic stress was associated with higher neuroticism. Regression analyses explored the power of sex, gender equality, and their interaction to predict men's and women's 106 national trait means for each of the four traits. Only sex predicted means for all four traits, and sex predicted trait means much more strongly than did gender equality or the interaction between sex and gender equality. These results suggest that biological factors may contribute to sex differences in personality and that culture plays a negligible to small role in moderating sex differences in personality.

  5. Personality and medication non-adherence among older adults enrolled in a six-year trial

    PubMed Central

    Jerant, Anthony; Chapman, Benjamin; Duberstein, Paul; Robbins, John; Franks, Peter

    2011-01-01

    Objectives Personality factors parsimoniously capture the variation in dispositional characteristics that affect behaviours, but their value in predicting medication non-adherence is unclear. We investigated the relationship between five-factor model personality factors (Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Openness) and medication non-adherence among older participants during a six-year randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT). Design Observational cohort data from 771 subjects aged ≥72 years enrolled in the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory study, a RCT of Ginkgo biloba for prevention of dementia. Methods Random effects logistic regression analyses examined effects of NEO Five-Factor Inventory scores on medication non-adherence, determined via pill counts every 6 months (median follow-up 6.1 years) and defined as taking <80% of prescribed pills. Analyses adjusted for covariates linked with non-adherence in prior studies. Results Each 5 year increment in participant age was associated with a 6.7% greater probability of non-adherence (95% confidence interval, CI [2.4, 11.0]). Neuroticism was the only personality factor associated with non-adherence: a 1 SD increase was associated with a 3.8% increase in the probability of non-adherence (95% CI [0.4, 7.2]). Lower cognitive function was also associated with non-adherence: a 1 SD decrease in mental status exam score was associated with a 3.0% increase in the probability of non-adherence (95% CI [0.2, 5.9]). Conclusions Neuroticism was associated with medication non-adherence over 6 years of follow-up in a large sample of older RCT participants. Personality measurement in clinical and research settings might help to identify and guide interventions for older adults at risk for medication non-adherence. PMID:21226789

  6. Personality and physical functioning among older adults: the moderating role of education.

    PubMed

    Jaconelli, Alban; Stephan, Yannick; Canada, Brice; Chapman, Benjamin P

    2013-07-01

    Drawing upon a vulnerability model, this study tested whether low educational level would amplify the negative contribution of risky personality traits, such as high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, on older adults physical functioning. Five hundred and thirteen French-speaking community-dwelling older adults aged 60-91 years (mean age = 66.37, SD = 5.32) completed measures of physical functioning, education, personality traits, chronic conditions, and demographic variables. Results revealed that extraversion and conscientiousness were positively associated with physical functioning, whereas neuroticism was a negative predictor, beyond demographics, chronic conditions, and education. The negative relationship between neuroticism and physical functioning was stronger among individuals with low educational level and was nonsignificant among older people with higher level of education. This study is the first to support a vulnerability model, which entails an amplification of neuroticism risk at low education, but a diminishment of neuroticism risk for activity limitations at high education. As a whole, it appears that a focus on either personality or education without taking into account each other provides only a partial account of the predictors of basic daily physical activities in old age.

  7. Neuroticism as Distancing: Perceptual Sources of Evidence

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Tianwei; Ode, Scott; Moeller, Sara K.; Robinson, Michael D.

    2013-01-01

    Several theories and self-reported sources of data link individual differences in negative affectivity to avoidance motivation. Chronic avoidance motivation, through repeated practice, may result in a relatively cognitive distance-enhancing dynamic whereby events and stimuli are perceived as further away from the self, even when they are not threatening. Such predictions are novel, but follow from cybernetic theories of self-regulation. In five studies (total N = 463), relations of this type were investigated. Study 1 presented participants with phrases that were ambiguous and found that trait negative affect predicted phrase interpretation in a distance-enhancing temporal direction. Study 2 replicated this effect across a systematic manipulation of event valence. Study 3 asked individuals to estimate the size of words and found that individuals higher in neuroticism generally perceived words to be smaller than did individuals lower in neuroticism. In Study 4, people high (but not low) in neuroticism perceived words to be shrinking faster than they were growing. In Study 5, greater perceptual distancing, in a font size estimation task, predicted more adverse reactions to negative events in daily life. Although normative effects varied across studies, consistent support for a chronic distancing perspective of individual differences in negative affectivity was found. PMID:23527850

  8. Neuroticism as distancing: perceptual sources of evidence.

    PubMed

    Liu, Tianwei; Ode, Scott; Moeller, Sara K; Robinson, Michael D

    2013-05-01

    Several theories and self-reported sources of data link individual differences in negative affectivity to avoidance motivation. Chronic avoidance motivation, through repeated practice, may result in a relatively cognitive distance-enhancing dynamic whereby events and stimuli are perceived as further away from the self, even when they are not threatening. Such predictions are novel but follow from cybernetic theories of self-regulation. In 5 studies (total N = 463), relations of this type were investigated. Study 1 presented participants with phrases that were ambiguous and found that trait negative affect predicted phrase interpretation in a distance-enhancing temporal direction. Study 2 replicated this effect across a systematic manipulation of event valence. Study 3 asked individuals to estimate the size of words and found that individuals higher in neuroticism generally perceived words to be smaller than did individuals lower in neuroticism. In Study 4, people high (but not low) in neuroticism perceived words to be shrinking faster than they were growing. In Study 5, greater perceptual distancing, in a font size estimation task, predicted more adverse reactions to negative events in daily life. Although normative effects varied across studies, consistent support for a chronic distancing perspective of individual differences in negative affectivity was found. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

  9. Student-teacher relationship quality and academic adjustment in upper elementary school: the role of student personality.

    PubMed

    Zee, Marjolein; Koomen, Helma M Y; Van der Veen, Ineke

    2013-08-01

    This study tested a theoretical model considering students' personality traits as predictors of student-teacher relationship quality (closeness, conflict, and dependency), the effects of student-teacher relationship quality on students' math and reading achievement, and the mediating role of students' motivational beliefs on the association between student-teacher relationship quality and achievement in upper elementary school. Surveys and tests were conducted among a nationally representative Dutch sample of 8545 sixth-grade students and their teachers in 395 schools. Structural equation models were used to test direct and indirect effects. Support was found for a model that identified conscientiousness and agreeableness as predictors of close, nonconflictual relationships, and neuroticism as a predictor of dependent and conflictual relationships. Extraversion was associated with higher levels of closeness and conflict, and autonomy was only associated with lower levels of dependency. Students' motivational beliefs mediated the effects of dependency and student-reported closeness on reading and math achievement. Copyright © 2013 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Borderline personality disorder traits and their relationship with dimensions of normative personality: a web-based cohort and twin study

    PubMed Central

    Kendler, K. S.; Myers, J.; Reichborn-Kjennerud, T.

    2011-01-01

    Objective To describe the structure of genetic and environmental risk factors for four dimensions of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and to understand the source of resemblance of these dimensions and normal personality. Method A web-based sample (n = 44,112 including 542 twin pairs) completed items from 4 scales of the Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology Basic Questionnaire and the Big Five Inventory. Results A one-factor common pathway model best fits the 4 BPD scales producing a highly heritable latent liability (heritability = 60%) and strong loadings on all 4 dimensions. Affective instability had the lowest trait-specific genetic loading, suggesting that it was a core feature of BPD. A complex pattern of genetic and environmental associations was found between the big five personality traits and BPD dimensions. The strongest genetic correlations with the BPD traits were generally seen for neuroticism (positive), followed by conscientiousness and agreeableness, both negative. Conclusion In the general population, these four BPD dimensions reflect one underlying highly heritable factor. The association between normative personality and dimensions of BPD is complex with high degrees of genetic correlation. PMID:21198457

  11. Coping, stress, and personality in Spanish nursing students: A longitudinal study.

    PubMed

    Fornés-Vives, Joana; Garcia-Banda, Gloria; Frias-Navarro, Dolores; Rosales-Viladrich, Gerard

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the dominant stress coping style in nursing students, its relationships with stressful life events and personality traits, and the students' changes during their academic training. A non-experimental two-wave longitudinal design was carried out in 199 nursing students recruited from three Spanish nursing schools. The Stressful Life Events Scale, NEO-FFI, and COPE questionnaire were administered at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of their nursing studies. Descriptive statistics, Anova(s), NPar tests, and Pearson correlations were carried out. Results show that nursing students' dominant coping style was emotion-focused coping, both at T1 and T2. Highly significant correlations between emotional coping and the neuroticism trait were found. Coping, stress, and personality changed positively during the training program. At T2, the use of problem-focused strategies increased, and participants became more extroverted, agreeable, and conscientious. Coping and personality changes experienced by nursing students throughout their degree program seem to mirror the professional competences needed by future licensed nurses. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. The relation of rational and experiential information processing styles to personality, basic beliefs, and the ratio-bias phenomenon.

    PubMed

    Pacini, R; Epstein, S

    1999-06-01

    A new version of the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI), which measures rational and experiential thinking styles and includes subscales of self-reported ability and engagement, was examined in two studies. In Study 1, the two main scales were independent, and they and their subscales exhibited discriminant validity and contributed to the prediction of a variety of measures beyond the contribution of the Big Five scales. A rational thinking style was most strongly and directly related to Ego Strength, Openness, Conscientiousness, and favorable basic beliefs about the self and the world, and it was most strongly inversely related to Neuroticism and Conservatism. An experiential thinking style was most strongly directly related to Extraversion, Agreeableness, Favorable Relationships Beliefs, and Emotional Expressivity, and it was most strongly inversely related to Categorical Thinking, Distrust of Others, and Intolerance. In Study 2, a rational thinking style was inversely related and an experiential thinking style was unrelated to nonoptimal responses in a game of chance. It was concluded that the new REI is a significant improvement over the previous version and measures unique aspects of personality.

  13. Five factor model personality traits relate to adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder but not to their distinct neurocognitive profiles.

    PubMed

    Van Dijk, Fiona E; Mostert, Jeannette; Glennon, Jeffrey; Onnink, Marten; Dammers, Janneke; Vasquez, Alejandro Arias; Kan, Cornelis; Verkes, Robbert Jan; Hoogman, Martine; Franke, Barbara; Buitelaar, Jan K

    2017-12-01

    Deficits in multiple neuropsychological domains and specific personality profiles have been observed in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study we investigated whether personality traits are related to neurocognitive profiles in adults with ADHD. Neuropsychological performance and Five Factor Model (FFM) personality traits were measured in adults with ADHD (n = 133) and healthy controls (n = 132). Three neuropsychological profiles, derived from previous community detection analyses, were investigated for personality trait differences. Irrespective of cognitive profile, participants with ADHD showed significantly higher Neuroticism and lower Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness than healthy controls. Only the FFM personality factor Openness differed significantly between the three profiles. Higher Openness was more common in those with aberrant attention and inhibition than those with increased delay discounting and atypical working memory / verbal fluency. The results suggest that the personality trait Openness, but not any other FFM factor, is linked to neurocognitive profiles in ADHD. ADHD symptoms rather than profiles of cognitive impairment have associations with personality traits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. An Alternative to the Search for Single Polymorphisms: Toward Molecular Personality Scales for the Five-Factor Model

    PubMed Central

    McCrae, Robert R.; Scally, Matthew; Terracciano, Antonio; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.; Costa, Paul T.

