Cross-sectional age differences in personality: Evidence from nationally representative samples from Switzerland and the United States

Identifying reliable patterns of age differences in personality can help clarify the nature of adult personality development. Previous studies have been limited because many have relied on convenience samples. In this study, we examined age differences in personality in two nationally representative samples, one from Switzerland and one from the United States. The results indicated that Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were positively associated with age, whereas Extraversion was negatively associated with age. However, the magnitude of age differences for Extraversion was much smaller than for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Openness showed a more complex trend such that 30- to 34-year-olds scored lower on Openness than younger age groups, whereas older groups scored somewhere in between. Inconsistent age differences were observed for Neuroticism.     

Characterizing Carver and White’s BIS/BAS subscales using the Five Factor Model of personality

This study examined BIS/BAS scales (Carver & White, 1994) assessment of Gray’s revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory in the light of the Five-Factor Model of personality—assessed via NEO-PI-R domains and facets—in a mixed-gender sample of 329 undergraduates. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a 5-factor solution structure of the BIS/BAS scales, with BIS-scale divided into BIS-Anxiety and BIS-Fear factors, besides the original three BAS factors. BIS-Anxiety was found to represent Gray’s anxiety (high Neuroticism and low Extraversion), being also distinguished from BIS-Fear by high Agreeableness, as expected. Interestingly, Conscientiousness showed divergent relationships to BIS-Anxiety (+) and BIS-Fear (−) as well. It is noteworthy that Agreeableness and Conscientiousness also marked distinct facets of BAS-related activity: distinctions in terms of low vs. high Conscientiousness pointed to differential measure of sensation-seeking and impulsiveness (BAS-Fun Seeking) vs. reward-orientation in goal-directed behavior (BAS-Reward Responsiveness, BAS-Drive), with low Agreeableness additionally emphasizing a competitive interpersonal style for approaching goals (BAS-Drive). Our findings suggest that BAS total scores could be obscuring differential associations at the subscales level, and encourage further research on personality traits underlying each component of BAS activation.     

Gender differences in implicit and explicit personality traits

This article investigates gender differences in implicit and explicit measures of the Big Five traits of personality. In a high-powered study (N = 14,348), we replicated previous research showing that women report higher levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Neuroticism. For implicit measures, gender differences were much smaller for all, and opposite in sign for Extraversion. Somewhat higher levels of implicit Neuroticism and Agreeableness were observed in women, and somewhat higher levels of implicit Extraversion and Openness were observed in men. There was no gender difference in implicit Conscientiousness. A possible explanation is that explicit self-concepts partly reflect social norms and self-expectations about gender roles, while implicit self-concepts may mostly reflect self-related experiences.     

Happiness is a personal(ity) thing: the genetics of personality and well-being in a representative sample.

Subjective well-being is known to be related to personality traits. However, to date, nobody has examined whether personality and subjective well-being share a common genetic structure. We used a representative sample of 973 twin pairs to test the hypothesis that heritable differences in subjective well-being are entirely accounted for by the genetic architecture of the Five-Factor Model's personality domains. Results supported this model. Subjective well-being was accounted for by unique genetic influences from Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, and by a common genetic factor that influenced all five personality domains in the directions of low Neuroticism and high Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. These findings indicate that subjective well-being is linked to personality by common genes and that personality may form an "affective reserve" relevant to set-point maintenance and changes in set point over time.     

Optimism and the Big Five factors of personality: Beyond Neuroticism and Extraversion

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the Big Five factors of personality and dispositional optimism. Data from five samples were collected (Total N = 4332) using three different measures of optimism and five different measures of the Big Five. Results indicated strong positive relationships between optimism and four of the Big Five factors: Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Agreeableness and Conscientiousness explained additional variance in dispositional optimism over and above Neuroticism and Extraversion, providing evidence for the complexity of optimism. The position of optimism in the larger web of human personality constructs is discussed.     

Examining mindfulness and psychological inflexibility within the framework of Big Five personality

Psychological inflexibility and mindfulness represent two constructs that have garnered a great deal of interest in recent years as central components in the conceptualization of many new cognitive and behavioral therapies. Nonetheless, though theoretically related, relatively little is known regarding associations between these two constructs and consensus models of trait personality such as the Big Five. The current study therefore aimed to more fully elucidate associations among these three domains within a relatively large, diverse undergraduate sample (N = 429). Mindfulness was negatively associated with Neuroticism and positively associated with Conscientiousness while psychological inflexibility was positively associated with Neuroticism and negatively associated with Conscientiousness. Further, while Conscientiousness evidenced the strongest contribution to mindfulness, Neuroticism evidenced the strongest contribution to psychological inflexibility. Better elucidating how psychological inflexibility and mindfulness differentially relate to Big Five personality traits expands the nomological network surrounding these constructs and begins to reveal common processes underlying psychopathology and health behaviors.     