    2011-01-01

    There is growing evidence that personality traits are affected by many genes, all of which have very small effects. As an alternative to the largely-unsuccessful search for individual polymorphisms associated with personality traits, we identified large sets of potentially related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and summed them to form molecular personality scales (MPSs) with from 4 to 2,497 SNPs. Scales were derived from two-thirds of a large (N = 3,972) sample of individuals from Sardinia who completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and were assessed in a genome-wide association scan. When MPSs were correlated with the phenotype in the remaining third of the sample, very small but significant associations were found for four of the five personality factors when the longest scales were examined. These data suggest that MPSs for Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness (but not Extraversion) contain genetic information that can be refined in future studies, and the procedures described here should be applicable to other quantitative traits. PMID:21114353

  15. The big five personality factors as predictors of driving status in older adults.

    PubMed

    Gadbois, Emily A; Dugan, Elizabeth

    2015-02-01

    Although factors including cognitive and health status have been associated with driving cessation in older adults, the role of psychosocial variables is not well studied. Previous research on young adult drivers has suggested that personality may be related to driving behavior, but this study is among the first to explore the relationship between driving status and the Big Five Model of personality for older adults. Data are from the Health and Retirement Study (2008 wave, n = 4,028). Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted. Neuroticism (β = -0.4511, p < .001) and agreeableness (β = -0.5058, p < .001) were associated with decreased likelihood of driving; extraversion (β = 0.4588, p < .001), openness (β = 0.5903, p < .001), and conscientiousness (β = 0.4077, p < .001) were associated with increased likelihood of driving, although results were partially mediated by including known risk factors. People who limited their driving to nearby locations were the most different from those who no longer drove. Personality adds a unique contribution to the prediction of late-life driving status. © The Author(s) 2014.

  16. Five Factor Model personality disorder scales: An introduction to a special section on assessment of maladaptive variants of the five factor model.

    PubMed

    Bagby, R Michael; Widiger, Thomas A

    2018-01-01

    The Five-Factor Model (FFM) is a dimensional model of general personality structure, consisting of the domains of neuroticism (or emotional instability), extraversion versus introversion, openness (or unconventionality), agreeableness versus antagonism, and conscientiousness (or constraint). The FFM is arguably the most commonly researched dimensional model of general personality structure. However, a notable limitation of existing measures of the FFM has been a lack of coverage of its maladaptive variants. A series of self-report inventories has been developed to assess for the maladaptive personality traits that define Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fifth edition; DSM-5) Section II personality disorders (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) from the perspective of the FFM. In this paper, we provide an introduction to this Special Section, presenting the rationale and empirical support for these measures and placing them in the historical context of the recent revision to the APA diagnostic manual. This introduction is followed by 5 papers that provide further empirical support for these measures and address current issues within the personality assessment literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. "A Match Made...Online?" The Effects of User-Generated Online Dater Profile Types (Free-Spirited Versus Uptight) on Other Users' Perception of Trustworthiness, Interpersonal Attraction, and Personality.

    PubMed

    Jin, Seunga Venus; Martin, Cassie

    2015-06-01

    This study tested the effects of an online dater's profile type (open/free-spirited vs. traditional/uptight) on people's perception of the dater's trustworthiness, interpersonal attraction, and Big Five personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion). Interpersonal deception theory, theories of attraction, and source credibility model inform this research, providing a theoretical foundation for the proposed research questions and hypothesis. This research employed a simple two-group comparison experiment (open/free-spirited dater profile vs. traditional/uptight dater profile). Participants were randomly assigned to view either open or traditional profiles, and asked about their perception of the target dater. Results indicated a significant causal effect of user-generated online dater profile types on the dependent variables (perceived trustworthiness, interpersonal attraction, and Big Five personality traits) as well as a significant mediating effect of perceived trustworthiness. This study provided unique and necessary information on self-presentation and other perception in the online dating context, with the aim of helping theorists, online daters, and managers of online dating sites further their understandings of this novel and exciting romantic frontier.

  18. A Comparison of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Scales

    PubMed Central

    Samuel, Douglas B.; Widiger, Thomas A.

    2010-01-01

    The current study utilized a large undergraduate sample (n = 536), oversampled for DSM-IV-TR obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) pathology, to compare eight self-report measures of OCPD. No prior study has compared more than three measures and the results indicated that the scales had only moderate convergent validity. We also went beyond the existing literature to compare these scales to two external reference points: Their relationships with a well established measure of the five-factor model of personality (FFM) and clinicians' ratings of their coverage of the DSM-IV-TR criterion set. When the FFM was used as a point of comparison the results suggested important differences among the measures with respect to their divergent representation of conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness. Additionally, an analysis of the construct coverage indicated that the measures also varied in terms of their representation of particular diagnostic criteria. For example, while some scales contained items distributed across the diagnostic criteria, others were concentrated more heavily on particular features of the DSM-IV-TR disorder. PMID:20408023

  19. Who pays the price for high neuroticism? Moderators of longitudinal risks for depression and anxiety.

    PubMed

    Vittengl, J R

    2017-07-01

    High neuroticism is a well-established risk for present and future depression and anxiety, as well as an emerging target for treatment and prevention. The current analyses tested the hypothesis that physical, social and socio-economic disadvantages each amplify risks from high neuroticism for longitudinal increases in depression and anxiety symptoms. A national sample of adults (n = 7108) provided structured interview and questionnaire data in the Midlife Development in the United States Survey. Subsamples were reassessed roughly 9 and 18 years later. Time-lagged multilevel models predicted changes in depression and anxiety symptom intensity across survey waves. High neuroticism predicted increases in a depression/anxiety symptom composite across retest intervals. Three disadvantage dimensions - physical limitations (e.g. chronic illness, impaired functioning), social problems (e.g. less social support, more social strain) and low socio-economic status (e.g. less education, lower income) - each moderated risks from high neuroticism for increases in depression and anxiety symptoms. Collectively, high scores on the three disadvantage dimensions amplified symptom increases attributable to high neuroticism by 0.67 standard deviations. In contrast, neuroticism was not a significant risk for increases in symptoms among participants with few physical limitations, few social problems or high socio-economic status. Risks from high neuroticism are not shared equally among adults in the USA. Interventions preventing or treating depression or anxiety via neuroticism could be targeted toward vulnerable subpopulations with physical, social or socio-economic disadvantages. Moreover, decreasing these disadvantages may reduce mental health risks from neuroticism.

  20. Personality traits and leptin.

    PubMed

    Sutin, Angelina R; Zonderman, Alan B; Uda, Manuela; Deiana, Barbara; Taub, Dennis D; Longo, Dan L; Ferrucci, Luigi; Schlessinger, David; Cucca, Francesco; Terracciano, Antonio

    2013-06-01

    Personality traits related to high neuroticism and low conscientiousness are consistently associated with obesity. Hormones implicated in appetite and metabolism, such as leptin, may also be related to personality and may contribute to the association between these traits and obesity. The present research examined the association between leptin and Five Factor Model personality traits. A total of 5214 participants (58% women; mean [standard deviation] age = 44.42 [15.93] years; range, 18-94 years) from the SardiNIA project completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory, a comprehensive measure of personality traits, and their blood samples were assayed for leptin. As expected, lower conscientiousness was associated with higher circulating levels of leptin (r = -0.05, p < .001), even after controlling for body mass index, waist circumference, or inflammatory markers (r = -0.05, p < .001). Neuroticism, in contrast, was unrelated to leptin (r = 0.01, p = .31). Individuals who are impulsive and lack discipline (low conscientiousness) may develop leptin resistance, which could be one factor that contributes to obesity, whereas the relation between a proneness to anxiety and depression (high neuroticism) and obesity may be mediated through other physiological and/or behavioral pathways.

  1. Investigating the Goldilocks Hypothesis: The Non-Linear Impact of Positive Trait Change on Well-Being

    PubMed Central

    Martin, Chris C.; Keyes, Corey L. M.

    2015-01-01

    This paper attempts to reconcile two perspectives on the impact of positive trait change. The first perspective views positive trait change as salubrious because it reflects the process of self-enhancement, whereas the second perspective views positive change as costly because it disrupts the self-verification process. We propose that benefits and costs accrue at discrete rates, such that moderate positive trait change is more beneficial than too little and too much positive change. This constitutes a Goldilocks hypothesis. Using the MIDUS longitudinal dataset (N = 1,725) we test this hypothesis on four traits, namely, social extraversion, agentic extraversion (agency), conscientiousness, and neuroticism. The Goldilocks hypothesis was supported for social extraversion, agentic extraversion (agency), and conscientiousness. Reduction in neuroticism seemed uniformly predictive of higher well-being. Thus, not all amounts of positive trait change are beneficial. While we find no evidence for a limit to the benefits of reduced neuroticism, there is a “just right” amount of positive change in extraversion and conscientiousness that results in the highest level of well-being. Our findings suggest that non-monotonic models may be more valid in investigations of personality change and well-being. PMID:26161648

  2. Positive attitude towards life and emotional expression as personality phenotypes for centenarians

    PubMed Central

    Kato, Kaori; Zweig, Richard; Barzilai, Nir; Atzmon, Gil

    2012-01-01

    Centenarians have been reported to share particular personality traits including low neuroticism and high extraversion and conscientiousness. Since these traits have moderate to high heritability and are associated with various health outcomes, personality appears linked to bio-genetic mechanisms which may contribute to exceptional longevity. Therefore, the present study sought to detect genetically-based personality phenotypes in a genetically homogeneous sample of centenarians through developing and examining psychometric properties of a brief measure of the personality of centenarians, the Personality Outlook Profile Scale (POPS). The results generated two personality characteristics/domains, Positive Attitude Towards Life (PATL: optimism, easygoing, laughter, and introversion/outgoing) and Emotional Expression (EE: expressing emotions openly and not bottling up emotions). These domains demonstrated acceptable concurrent validity with two established personality measures, the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and Life Orientation Test-Revised. Additionally, centenarians in both groups had lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness than the US adult population. Findings suggest that the POPS is a psychometrically sound measure of personality in centenarians and capture personality aspects of extraversion, neuroticism, and conscientiousness, as well as dispositional optimism which may contribute to successful aging. PMID:22626632

  3. Attitudes towards conscientious objection among community pharmacists in Poland.

    PubMed

    Piecuch, Anna; Gryka, Malwina; Kozłowska-Wojciechowska, Małgorzata

    2014-04-01

    The European Council Resolution 1763 (2010), ‘‘The right to conscientious objection in lawful medical care’’, provoked a discussion among Polish pharmacists on the necessity for granting them the right to refuse to dispense medicinal products which invoke conscientious objection. To explore attitudes of Polish pharmacists towards the conscience clause. Pharmacies with public e-mail addresses in various parts of Poland (Lower Silesia Province, Mazovia Province, Kuyavia-Pomerania Province, and West Pomeranian Province). An online survey questionnaire addressed to 1,454 pharmacies. The participants were asked 8 questions,including a question addressed only to pharmacy managers and owners. Attitudes towards the right to conscientious objection for pharmacists. Ultimately, responses of 126 pharmacists (83 women, 43 men, average age-39 years of age) were taken into consideration. Most participants (92 %) have never refused to fill a prescription due to their beliefs; however, 15 % of participants state that if the conscience clause were legally sanctioned, they would exercise this right. Most participants(73 %) think that pharmacists should not have the right to conscientious objection. Almost half of participants who support implementation of the conscience clause would grant this right to pharmacists on a conditional basis, if the pharmacists were obliged to present other real options to the patient about obtaining a specific product. Pharmacists are rather reluctant to the idea of implementing the conscience clause, but despite a clear majority of its opponents, there seems to be a necessity for introducing such a regulation.

  4. Contextualizing individual differences in error monitoring: Links with impulsivity, negative affect, and conscientiousness.

    PubMed

    Hill, Kaylin E; Samuel, Douglas B; Foti, Dan

    2016-08-01

    The error-related negativity (ERN) is a neural measure of error processing that has been implicated as a neurobehavioral trait and has transdiagnostic links with psychopathology. Few studies, however, have contextualized this traitlike component with regard to dimensions of personality that, as intermediate constructs, may aid in contextualizing links with psychopathology. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the interrelationships between error monitoring and dimensions of personality within a large adult sample (N = 208). Building on previous research, we found that the ERN relates to a combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness. At low levels of conscientiousness, negative urgency (i.e., impulsivity in the context of negative affect) predicted an increased ERN; at high levels of conscientiousness, the effect of negative urgency was not significant. This relationship was driven specifically by the conscientiousness facets of competence, order, and deliberation. Links between personality measures and error positivity amplitude were weaker and nonsignificant. Post-error slowing was also related to conscientiousness, as well as a different facet of impulsivity: lack of perseverance. These findings suggest that, in the general population, error processing is modulated by the joint combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness (i.e., the profile across traits), perhaps more so than any one dimension alone. This work may inform future research concerning aberrant error processing in clinical populations. © 2016 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

  5. Emotional Complexity and Emotional Well-being in Older Adults: Risks of High Neuroticism

    PubMed Central

    Ready, Rebecca E.; Åkerstedt, Anna M.; Mroczek, Daniel K.

    2011-01-01

    Older and midlife adults tend to report greater emotional complexity and greater emotional wellbeing than younger adults but there is variability in these factors across the lifespan. The current study determined how the personality trait of Neuroticism at baseline predicts emotional complexity and emotional well-being 10 years later; a goal was to determine if Neuroticism is a stronger predictor of these emotion outcomes with increasing age in adulthood. Data were from two waves of the MIDUS projects (N = 1,503; aged 34 to 84). Greater Neuroticism predicted less emotional complexity as indicated by associations between Positive (PA) and Negative Affect (NA), particularly for older participants. Neuroticism predicted lower emotional well-being and this association was stronger for older and midlife than for younger adults. Overall, high Neuroticism may be greater liability for poor emotion outcomes for older and perhaps for midlife adults than for younger persons. Clinical and theoretical implications of this conclusion are discussed. PMID:21854349

  6. NEUROTICISM PROFILE IN CORONARY HEART DISEASE

    PubMed Central

    Bhargava, S. C.; Sharma, S. N.; Agarwal, B. V.

    1980-01-01

    SUMMARY Thirty seven cases of coronary heart disease and 30 normal healthy controls were administered Hindi version of MHQ. The coronary heart disease patients scored significantly higher on total neuroticism, free-floating anxiety and somatic anxiety subscales of MHQ. PMID:22058440

  7. The Curvilinear Relationship between State Neuroticism and Momentary Task Performance

    PubMed Central

    Debusscher, Jonas; Hofmans, Joeri; De Fruyt, Filip

    2014-01-01

    A daily diary and two experience sampling studies were carried out to investigate curvilinearity of the within-person relationship between state neuroticism and task performance, as well as the moderating effects of within-person variation in momentary job demands (i.e., work pressure and task complexity). In one, results showed that under high work pressure, the state neuroticism–task performance relationship was best described by an exponentially decreasing curve, whereas an inverted U-shaped curve was found for tasks low in work pressure, while in another study, a similar trend was visible for task complexity. In the final study, the state neuroticism–momentary task performance relationship was a linear one, and this relationship was moderated by momentary task complexity. Together, results from all three studies showed that it is important to take into account the moderating effects of momentary job demands because within-person variation in job demands affects the way in which state neuroticism relates to momentary levels of task performance. Specifically, we found that experiencing low levels of state neuroticism may be most beneficial in high demanding tasks, whereas more moderate levels of state neuroticism are optimal under low momentary job demands. PMID:25238547

  8. Integrating Community in Culturally Conscientious Classrooms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanchez, Rebecca M.

    2008-01-01

    Developing a trusting community of learners is vital for critical, inclusive, culturally conscientious social studies teaching. Social studies teachers work to create meaningful relationships among their students and themselves. The classroom community serves as a place where students and teachers learn together; disagree with one another; and…

  9. The Big Five Personality Traits and French Firefighter Burnout: The Mediating Role of Achievement Goals.

    PubMed

    Vaulerin, Jérôme; Colson, Serge S; Emile, Mélanie; Scoffier-Mériaux, Stéphanie; d'Arripe-Longueville, Fabienne

    2016-04-01

    We investigated the associations between the Big Five personality traits and occupational burnout in firefighters and the mediating role of achievement goals in this relationship. Two hundred twenty male firefighters from 20 to 62 years old participated and mediation analyses were performed. The results showed that neuroticism was positively related to the three dimensions of burnout, both directly and through mastery avoidance goals. Mastery approach goals mediated the relationships between conscientiousness and physical fatigue and between openness to experience and physical fatigue. Three of the Big Five personality traits, neuroticism, conscientiousness and openness to experience, and achievement goals, may be important factors in understanding and preventing firefighter burnout.

  10. Intelligence and neuroticism in relation to depression and psychological distress: Evidence from two large population cohorts.

    PubMed

    Navrady, L B; Ritchie, S J; Chan, S W Y; Kerr, D M; Adams, M J; Hawkins, E H; Porteous, D; Deary, I J; Gale, C R; Batty, G D; McIntosh, A M

    2017-06-01

    Neuroticism is a risk factor for selected mental and physical illnesses and is inversely associated with intelligence. Intelligence appears to interact with neuroticism and mitigate its detrimental effects on physical health and mortality. However, the inter-relationships of neuroticism and intelligence for major depressive disorder (MDD) and psychological distress has not been well examined. Associations and interactions between neuroticism and general intelligence (g) on MDD, self-reported depression, and psychological distress were examined in two population-based cohorts: Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS:SFHS, n=19,200) and UK Biobank (n=90,529). The Eysenck Personality Scale Short Form-Revised measured neuroticism and g was extracted from multiple cognitive ability tests in each cohort. Family structure was adjusted for in GS:SFHS. Neuroticism was strongly associated with increased risk for depression and higher psychological distress in both samples. Although intelligence conferred no consistent independent effects on depression, it did increase the risk for depression across samples once neuroticism was adjusted for. Results suggest that higher intelligence may ameliorate the association between neuroticism and self-reported depression although no significant interaction was found for clinical MDD. Intelligence was inversely associated with psychological distress across cohorts. A small interaction was found across samples such that lower psychological distress associates with higher intelligence and lower neuroticism, although effect sizes were small. From two large cohort studies, our findings suggest intelligence acts a protective factor in mitigating the effects of neuroticism on psychological distress. Intelligence does not confer protection against diagnosis of depression in those high in neuroticism. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.

  11. Assessing conscientious personality in primary care: an opportunity for prevention and health promotion.

    PubMed

    Israel, Salomon; Moffitt, Terrie E

    2014-05-01

    The articles in this special section bolster the already strong evidence base that personality differences in the trait of conscientiousness predict health. What is now needed is a research agenda for translating documented risk associations between low conscientiousness and poor health into policies and interventions that improve health outcomes for individuals and populations. In this commentary, we highlight 1 such avenue: introducing brief personality assessment into primary care practice. We provide examples of how conscientiousness assessment may help health care professionals get to know their patients better and potentially serve as a guide for more personalized care. We also raise key considerations for implementation research aimed at examining the feasibility and utility of integrating conscientiousness assessment into primary care settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. GWA meta-analysis of personality in Korean cohorts.

    PubMed

    Kim, Bo-Hye; Kim, Han-Na; Roh, Seung-Ju; Lee, Mi Kyeong; Yang, Sarah; Lee, Seung Ku; Sung, Yeon-Ah; Chung, Hye Won; Cho, Nam H; Shin, Chol; Sung, Joohon; Kim, Hyung-Lae

    2015-08-01

    Personality is a determinant of behavior and lifestyle that is associated with health and human diseases. Despite the heritability of personality traits is well established, the understanding of the genetic contribution to personality trait variation is extremely limited. To identify genetic variants associated with each of the five dimensions of personality, we performed a genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis of three cohorts, followed by comparison of a family cohort. Personality traits were measured with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory for the five-factor model (FFM) of personality. We investigated the top five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for each trait, and revealed the most highly association with neuroticism and TACC2 (rs1010657, P=8.79 × 10(-7)), extraversion and PTPN12 (rs12537271, P=1.47 × 10(-7)), openness and IMPAD1 (rs16921695, P=5 × 10(-8)), agreeableness and RPS29 (rs8015351, P=1.27 × 10(-6)) and conscientiousness and LMO4 (rs912765, P=2.91 × 10(-6)). It had no SNP reached the GWA study threshold (P<5 × 10(-8)). When expanded the SNPs up to top 100, the correlation of PTPRD (rs1029089) and agreeableness was confirmed in Healthy Twin cohort with other 13 SNPs. This GWA meta-analysis on FFM personality traits is meaningful as it was the first on a non-Caucasian population targeted to FFM of personality traits.

  13. The relationship between neuroticism, major depressive disorder and comorbid disorders in Chinese women

    PubMed Central

    Xia, Jing; He, Qiang; Li, Yihan; Xie, Dong; Zhu, Suoyu; Chen, Jing; Shen, Yuan; Zhang, Ning; Wei, Yan; Chen, Chunfeng; Shen, Jianhua; Zhang, Yan; Gao, Chengge; Li, Youhui; Ding, Jihong; Shen, Wenwu; Wang, Qian; Cao, Meiyue; Liu, Tiebang; Zhang, Jinbei; Duan, Huijun; Bao, Cheng; Ma, Ping; Zhou, Cong; Luo, Yanfang; Zhang, Fengzhi; Liu, Ying; Li, Yi; Jin, Guixing; Zhang, Yutang; Liang, Wei; Chen, Yunchun; Zhao, Changyin; Li, Haiyan; Chen, Yiping; Shi, Shenxun; Kendler, Kenneth S.; Flint, Jonathan; Wang, Xumei

    2011-01-01

    Objective The personality trait of neuroticism is a risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD), but this relationship has not been demonstrated in clinical samples from Asia. Methods We examined a large-scale clinical study of Chinese Han women with recurrent major depression and community-acquired controls. Results Elevated levels of neuroticism increased the risk for lifetime MDD (with an odds ratio of 1.37 per SD), contributed to the comorbidity of MDD with anxiety disorders, and predicted the onset and severity of MDD. Our findings largely replicate those obtained in clinical populations in Europe and US but differ in two ways: we did not find a relationship between melancholia and neuroticism; we found lower mean scores for neuroticism (3.6 in our community control sample). Limitations Our findings do not apply to MDD in community-acquired samples and may be limited to Han Chinese women. It is not possible to determine whether the association between neuroticism and MDD reflects a causal relationship. Conclusions Neuroticism acts as a risk factor for MDD in Chinese women, as it does in the West and may particularly predispose to comorbidity with anxiety disorders. Cultural factors may have an important effect on its measurement. PMID:21824661

  14. Childhood conscientiousness predicts the social gradient of smoking in adulthood: a life course analysis.

    PubMed

    Pluess, Michael; Bartley, Mel

    2015-04-01

    The social gradient in smoking is well known, with higher rates among those in less advantaged socioeconomic position. Some recent research has reported that personality characteristics partly explain this gradient. However, the majority of existing work is limited by cross-sectional designs unsuitable to determine whether differences in conscientiousness are a predictor or a product of social inequalities. Adopting a life course perspective, we investigated in the current paper the influence of conscientiousness in early and mid-life on the social gradient in smoking and the role of potential confounding factors in a large longitudinal cohort study. Using data from the 1958 National Child Development Study, we examined the extent to which two measures of conscientiousness, one assessed with a personality questionnaire at age 50 and one derived from three related items at 16 years in childhood, explained the social gradient of smoking at age 50 by comparing nested logistic regression models that included social class at birth, cognitive ability, attention and conduct problems at age 7, and educational qualification. Childhood conscientiousness was a significant predictor of smoking at 50 years (OR=0.86, CI (95%) 0.84 to 0.88), explaining 5.0% of the social gradient independent of all other variables. Childhood conscientiousness was a stronger predictor than adult conscientiousness, statistically accounting for the observed direct association of adult conscientiousness with smoking. Conscientiousness may be a predictor rather than a product of social differences in smoking. Inclusion of personality measures and adoption of a life course perspective add significantly to our understanding of health inequalities. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

  15. Serotonergic Genotypes, Neuroticism, and Financial Choices

    PubMed Central

    Kuhnen, Camelia M.; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R.; Knutson, Brian

    2013-01-01

    Life financial outcomes carry a significant heritable component, but the mechanisms by which genes influence financial choices remain unclear. Focusing on a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), we found that individuals possessing the short allele of this gene invested less in equities, were less engaged in actively making investment decisions, and had fewer credit lines. Short allele carriers also showed higher levels of the personality trait neuroticism, despite not differing from others with respect to cognitive skills, education, or wealth. Mediation analysis suggested that the presence of the 5-HTTLPR short allele decreased real life measures of financial risk taking through its influence on neuroticism. These findings show that 5-HTTLPR short allele carriers avoid risky and complex financial choices due to negative emotional reactions, and have implications for understanding and managing individual differences in financial choice. PMID:23382929

  16. Serotonergic genotypes, neuroticism, and financial choices.

    PubMed

    Kuhnen, Camelia M; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R; Knutson, Brian

    2013-01-01

    Life financial outcomes carry a significant heritable component, but the mechanisms by which genes influence financial choices remain unclear. Focusing on a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR), we found that individuals possessing the short allele of this gene invested less in equities, were less engaged in actively making investment decisions, and had fewer credit lines. Short allele carriers also showed higher levels of the personality trait neuroticism, despite not differing from others with respect to cognitive skills, education, or wealth. Mediation analysis suggested that the presence of the 5-HTTLPR short allele decreased real life measures of financial risk taking through its influence on neuroticism. These findings show that 5-HTTLPR short allele carriers avoid risky and complex financial choices due to negative emotional reactions, and have implications for understanding and managing individual differences in financial choice.

  17. The personality trait of neuroticism is strongly associated with long-term morbidity in testicular cancer survivors.

    PubMed

    Grov, Ellen Karine; Fosså, Sophie D; Bremnes, Roy M; Dahl, Olav; Klepp, Olbjørn; Wist, Erik; Dahl, Alv A

    2009-01-01

    Neuroticism is a personality trait expressing nervousness and insecurity. Associations between neuroticism and morbidity in long-term cancer survivors have hardly been explored. The aim of this study was to explore associations between neuroticism and somatic and mental morbidity and lifestyle issues in long-term survivors of testicular cancer (TCSs). All Norwegian TCSs treated between 1980 and 1994 (n = 1 814) were invited to this cross-sectional study. Among them 1 428 (79% response rate) delivered valid data. Neuroticism was self-rated on an abridged version of the Eysenck Personality Inventory. Information was collected by mailed questionnaires. The associations of neuroticism and self-reported variables were tested with multivariate logistic regression analyses. Neuroticism was significantly associated with presence of somatic complaints, reduced physical function, neurotoxic side-effects (tinnitus, hearing impairment, peripheral neuropathy, and Raynaud's Phenomenon), self-esteem, concerns about not being able to father children, sexual problems, hazardous alcohol use, daily use of medication, use of sedatives and hypnotics, recent visits to a general practitioner, and seeing a psychologist/ psychiatrist after ended cancer treatment. Poor self-rated health, higher number of negative life events, economical problems and problems getting loans granted showed significant associations with neuroticism. Neuroticism in TCSs at long-term follow-up is significantly associated with somatic and mental morbidities, and several aspects of unhealthy lifestyle. High levels of neuroticism should be considered in TCSs expressing multiple complaints and concerns at follow-up consultations. Assessment of neuroticism may be clinically important in order to offer appropriate interventions to prevent and manage morbidity in TCSs.

  18. Invoking conscientious objection in reproductive health care: evolving issues in Peru, Mexico and Chile.

    PubMed

    Casas, Lidia

    2009-11-01

    As Latin American countries seek to guarantee sexual and reproductive health and rights, opponents of women's rights and reproductive choice have become more strident in their opposition, and are increasingly claiming conscientious objection to providing these services. Conscientious objection must be seen in the context of the rights and interests at stake, including women's health needs and right to self-determination. An analysis of law and policy on conscientious objection in Peru, Mexico and Chile shows that it is being used to erode women's rights, especially where it is construed to have no limits, as in Peru. Conscientious objection must be distinguished from politically-motivated attempts to undermine the law; otherwise, the still fragile re-democratisation processes underway in Latin America may be placed at risk. True conscientious objection requires that a balance be struck between the rights of the objector and the health rights of patients, in this case women. Health care providers are entitled to their beliefs and to have those beliefs accommodated, but it is neither viable nor ethically acceptable for conscientious objectors to exercise this right without regard for the right to health care of others, or for policy and services to be rendered ineffectual because of individual objectors.

  19. The role of goal-focused leadership in enabling the expression of conscientiousness.

    PubMed

    Colbert, Amy E; Witt, L A

    2009-05-01

    The authors tested the hypothesis that goal-focused leadership enables conscientious workers to perform effectively by helping them to accurately understand organizational goal priorities. Data collected from 162 workers in a private sector document processing organization supported the hypotheses that goal-focused leadership moderates the relationship between conscientiousness and job performance and that person-organization goal congruence mediates this moderated relationship. Specifically, conscientiousness was more strongly positively related to performance among workers who perceived that their supervisors effectively set goals and defined roles, responsibilities, and priorities than among workers who did not perceive this type of goal-focused leadership. (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. A Defence of Conscientious Objection in Medicine: A Reply to Schuklenk and Savulescu.

    PubMed

    Cowley, Christopher

    2016-06-01

    In a recent (2015) Bioethics editorial, Udo Schuklenk argues against allowing Canadian doctors to conscientiously object to any new euthanasia procedures approved by Parliament. In this he follows Julian Savulescu's 2006 BMJ paper which argued for the removal of the conscientious objection clause in the 1967 UK Abortion Act. Both authors advance powerful arguments based on the need for uniformity of service and on analogies with reprehensible kinds of personal exemption. In this article I want to defend the practice of conscientious objection in publicly-funded healthcare systems (such as those of Canada and the UK), at least in the area of abortion and end-of-life care, without entering either of the substantive moral debates about the permissibility of either. My main claim is that Schuklenk and Savulescu have misunderstood the special nature of medicine, and have misunderstood the motivations of the conscientious objectors. However, I acknowledge Schuklenk's point about differential access to lawful services in remote rural areas, and I argue that the health service should expend more to protect conscientious objection while ensuring universal access. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Higher USA State Resident Neuroticism Is Associated With Lower State Volunteering Rates.

    PubMed

    McCann, Stewart J H

    2017-12-01

    Highly neurotic persons have dispositional characteristics that tend to precipitate social anxiety that discourages formal volunteering. With the 50 American states as analytical units, Study 1 found that state resident neuroticism correlated highly ( r = -.55) with state volunteering rates and accounted for another 26.8% of the volunteering rate variance with selected state demographics controlled. Study 2 replicated Study 1 during another period and extended the association to college student, senior, secular, and religious volunteering rates. Study 3 showed state resident percentages engaged in other social behaviors involving more familiarity and fewer demands than formal volunteering related to state volunteering rates but not to neuroticism. In Study 4, state resident neuroticism largely accounted statistically for relations between state volunteering rates and state population density, collectivism, social capital, Republican preference, and well-being. This research is the first to show that state resident neuroticism is a potent predictor of state volunteering rates.

  2. The Validity of Conscientiousness Is Overestimated in the Prediction of Job Performance.

    PubMed

    Kepes, Sven; McDaniel, Michael A

    2015-01-01

    Sensitivity analyses refer to investigations of the degree to which the results of a meta-analysis remain stable when conditions of the data or the analysis change. To the extent that results remain stable, one can refer to them as robust. Sensitivity analyses are rarely conducted in the organizational science literature. Despite conscientiousness being a valued predictor in employment selection, sensitivity analyses have not been conducted with respect to meta-analytic estimates of the correlation (i.e., validity) between conscientiousness and job performance. To address this deficiency, we reanalyzed the largest collection of conscientiousness validity data in the personnel selection literature and conducted a variety of sensitivity analyses. Publication bias analyses demonstrated that the validity of conscientiousness is moderately overestimated (by around 30%; a correlation difference of about .06). The misestimation of the validity appears to be due primarily to suppression of small effects sizes in the journal literature. These inflated validity estimates result in an overestimate of the dollar utility of personnel selection by millions of dollars and should be of considerable concern for organizations. The fields of management and applied psychology seldom conduct sensitivity analyses. Through the use of sensitivity analyses, this paper documents that the existing literature overestimates the validity of conscientiousness in the prediction of job performance. Our data show that effect sizes from journal articles are largely responsible for this overestimation.

  3. Neuroanatomical profiles of personality change in frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

    PubMed

    Mahoney, Colin J; Rohrer, Jonathan D; Omar, Rohani; Rossor, Martin N; Warren, Jason D

    2011-05-01

    The neurobiological basis of personality is poorly understood. Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) frequently presents with complex behavioural changes, and therefore potentially provides a disease model in which to investigate brain substrates of personality. To assess neuroanatomical correlates of personality change in a cohort of individuals with FTLD using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Thirty consecutive individuals fulfilling consensus criteria for FTLD were assessed. Each participant's carer completed a Big Five Inventory (BFI) questionnaire on five key personality traits; for each trait, a change score was derived based on current compared with estimated premorbid characteristics. All participants underwent volumetric brain magnetic resonance imaging. A VBM analysis was implemented regressing change score for each trait against regional grey matter volume across the FTLD group. The FTLD group showed a significant decline in extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness and an increase in neuroticism. Change in particular personality traits was associated with overlapping profiles of grey matter loss in more anterior cortical areas and relative preservation of grey matter in more posterior areas; the most robust neuroanatomical correlate was identified for reduced conscientiousness in the region of the posterior superior temporal gyrus. Quantitative measures of personality change in FTLD can be correlated with changes in regional grey matter. The neuroanatomical profiles for particular personality traits overlap brain circuits previously implicated in aspects of social cognition and suggest that dysfunction at the level of distributed cortical networks underpins personality change in FTLD.

  4. Associations Between Personality Traits and Adherence to Antidepressants Assessed Through Self-Report, Electronic Monitoring, and Pharmacy Dispensing Data: A Pilot Study.

    PubMed

    Wouters, Hans; Amin, Darya F H; Taxis, Katja; Heerdink, Eibert R; Egberts, Antoine C G; Gardarsdottir, Helga

    2016-10-01

    Treatment with antidepressants is often compromised by substantial nonadherence. To understand nonadherence, specific medication-related behaviors and beliefs have been studied, but less is known about broader and temporally stable personality "traits." Furthermore, adherence has often been assessed by a single method. Hence, we investigated associations between the Big Five personality traits and adherence assessed by self-report, electronic drug use monitoring, and dispensing data. Using the Big Five Inventory, we assessed the personality traits "openness," "conscientiousness," "extraversion," "agreeableness," and "neuroticism" of patients treated with antidepressants who were invited through community pharmacies. Self-reported adherence was assessed with the Medication Adherence Rating Scale (score >24), electronic monitoring with medication event monitoring system (MEMS) devices (therapy days missed ≤ 10% and < 4 consecutive days missed), and dispensing data (medication possession ratio ≥ 80%). One hundred four women and 33 men participated (mean age, 51; standard deviation, 14). Paroxetine was most frequently prescribed (N = 53, 38%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that of the personality traits, the third and fourth quartiles of "conscientiousness" were associated with better self-reported adherence (odds ratio, 3.63; 95% confidence interval, 1.34-9.86 and odds ratio, 2.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-8.08; P ≤ 0.05). No relationships were found between personality traits and adherence assessed through electronic drug use monitoring or dispensing data. We therefore conclude that adherence to antidepressant therapy seems to be largely unrelated to personality traits.

  5. The relationship between agreeableness and the development of the working alliance in patients with borderline personality disorder.

    PubMed

    Hirsh, Jacob B; Quilty, Lena C; Bagby, R Michael; McMain, Shelley F

    2012-08-01

    The working alliance between therapist and patient is an important component of effective interventions for borderline personality disorder (BPD). The current study examines whether client personality affects the development of the working alliance during the treatment of BPD, and whether this influences treatment effectiveness. Data was based on 87 patients with BPD who were participants in a randomized controlled trial comparing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and general psychiatric management. Higher levels of trait Agreeableness were associated with steeper increases in working alliance throughout treatment, but only in the DBT condition. Increases in working alliance were in turn associated with better clinical outcomes. Mediation models revealed a significant indirect path from Agreeableness to better clinical outcomes, mediated through larger improvements in working alliance over time. These results highlight the role that patient personality can play during the therapeutic process, with a specific focus on the importance of Agreeableness for alliance development.

  6. An assessment of relationships between the five-factor personality model and the morphology and function of the stomathognatic system.

    PubMed

    Woźniak, Krzysztof; Teichert, Hubert; Piatkowska, Dagmara; Lipski, Mariusz

    2012-01-01

    The personality as a system of genetically predetermined features is responsible for modifying relations between an individual's genotype and phenotype. The key element linking personality with facial morphology is the muscular system. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between facets of the five-factor personality model (FFM) domains and both the morphology and function of the stomathognatic system. Two hundred volunteers (100 female and 100 male) aged 20 to 25 (mean age: 23.4) underwent anthropometric measurements to calculate the anterior face height ratio N-Sn/Sn-Gn. For cephalometric analysis, standard right-profile images of the face were used. Calibration was performed with a 100-mm metal ruler placed next to each photographed individual. The Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), which includes 240 statements, was used for personality assessment in order to investigate the five main personality domains: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, conscientiousness and six facets within each domain. The results show significant correlations between factors of the personality such as neuroticism (r = 0.3488; p = 0.0000) and extraversion (r = -0.3405; p = 0.0000) and the inclination angle (FH/HOR) as the predictor of the function of the stomathognatic system. Additionally, the correlation analysis revealed a significant positive association between the anterior face height ratio and anxiety (r = 0.3952; p = 0.0000). The results of this study indicate a selective association between personality and both the morphology and function of the stomathognatic system

  7. Neuroticism Increases PTSD Symptom Severity by Amplifying the Emotionality, Rehearsal, and Centrality of Trauma Memories.

    PubMed

    Ogle, Christin M; Siegler, Ilene C; Beckham, Jean C; Rubin, David C

    2017-10-01

    Although it is well established that neuroticism increases the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), little is known about the mechanisms that promote PTSD in individuals with elevated levels of neuroticism. Across two studies, we examined the cognitive-affective processes through which neuroticism leads to greater PTSD symptom severity. Community-dwelling adults with trauma histories varying widely in severity (Study 1) and clinically diagnosed individuals exposed to DSM-IV-TR A1 criterion traumas (Study 2) completed measures of neuroticism, negative affectivity, trauma memory characteristics, and PTSD symptom severity. Longitudinal data in Study 1 showed that individuals with higher scores on two measures of neuroticism assessed approximately three decades apart in young adulthood and midlife reported trauma memories accompanied by more intense physiological reactions, more frequent involuntary rehearsal, and greater perceived centrality to identity in older adulthood. These properties of trauma memories were in turn associated with more severe PTSD symptoms. Study 2 replicated these findings using cross-sectional data from individuals with severe trauma histories and three additional measures of neuroticism. Results suggest that neuroticism leads to PTSD symptoms by magnifying the emotionality, availability, and centrality of trauma memories as proposed in mnemonic models of PTSD. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Traits, States, and Encoding Speed: Support for a Top-Down View of Neuroticism/State Relations

    PubMed Central

    Robinson, Michael D.; Clore, Gerald L.

    2008-01-01

    Recent theories suggest that trait neuroticism gains its pernicious power particularly among individuals less capable of making distinctions concerning present reality. Four studies, involving 272 undergraduates, sought to provide some basic, assessment-related support for such theories in the context of individual differences in choice reaction time, which reflect abilities to make distinctions at encoding. Studies 1–3 focused on somatic symptoms, whereas Study 4 focused on neurotic behaviors and negative affect. As predicted, neuroticism consistently interacted with categorization speed in predicting these dependent measures. Specifically, neuroticism/outcome relations were robust among individuals slow to make distinctions at encoding; by contrast, neuroticism did not predict the dependent measures among individuals fast to make distinctions. Such data reinforce suggestions that neuroticism is particularly pernicious among individuals less capable of making distinctions at encoding. PMID:17214593

  9. Surviving an abusive supervisor: the joint roles of conscientiousness and coping strategies.

    PubMed

    Nandkeolyar, Amit K; Shaffer, Jonathan A; Li, Andrew; Ekkirala, Srinivas; Bagger, Jessica

    2014-01-01

    The present study examines a mediated moderation model of the effects of conscientiousness and coping strategies on the relationship between abusive supervision and employees' job performance. Across 2 studies conducted in India, we found evidence that the relationship between abusive supervision and job performance was weaker when employees were high in conscientiousness. In addition, we found that the use of an avoidance coping strategy facilitated a negative relationship between abusive supervision and performance. Finally, we found that the moderating effects of conscientiousness were mediated by the use of avoidance coping strategies. Our findings contribute to theories of abusive supervision, personality, coping strategies, and job performance. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

  10. Neuroticism as a Moderator of Direct and Mediated Relationships Between Introversion-Extraversion and Well-Being.

    PubMed

    Fadda, Daniela; Scalas, L Francesca

    2016-02-01

    Among personality traits, extraversion has received major theoretical and empirical attention as predictor of subjective well-being (SWB), whereas the role of emotional stability-neuroticism has been partially neglected. The present study aims to study the role of neuroticism in the relationship between introversion-extraversion and SWB. In particular, we explored if the trait of neuroticism moderates the relationships between introversion-extraversion and SWB dimensions (Satisfaction with life, Mastery, Vigour, Social Cheerfulness), directly and by mediation of self-esteem. Indeed, previous studies have suggested that self-esteem is positively associated with high extraversion and low neuroticism and that it positively mediates the relationship between SWB and personality traits in adolescents. For this purpose, a sample of high school students (N = 1173) completed the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Big Five Questionnaire. In a latent variable model, we examined the interaction effects (direct and indirect) of extraversion and neuroticism on SWB dimensions. Our results showed that the nature of differences between introverts and extraverts on SWB could be related to the level of neuroticism in relation to Satisfaction with life. Moreover, self-esteem mediated the relationship between personality traits and SWB. In particular, mediated moderation effect analysis showed that self-esteem mediates completely the relationship between the interaction term (extraversion x neuroticism) and Mastery, and partially the relationship with Satisfaction with life. Moreover, moderated mediation effect analysis showed that high levels of neuroticism moderate the effect of extraversion on Satisfaction with life and Mastery through the mediation of self-esteem. In conclusion, our results suggest that although extraversion has a cardinal role on SWB dimensions related to Vigour and Social Cheerfulness, neuroticism and the mediating role of self

  11. Neuroticism as a Moderator of Direct and Mediated Relationships Between Introversion-Extraversion and Well-Being

    PubMed Central

    Fadda, Daniela; Scalas, L. Francesca

    2016-01-01

    Among personality traits, extraversion has received major theoretical and empirical attention as predictor of subjective well-being (SWB), whereas the role of emotional stability-neuroticism has been partially neglected. The present study aims to study the role of neuroticism in the relationship between introversion-extraversion and SWB. In particular, we explored if the trait of neuroticism moderates the relationships between introversion-extraversion and SWB dimensions (Satisfaction with life, Mastery, Vigour, Social Cheerfulness), directly and by mediation of self-esteem. Indeed, previous studies have suggested that self-esteem is positively associated with high extraversion and low neuroticism and that it positively mediates the relationship between SWB and personality traits in adolescents. For this purpose, a sample of high school students (N = 1173) completed the Oxford Happiness Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Big Five Questionnaire. In a latent variable model, we examined the interaction effects (direct and indirect) of extraversion and neuroticism on SWB dimensions. Our results showed that the nature of differences between introverts and extraverts on SWB could be related to the level of neuroticism in relation to Satisfaction with life. Moreover, self-esteem mediated the relationship between personality traits and SWB. In particular, mediated moderation effect analysis showed that self-esteem mediates completely the relationship between the interaction term (extraversion x neuroticism) and Mastery, and partially the relationship with Satisfaction with life. Moreover, moderated mediation effect analysis showed that high levels of neuroticism moderate the effect of extraversion on Satisfaction with life and Mastery through the mediation of self-esteem. In conclusion, our results suggest that although extraversion has a cardinal role on SWB dimensions related to Vigour and Social Cheerfulness, neuroticism and the mediating role of self

  12. The Validity of Conscientiousness Is Overestimated in the Prediction of Job Performance

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Sensitivity analyses refer to investigations of the degree to which the results of a meta-analysis remain stable when conditions of the data or the analysis change. To the extent that results remain stable, one can refer to them as robust. Sensitivity analyses are rarely conducted in the organizational science literature. Despite conscientiousness being a valued predictor in employment selection, sensitivity analyses have not been conducted with respect to meta-analytic estimates of the correlation (i.e., validity) between conscientiousness and job performance. Methods To address this deficiency, we reanalyzed the largest collection of conscientiousness validity data in the personnel selection literature and conducted a variety of sensitivity analyses. Results Publication bias analyses demonstrated that the validity of conscientiousness is moderately overestimated (by around 30%; a correlation difference of about .06). The misestimation of the validity appears to be due primarily to suppression of small effects sizes in the journal literature. These inflated validity estimates result in an overestimate of the dollar utility of personnel selection by millions of dollars and should be of considerable concern for organizations. Conclusion The fields of management and applied psychology seldom conduct sensitivity analyses. Through the use of sensitivity analyses, this paper documents that the existing literature overestimates the validity of conscientiousness in the prediction of job performance. Our data show that effect sizes from journal articles are largely responsible for this overestimation. PMID:26517553

  13. Personality traits in old age: measurement and rank-order stability and some mean-level change.

    PubMed

    Mõttus, René; Johnson, Wendy; Deary, Ian J

    2012-03-01

    Lothian Birth Cohorts, 1936 and 1921 were used to study the longitudinal comparability of Five-Factor Model (McCrae & John, 1992) personality traits from ages 69 to 72 years and from ages 81 to 87 years, and cross-cohort comparability between ages 69 and 81 years. Personality was measured using the 50-item International Personality Item Pool (Goldberg, 1999). Satisfactory measurement invariance was established across time and cohorts. High rank-order stability was observed in both cohorts. Almost no mean-level change was observed in the younger cohort, whereas Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect declined significantly in the older cohort. The older cohort scored higher on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In these cohorts, individual differences in personality traits continued to be stable even in very old age, mean-level changes accelerated.

  14. Gender Differences in Patterns of Association Between Prosocial Behavior, Personality, and Externalizing Problems

    PubMed Central

    Pursell, Gwen R.; Laursen, Brett; Rubin, Kenneth H.; Booth-LaForce, Cathryn; Rose-Krasnor, Linda

    2008-01-01

    This study examines whether prosocial behavior and personality have independent or overlapping associations with adolescent externalizing problems. A total of 128 female and 103 male early adolescents (M = 13.6 years old) completed personality inventories. Prosocial behavior was assessed by peer nominations (N = 663). Composite aggression and delinquency scores were derived from maternal and self-reports. Path analyses indicated gender differences in patterns of association. For girls, links between prosocial behavior and both aggression and delinquency were fully mediated by agreeableness and partially mediated by conscientiousness. For boys, prosocial behavior, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were independently and negatively associated with aggression and delinquency. The findings suggest that personality and prosocial behavior are uniquely related to boys’ behavior problems but cannot be readily disentangled when it comes to girls’ behavior problems. PMID:18836524

  15. The BMA's guidance on conscientious objection may be contrary to human rights law.

    PubMed

    Adenitire, John Olusegun

    2017-04-01

    It is argued that the current policy of the British Medical Association (BMA) on conscientious objection is not aligned with recent human rights developments. These grant a right to conscientious objection to doctors in many more circumstances than the very few recognised by the BMA. However, this wide-ranging right may be overridden if the refusal to accommodate the conscientious objection is proportionate. It is shown that it is very likely that it is lawful to refuse to accommodate conscientious objections that would result in discrimination of protected groups. It is still uncertain, however, in what particular circumstances the objection may be lawfully refused, if it poses risks to the health and safety of patients. The BMA's policy has not caught up with these human rights developments and ought to be changed. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

  16. Conscientious objection to deceased organ donation by healthcare professionals.

    PubMed

    Shaw, David; Gardiner, Dale; Lewis, Penney; Jansen, Nichon; Wind, Tineke; Samuel, Undine; Georgieva, Denie; Ploeg, Rutger; Broderick, Andrew

    2018-02-01

    In this article, we analyse the potential benefits and disadvantages of permitting healthcare professionals to invoke conscientious objection to deceased organ donation. There is some evidence that permitting doctors and nurses to register objections can ultimately lead to attitudinal change and acceptance of organ donation. However, while there may be grounds for conscientious objection in other cases such as abortion and euthanasia, the life-saving nature of donation and transplantation renders objection in this context more difficult to justify. In general, dialogue between healthcare professionals is a more appropriate solution, and any objections must be justified with a strong rationale in hospitals where such policies are put in place.

  17. Conscientious objection and compromising the patient: Response to Hughes.

    PubMed

    Savulescu, Julian; Schuklenk, Udo

    2018-06-19

    Hughes offers a consequentialist response to our rejection of accommodation of conscientious objection in medicine. We argue here that his compromise proposition has been tried in many jurisdictions and has failed to deliver unimpeded access to care for eligible patients. The compromise position, entailing an accommodation of conscientious objection provided there is unimpeded access, fails to grasp that the objectors are both determined not to provide services they object to as well as to subvert patient access to the objected to services. Unpredictable future developments in drug R&D and resulting treatment and prevention options in medicine make the compromise position unrealistic. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Conscientious objection to deceased organ donation by healthcare professionals

    PubMed Central

    Gardiner, Dale; Jansen, Nichon; Wind, Tineke; Samuel, Undine; Georgieva, Denie; Ploeg, Rutger; Broderick, Andrew

    2017-01-01

    In this article, we analyse the potential benefits and disadvantages of permitting healthcare professionals to invoke conscientious objection to deceased organ donation. There is some evidence that permitting doctors and nurses to register objections can ultimately lead to attitudinal change and acceptance of organ donation. However, while there may be grounds for conscientious objection in other cases such as abortion and euthanasia, the life-saving nature of donation and transplantation renders objection in this context more difficult to justify. In general, dialogue between healthcare professionals is a more appropriate solution, and any objections must be justified with a strong rationale in hospitals where such policies are put in place. PMID:29456600

  19. Personality traits affect teaching performance of attending physicians: results of a multi-center observational study.

    PubMed

    Scheepers, Renée A; Lombarts, Kiki M J M H; van Aken, Marcel A G; Heineman, Maas Jan; Arah, Onyebuchi A

    2014-01-01

    Worldwide, attending physicians train residents to become competent providers of patient care. To assess adequate training, attending physicians are increasingly evaluated on their teaching performance. Research suggests that personality traits affect teaching performance, consistent with studied effects of personality traits on job performance and academic performance in medicine. However, up till date, research in clinical teaching practice did not use quantitative methods and did not account for specialty differences. We empirically studied the relationship of attending physicians' personality traits with their teaching performance across surgical and non-surgical specialties. We conducted a survey across surgical and non-surgical specialties in eighteen medical centers in the Netherlands. Residents evaluated attending physicians' overall teaching performance, as well as the specific domains learning climate, professional attitude, communication, evaluation, and feedback, using the validated 21-item System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities (SETQ). Attending physicians self-evaluated their personality traits on a 5-point scale using the validated 10-item Big Five Inventory (BFI), yielding the Five Factor model: extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, agreeableness and openness. Overall, 622 (77%) attending physicians and 549 (68%) residents participated. Extraversion positively related to overall teaching performance (regression coefficient, B: 0.05, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.10, P = 0.02). Openness was negatively associated with scores on feedback for surgical specialties only (B: -0.10, 95% CI: -0.15 to -0.05, P<0.001) and conscientiousness was positively related to evaluation of residents for non-surgical specialties only (B: 0.13, 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.22, p = 0.01). Extraverted attending physicians were consistently evaluated as better supervisors. Surgical attending physicians who display high levels of openness were evaluated as less adequate feedback

  20. Personality and HIV Disease Progression: Role of NEO-PI-R Openness, Extraversion, and Profiles of Engagement

    PubMed Central

    O'Cleirigh, Conall; Schneiderman, Neil; Weiss, Alexander; Costa, Paul T.

    2008-01-01

    Objective To examine the role of the big five personality domains (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) and their respective facets and profiles on change in CD4 and log HIV-RNA copies/ml (VL) over 4 years. The examination of psychosocial predictors of disease progression in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has focused primarily on depression, coping, and stress, with little attention paid to stable individual differences. Methods A diverse sample of HIV-seropositive patients (n = 104) completed personality assessment (NEO-PI-R), underwent comprehensive psychological assessment and blood samples every 6 months for 4 years. Linear rates of change for CD4 cells and VL were modeled using Hierarchical Linear Modeling controlling for antiretrovirals (time dependent covariate), initial disease status, age, gender, ethnicity, and education. Results Domains that were significantly associated with slower disease progression over 4 years included Openness (CD4, VL), Extraversion (CD4, VL), and Conscientiousness (VL). Facets of the above domains that were significantly related to slower disease progression were assertiveness, positive emotions, and gregariousness (Extraversion); ideas, esthetics (Openness); achievement striving and order (Conscientiousness). In addition, profile analyses suggested personality styles which seem to underscore the importance of remaining engaged (e.g., Creative Interactors (E+O+), Upbeat Optimists (N−E+), Welcomers (E+A+), Go Getters (C+E+), and Directed (N−C+)) had slower disease progression, whereas the “homebody” profile (Low Extraversion-Low Openness) was significantly associated with faster disease progression. Conclusions These results provide good initial evidence of the relationship between personality and disease progression in HIV and suggest protective aspects of profiles of engagement. These finding may help identify those individuals at risk for poorer disease course and specify targets

  1. Assessing Conscientious Personality in Primary Care: An Opportunity for Prevention and Health Promotion

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Israel, Salomon; Moffitt, Terrie E.

    2014-01-01

    The articles in this special section bolster the already strong evidence base that personality differences in the trait of conscientiousness predict health. What is now needed is a research agenda for translating documented risk associations between low conscientiousness and poor health into policies and interventions that improve health outcomes…

  2. The stability of personality traits in individuals with borderline personality disorder

    PubMed Central

    Hopwood, Christopher J.; Newman, Daniel A.; Donnellan, M. Brent; Markowitz, John C.; Grilo, Carlos M.; Sanislow, Charles A.; Ansell, Emily B.; McGlashan, Thomas H.; Skodol, Andrew E.; Shea, M. Tracie; Gunderson, John G.; Zanarini, Mary C.; Morey, Leslie C.

    2012-01-01

    Although stability and pervasive inflexibility are general criteria for DSM-IV personality disorders (PD), borderline PD (BPD) is characterized by instability in several domains including interpersonal behavior, affect, and identity. We hypothesized that such inconsistencies notable in BPD may relate to instability at the level of the basic personality traits that are associated with this disorder. Five types of personality trait stability across 4 assessments over 6 years were compared for BPD patients (N = 130 at first interval) and patients with other PDs (N = 302). Structural stability did not differ across groups. Differential stability tended to be lower for Five Factor Model traits in the BPD group, with the strongest and most consistent effects observed for neuroticism and conscientiousness. Growth curve models suggested that these two traits also showed greater mean-level change, with neuroticism declining faster and conscientiousness increasing faster, in the BPD group. The BPD group was further characterized by greater individual-level instability for neuroticism and conscientiousness in these models. Finally, the BPD group was less stable in terms of the ipsative configuration of FFM facet-level profiles than was the other PD group over time. Results point to the importance of personality trait instability in characterizing BPD. PMID:19899850

  3. Sailing Uncharted Waters: Adolescent Personality Development and Social Relationship Experiences During a Year Abroad.

    PubMed

    Greischel, Henriette; Noack, Peter; Neyer, Franz J

    2016-11-01

    How does spending a year abroad influence the personality and relationship development of adolescents? This question was studied using a prospective control group design comprising 457 sojourners (high school exchange students) and 284 control participants (German adolescents; 73.3 % female; mean age = 15.63, SD = 0.78), all of whom were assessed three times across one academic year. Sojourners demonstrated higher pre-departure levels of Extraversion and Agreeableness as well as lower levels of Neuroticism. Longitudinal results indicated a steeper increase in Openness and Agreeableness trajectories, as well as a buffered increase in Neuroticism for exchange students. As expected, sojourners' social relationships showed high fluctuation, which partially mediated sojourn effects on personality development. The role of international youth mobility for personal and social development in adolescence is discussed.

  4. Personality traits measured at baseline can predict academic performance in upper secondary school three years late.

    PubMed

    Rosander, Pia; Bäckström, Martin

    2014-12-01

    The aim of the present study was to explore the ability of personality to predict academic performance in a longitudinal study of a Swedish upper secondary school sample. Academic performance was assessed throughout a three-year period via final grades from the compulsory school and upper secondary school. The Big Five personality factors (Costa & McCrae, ) - particularly Conscientiousness and Neuroticism - were found to predict overall academic performance, after controlling for general intelligence. Results suggest that Conscientiousness, as measured at the age of 16, can explain change in academic performance at the age of 19. The effect of Neuroticism on Conscientiousness indicates that, as regarding getting good grades, it is better to be a bit neurotic than to be stable. The study extends previous work by assessing the relationship between the Big Five and academic performance over a three-year period. The results offer educators avenues for improving educational achievement. © 2014 Scandinavian Psychological Associations and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Thought Control Ability Is Different from Rumination in Explaining the Association between Neuroticism and Depression: A Three-Study Replication

    PubMed Central

    Lu, Feng-Ying; Yang, Wen-Jing; Zhang, Qing-Lin; Qiu, Jiang

    2017-01-01

    Neuroticism is the most common vulnerability factor of depression. However, the mechanism underlying this vulnerability is still unclear. Previous studies suggested that rumination intensifies the negative effect of neuroticism on depression. However, whether cognitive control could explain the association between neuroticism and depression remains unclear to date. Therefore, this study evaluated the indirect effects of rumination and thought control on the relationship between neuroticism and depression. Seven self-report measures were employed among healthy and main depression disorder (MDD) participants. Three studies were used to examine the hypotheses. Results of the three studies showed significant correlations among neuroticism, rumination, thought control, and depression. Rumination mediated the link between neuroticism and depression among healthy young adults, and this finding replicated previous studies. This study provided new evidence that thought control mediates the association between neuroticism and depression in both healthy and MDD populations. In conclusion, rumination increases neuroticism risk for depression, but high-level thought control decreases the effect of neuroticism on depression. This study may serve as a reference to develop effective and focused interventions for MDD patients. PMID:28620326

  6. Does positivity mediate the relation of extraversion and neuroticism with subjective happiness?

    PubMed

    Lauriola, Marco; Iani, Luca

    2015-01-01

    Recent theories suggest an important role of neuroticism, extraversion, attitudes, and global positive orientations as predictors of subjective happiness. We examined whether positivity mediates the hypothesized relations in a community sample of 504 adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years old (females = 50%). A model with significant paths from neuroticism to subjective happiness, from extraversion and neuroticism to positivity, and from positivity to subjective happiness fitted the data (Satorra-Bentler scaled chi-square (38) = 105.91; Comparative Fit Index = .96; Non-Normed Fit Index = .95; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .060; 90% confidence interval = .046, .073). The percentage of subjective happiness variance accounted for by personality traits was only about 48%, whereas adding positivity as a mediating factor increased the explained amount of subjective happiness to 78%. The mediation model was invariant by age and gender. The results show that the effect of extraversion on happiness was fully mediated by positivity, whereas the effect of neuroticism was only partially mediated. Implications for happiness studies are also discussed.

  7. Does Positivity Mediate the Relation of Extraversion and Neuroticism with Subjective Happiness?

    PubMed Central

    Lauriola, Marco; Iani, Luca

    2015-01-01

    Recent theories suggest an important role of neuroticism, extraversion, attitudes, and global positive orientations as predictors of subjective happiness. We examined whether positivity mediates the hypothesized relations in a community sample of 504 adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years old (females = 50%). A model with significant paths from neuroticism to subjective happiness, from extraversion and neuroticism to positivity, and from positivity to subjective happiness fitted the data (Satorra–Bentler scaled chi-square (38) = 105.91; Comparative Fit Index = .96; Non-Normed Fit Index = .95; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .060; 90% confidence interval = .046, .073). The percentage of subjective happiness variance accounted for by personality traits was only about 48%, whereas adding positivity as a mediating factor increased the explained amount of subjective happiness to 78%. The mediation model was invariant by age and gender. The results show that the effect of extraversion on happiness was fully mediated by positivity, whereas the effect of neuroticism was only partially mediated. Implications for happiness studies are also discussed. PMID:25781887

  8. The relation between schizotypy and early attention to rejecting interactions: The influence of neuroticism

    PubMed Central

    Premkumar, Preethi; Onwumere, Juliana; Albert, Jacobo; Kessel, Dominique; Kumari, Veena; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Carretié, Luis

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objectives: Schizotypy relates to rejection sensitivity (anxiety reflecting an expectancy of social exclusion) and neuroticism (excessive evaluation of negative emotions). Positive schizotypy (e.g., perceptual aberrations and odd beliefs) and negative schizotypy (e.g., social and physical anhedonia) could relate to altered attention to rejection because of neuroticism. Methods: Forty-one healthy individuals were assessed on positive and negative schizotypy and neuroticism, and event-related potentials during rejecting, accepting and neutral scenes. Participants were categorised into high, moderate and low neuroticism groups. Using temporo-spatial principal components analyses, P200 (peak latency =290 ms) and P300 amplitudes (peak latency = 390 ms) were measured, reflecting mobilisation of attention and early attention, respectively. Results: Scalp-level and cortical source analysis revealed elevated fronto-parietal N300/P300 amplitude and P200-related dorsal anterior cingulate current density during rejection than acceptance/neutral scenes. Positive schizotypy related inversely to parietal P200 amplitude during rejection. Negative schizotypy related positively to P200 middle occipital current density. Negative schizotypy related positively to parietal P300, where the association was stronger in high and moderate, than low, neuroticism groups. Conclusions: Positive and negative schizotypy relate divergently to attention to rejection. Positive schizotypy attenuates, but negative schizotypy increases rejection-related mobilisation of attention. Negative schizotypy increases early attention to rejection partly due to elevated neuroticism. PMID:26452584

  9. Freedom of choice in birth, abortion and the place of conscientious objection.

    PubMed

    Kristan, I

    1998-01-01

    The Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia includes two statutes: (a) the freedom to decide about the birth of one's own child (freedom of birth-decision), and (b) the right of conscientious objection, including the right to abortion. This discussion focuses on the principles of "free choice and womens'reproductive freedom". The right of conscientious objection in relation to the right to abortion is also discussed.

  10. Exploring the benefits of conscientiousness: an investigation of the role of daily stressors and health behaviors.

    PubMed

    O'Connor, Daryl B; Conner, Mark; Jones, Fiona; McMillan, Brian; Ferguson, Eamonn

    2009-04-01

    This study investigated the impact of conscientiousness and its facets on health behaviors and daily hassles (stressors) and the moderating effects of conscientiousness on the hassles-health behavior relationship Four hundred and twenty-two employees completed daily diaries over 4 weeks. Day-to-day within-person effects of daily hassles on health behaviors were examined, together with the influence of conscientiousness. Using hierarchical multivariate linear modeling, the results showed that conscientiousness was associated with lower consumption of high-fat snacks and more fruit and higher caffeine intake and smoking (in smokers) across the 28-day study period. Facets of conscientiousness were also found to moderate the effects of daily hassles on vegetable consumption, smoking, and likelihood of exercising each day. Participants with higher levels of order exercised more on days when they experienced daily hassles, whereas participants with lower levels of self-efficacy consumed less vegetables on stressful days. Among smokers, those with higher levels of self-discipline reported smoking more on days when they encountered hassles. These findings indicate that conscientiousness and its facets may influence health status directly via changes in health behaviors and indirectly through influencing stress-health behavior relations.

  11. 32 CFR 1630.16 - Class 1-O: Conscientious objector to all military service.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 32 National Defense 6 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Class 1-O: Conscientious objector to all... SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM CLASSIFICATION RULES § 1630.16 Class 1-O: Conscientious objector to all military... and service in the Armed Forces shall be classified in Class 1-O. (b) Upon the written request of the...

  12. Attachment and alcohol use amongst athletes: the mediating role of conscientiousness and alexithymia.

    PubMed

    Andres, Fanny; Castanier, Carole; Le Scanff, Christine

    2014-02-01

    The present study aims to explore the mediating effects of conscientiousness and alexithymia in the relationship between parental attachment style and alcohol use in a large sample of athletic young people. Participants included 434 French sport sciences students. Alcohol use, parental attachment style, conscientiousness and alexithymia were assessed. The hypotheses were tested by using regression and bootstrapping mediation analyses. Maternal insecure attachment style is positively associated with alcohol use. The current study highlights a multiple pathway in this relationship. The results reveal the mediating effect of low conscientiousness and alexithymia between maternal insecure attachment and alcohol use. Athletes' alcohol use seems to be the result of a complex association of underlying psychological factors. © 2013.

  13. Neuroticism modulates the effects of intranasal vasopressin treatment on the neural response to positive and negative social interactions.

    PubMed

    Feng, Chunliang; DeMarco, Ashley C; Haroon, Ebrahim; Rilling, James K

    2015-07-01

    Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait associated with proneness to feel negative affect. Here we ask how Neuroticism influences the neural response to positive and negative social interactions and how Neuroticism modulates the effect of intranasal oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) on the neural response to social interactions. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 153 male participants were randomized to receive 24 IU intranasal OT, 20 IU AVP or placebo. Afterwards, they were imaged with fMRI while playing an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game. On a different day, subjects completed the NEO personality inventory to measure Neuroticism. Neuroticism was positively correlated with the neural response to negative social interactions in the anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex and with the neural response to positive social interactions in the insula, indicating that Neuroticism modulates neuropsychological processing of both negative and positive social interactions. Neuroticism did not modulate the effect of intranasal OT treatment on the neural response to either positive or negative social interactions. On the other hand, AVP treatment significantly interacted with Neuroticism to modulate the BOLD response to both positive and negative social interactions. Specifically, AVP increased anterior cingulate cortex/medial prefrontal cortex and lateral temporal lobe responses to negative social interactions to a greater extent in participants scoring high rather than low on Neuroticism. AVP also increased the insula response to positive social interactions to a greater extent in participants scoring high rather than low on Neuroticism. These results imply that AVP may increase emotion regulation in response to negative social interactions and the salience of positive social interactions to a greater extent in individuals high compared to low in Neuroticism. The current findings urge caution against uniform clinical application of nonapeptides

  14. General job performance of first-line supervisors: the role of conscientiousness in determining its effects on subordinate exhaustion.

    PubMed

    Perry, Sara Jansen; Rubino, Cristina; Witt, L A

    2011-04-01

    In an integrated test of the job demands-resources model and trait activation theory, we predicted that the general job performance of employees who also hold supervisory roles may act as a demand to subordinates, depending on levels of subordinate conscientiousness. In a sample of 313 customer service call centre employees, we found that high-conscientiousness individuals were more likely to experience emotional exhaustion, and low-conscientiousness individuals were less likely as the general job performance of their supervisor improved. The results were curvilinear, such that high-conscientiousness individuals' exhaustion levelled off with very high supervisor performance (two standard deviations above the mean), and low-conscientiousness individuals' exhaustion levelled off as supervisor performance improved from moderate to high. These findings suggest high-conscientiousness employees may efficiently handle demands presented by a low-performing coworker who is their boss, but when performance expectations are high (i.e. high-performing boss), these achievement-oriented employees may direct their resources (i.e. energy and time) towards performance-related efforts at the expense of their well-being. Conversely, low-conscientiousness employees suffer when paired with a low-performing boss, but benefit from a supervisor who demonstrates at least moderate job performance.

  15. Variation in the stress response between high- and low-neuroticism female undergraduates across the menstrual cycle.

    PubMed

    Liu, Qing; Zhou, Renlai; Oei, Tian P S; Wang, Qingguo; Zhao, Yan; Liu, Yanfeng

    2013-09-01

    This study was undertaken to elucidate possible relationships between menstrual cycle stage, neuroticism and behavioral and physiological responses to a cognitive challenge. The study investigated the differences between high neuroticism and low neuroticism groups across the menstrual cycle (luteal, menstrual and ovulatory stages). The Stroop color-naming task was used as a stressor. During the task, the galvanic skin response (GSR), heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) were simultaneously recorded by a polygraph. The results showed a significant difference in reaction times (RT) on the Stroop task between the high- and low-neuroticism groups during menstruation. However, there were no significant RT differences between groups during the luteal or ovulatory cycle stages. The GSR of the high-neuroticism group during menstruation was significantly lower than it was in the luteal and ovulatory stages. Moreover, during menstruation, the cardiovascular responses (high-frequency HRV (HF) and low-frequency HRV (LF)) and accuracy on the Stroop task were positively correlated, while the correlations between HF, LF and the RT were negative. The results demonstrate that during menstruation, there were consistent variations in female behavior and physiology when facing a cognitive stressor. Specifically, the high-neuroticism group was more sensitive to the stressor than the low neuroticism group, with decreased reaction time on the Stroop task, and increased GSR and HRV.

  16. Influence of personality traits on sexual functioning of patients suffering from schizophrenia or depression.

    PubMed

    Peitl, Marija Vucić; Peitl, Vjekoslav; Pavlović, Eduard; Blazević-Zelić, Sandra; Petrić, Daniela

    2011-09-01

    Aim of this research was to establish effects and influence of personality traits on sexual functioning of schizophrenic and depressive patients, compared to healthy individuals. 300 participants were included in this research. For patients suffering from schizophrenia it was established that the more they are open to experience and the less they are neurotic their sexual drive is stronger. For patients suffering from depression it was established that the more they are open to experience and conscientious and the less they are agreeable their sexual drive is stronger. Furthermore, higher openness is a significant predictor for easier sexual arousal and the more those patients are conscientious and the less they are agreeable easier is for them to achieve orgasms. Personality traits proved to be significant predictors of sexual functioning in schizophrenic and depressive patients, but not in healthy individuals.

  17. Conscientious objection or fear of social stigma and unawareness of ethical obligations.

    PubMed

    Faúndes, Anibal; Duarte, Graciana Alves; Osis, Maria José Duarte

    2013-12-01

    Conscientious objection is a legitimate right of physicians to reject the practice of actions that violate their ethical or moral principles. The application of that principle is being used in many countries as a justification to deny safe abortion care to women who have the legal right to have access to safe termination of pregnancy. The problem is that, often, this concept is abused by physicians who camouflage under the guise of conscientious objection their fear of experiencing discrimination and social stigma if they perform legal abortions. These colleagues seem to ignore the ethical principle that the primary conscientious duty of OB/GYNs is-at all times-to treat, or provide benefit and prevent harm to, the patients for whose care they are responsible. Any conscientious objection to treating a patient is secondary to this primary duty. One of the jobs of the FIGO Working Group for the Prevention of Unsafe Abortion is to change this paradigm and make our colleagues proud of providing legal abortion services that protect women's life and health, and concerned about disrespecting the human rights of women and professional ethical principles. Copyright © 2013 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Extraversion and neuroticism related to the resting-state effective connectivity of amygdala

    PubMed Central

    Pang, Yajing; Cui, Qian; Wang, Yifeng; Chen, Yuyan; Wang, Xiaona; Han, Shaoqiang; Zhang, Zhiqiang; Lu, Guangming; Chen, Huafu

    2016-01-01

    The amygdala plays a key role in emotion processing. Its functional connectivity with other brain regions has been extensively demonstrated to be associated with extraversion and neuroticism. However, how the amygdala affects other regions and is affected by others within these connectivity patterns associated with extraversion and neuroticism remains unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the effective connectivity of the amygdala using Granger causality analysis on the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 70 participants. Results showed that extraversion was positively correlated with the influence from the right inferior occipital gyrus (IOG) to the left amygdala, and from the bilateral IOG to the right amygdala; such result may represent the neural correlates of social interactions in extraverts. Conversely, neuroticism was associated with an increased influence from right amygdala to right middle frontal gyrus and a decreased influence from right precuneus to right amygdala. This influence might affect the modulations of cognitive regulation function and self-referential processes in neurotic individuals. These findings highlight the importance of the causal influences of amygdala in explaining the individual differences in extraversion and neuroticism, and offer further insights into the specific neural networks underlying personality. PMID:27765947

  19. Heritability and Fitness Correlates of Personality in the Ache, a Natural-Fertility Population in Paraguay

    PubMed Central

    Bailey, Drew H.; Walker, Robert S.; Blomquist, Gregory E.; Hill, Kim R.; Hurtado, A. Magdalena; Geary, David C.

    2013-01-01

    The current study assessed the heritability of personality in a traditional natural-fertility population, the Ache of eastern Paraguay. Self-reports (n = 110) and other-reports (n = 66) on the commonly used Big Five Personality Inventory (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness) were collected. Self-reports did not support the Five Factor Model developed with Western samples, and did not correlate with other-reports for three of the five measured personality factors. Heritability was assessed using factors that were consistent across self- and other-reports and factors assessed using other-reports that showed reliabilities similar to those found in Western samples. Analyses of these items in combination with a multi-generation pedigree (n = 2,132) revealed heritability estimates similar to those found in most Western samples, although we were not able to separately estimate the influence of the common environment on these traits. We also assessed relations between personality and reproductive success (RS), allowing for a test of several mechanisms that might be maintaining heritable variation in personality. Phenotypic analyses, based largely on other-reports, revealed that extraverted men had higher RS than other men, but no other dimensions of personality predicted RS in either sex. Mothers with more agreeable children had more children, and parents mated assortatively on personality. Of the evolutionary processes proposed to maintain variation in personality, assortative mating, selective neutrality, and temporal variation in selection pressures received the most support. However, the current study does not rule out other processes affecting the evolution and maintenance of individual differences in human personality. PMID:23527163

  20. Meta-analysis of Genome-wide Association Studies for Neuroticism, and the Polygenic Association With Major Depressive Disorder.

    PubMed

    de Moor, Marleen H M; van den Berg, Stéphanie M; Verweij, Karin J H; Krueger, Robert F; Luciano, Michelle; Arias Vasquez, Alejandro; Matteson, Lindsay K; Derringer, Jaime; Esko, Tõnu; Amin, Najaf; Gordon, Scott D; Hansell, Narelle K; Hart, Amy B; Seppälä, Ilkka; Huffman, Jennifer E; Konte, Bettina; Lahti, Jari; Lee, Minyoung; Miller, Mike; Nutile, Teresa; Tanaka, Toshiko; Teumer, Alexander; Viktorin, Alexander; Wedenoja, Juho; Abecasis, Goncalo R; Adkins, Daniel E; Agrawal, Arpana; Allik, Jüri; Appel, Katja; Bigdeli, Timothy B; Busonero, Fabio; Campbell, Harry; Costa, Paul T; Davey Smith, George; Davies, Gail; de Wit, Harriet; Ding, Jun; Engelhardt, Barbara E; Eriksson, Johan G; Fedko, Iryna O; Ferrucci, Luigi; Franke, Barbara; Giegling, Ina; Grucza, Richard; Hartmann, Annette M; Heath, Andrew C; Heinonen, Kati; Henders, Anjali K; Homuth, Georg; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Iacono, William G; Janzing, Joost; Jokela, Markus; Karlsson, Robert; Kemp, John P; Kirkpatrick, Matthew G; Latvala, Antti; Lehtimäki, Terho; Liewald, David C; Madden, Pamela A F; Magri, Chiara; Magnusson, Patrik K E; Marten, Jonathan; Maschio, Andrea; Medland, Sarah E; Mihailov, Evelin; Milaneschi, Yuri; Montgomery, Grant W; Nauck, Matthias; Ouwens, Klaasjan G; Palotie, Aarno; Pettersson, Erik; Polasek, Ozren; Qian, Yong; Pulkki-Råback, Laura; Raitakari, Olli T; Realo, Anu; Rose, Richard J; Ruggiero, Daniela; Schmidt, Carsten O; Slutske, Wendy S; Sorice, Rossella; Starr, John M; St Pourcain, Beate; Sutin, Angelina R; Timpson, Nicholas J; Trochet, Holly; Vermeulen, Sita; Vuoksimaa, Eero; Widen, Elisabeth; Wouda, Jasper; Wright, Margaret J; Zgaga, Lina; Porteous, David; Minelli, Alessandra; Palmer, Abraham A; Rujescu, Dan; Ciullo, Marina; Hayward, Caroline; Rudan, Igor; Metspalu, Andres; Kaprio, Jaakko; Deary, Ian J; Räikkönen, Katri; Wilson, James F; Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa; Bierut, Laura J; Hettema, John M; Grabe, Hans J; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Evans, David M; Schlessinger, David; Pedersen, Nancy L; Terracciano, Antonio; McGue, Matt; Penninx, Brenda W J H; Martin, Nicholas G; Boomsma, Dorret I

    2015-07-01

    Neuroticism is a pervasive risk factor for psychiatric conditions. It genetically overlaps with major depressive disorder (MDD) and is therefore an important phenotype for psychiatric genetics. The Genetics of Personality Consortium has created a resource for genome-wide association analyses of personality traits in more than 63,000 participants (including MDD cases). To identify genetic variants associated with neuroticism by performing a meta-analysis of genome-wide association results based on 1000 Genomes imputation; to evaluate whether common genetic variants as assessed by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) explain variation in neuroticism by estimating SNP-based heritability; and to examine whether SNPs that predict neuroticism also predict MDD. Genome-wide association meta-analysis of 30 cohorts with genome-wide genotype, personality, and MDD data from the Genetics of Personality Consortium. The study included 63,661 participants from 29 discovery cohorts and 9786 participants from a replication cohort. Participants came from Europe, the United States, or Australia. Analyses were conducted between 2012 and 2014. Neuroticism scores harmonized across all 29 discovery cohorts by item response theory analysis, and clinical MDD case-control status in 2 of the cohorts. A genome-wide significant SNP was found on 3p14 in MAGI1 (rs35855737; P = 9.26 × 10-9 in the discovery meta-analysis). This association was not replicated (P = .32), but the SNP was still genome-wide significant in the meta-analysis of all 30 cohorts (P = 2.38 × 10-8). Common genetic variants explain 15% of the variance in neuroticism. Polygenic scores based on the meta-analysis of neuroticism in 27 cohorts significantly predicted neuroticism (1.09 × 10-12 < P < .05) and MDD (4.02 × 10-9 < P < .05) in the 2 other cohorts. This study identifies a novel locus for neuroticism. The variant is located in a known gene that has been associated with