The five-factor model of personality and physical inactivity: A meta-analysis of 16 samples

A sedentary lifestyle is harmful for health; personality traits may contribute to physical (in)activity. With participant-level data from 16 samples (N > 125,000), we examined the personality correlates of physical inactivity, frequency of physical activity, and sedentary behavior (in a subset of samples). Lower Neuroticism and higher Conscientiousness were associated with more physical activity and less inactivity and sedentary behavior. Extraversion and Openness were also associated with more physical activity and less inactivity, but these traits were mostly unrelated to specific sedentary behaviors (e.g., TV watching). The results generally did not vary by age or sex. The findings support the notion that the interest, motivational, emotional, and interpersonal processes assessed by five-factor model traits partly shape the individual’s engagement in physical activity.     

Psychopathic Traits in Adolescence and the Five Factor Model of Personality

The present study aimed to expand work on psychopathic traits and the Five Factor Model (FFM; Costa and McCrae 1992). The associations between the three factors of psychopathy and personality traits—assessed by means of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI, Andershed et al. 2002) and the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R; Costa and McCrae 1992)—were explored in a community sample of 152 male adolescents and young adults. The unique relations of each YPI subscale with the NEO domains/facets were examined by computing partial correlations controlling for the scores on the other two YPI psychopathy subscales. The YPI Callous/Unemotional dimension exhibited negative associations with Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness. The YPI Impulsive/Irresponsible factor was positively associated with Extraversion and negatively with Conscientiousness. The YPI Grandiose/Manipulative factor displayed positive associations with Openness and Conscientiousness. We discuss the implications of the differential associations of the three psychopathy factors with the Five Factor domains/facets for theories of the etiology of psychopathy.     

Sensory Processing Sensitivity and its association with personality traits and affect: A meta-analysis

In two Bayesian meta-analyses, we investigated associations between Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) and the Big Five personality traits (MA1) as well as both Positive and Negative Affect (MA2). Moderators were age and the three SPS subscales. In MA1 (8 papers, 6790 subjects), SPS in children correlated with Neuroticism (r = 0.42) but did not with Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness or Conscientiousness. In adults, SPS correlated with Openness (r = 0.14) and Neuroticism (r = 0.40) but did not with Extraversion, Agreeableness or Conscientiousness. In MA2 (19 papers, 5326 subjects), SPS in children correlated with Negative (r = 0.29) and Positive Affect (r = 0.21), but only with Negative Affect (r = 0.34) in adults. Developmental and measurement aspects are discussed.     

Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults

Kinnunen, M.‐L., Metsäpelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Kokko, K., Tolvanen, A., Kinnunen, U., Leppänen, E. & Pulkkinen, L. (2012). Personality profiles and health: Longitudinal evidence among Finnish adults. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 512–522. This study investigates the associations of longitudinal Big Five personality profiles with long‐term health in 304 adults (53% males). Personality traits (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness) were assessed at ages 33, 42, and 50. Subjective (self‐rated health, symptoms, psychological distress) and objective (body mass index, waist‐to‐hip ratio, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides) indicators of health were measured at ages 42 and 50. Five longitudinally stable personality profiles were extracted over 17 years by latent profile analysis. The levels of traits were the same in each profile at each age. Resilient individuals (N = 65; Neuroticism low, other traits high) had the best subjective health and Overcontrolled individuals (N = 40; Neuroticism high, other traits low) the poorest health over eight years. Reserved individuals (N = 25; high Conscientiousness, other traits low), Undercontrolled (N = 41; high Openness and Extraversion, low Conscientiousness), and Ordinary (N = 133; all traits scored medium) individuals were in the middle of these extremes in subjective health. No differences between the profiles were found in the objective indicators of health. Thus, overcontrol and resilience were most discriminative in terms of good health. Moreover, personality profiles revealed associations with health to be more nuanced than simply being composed of single traits. High Extraversion needed to be combined with high Conscientiousness (Resilients) in order to be associated with the best health; high Extraversion with low Conscientiousness (Undercontrolled) was associated with average health; and low Extraversion with high Neuroticism (Overcontrolled) was associated with the poorest health.     

Associations among NEO personality assessments and well-being at midlife: facet-level analyses

The association between well-being and personality was examined in 2,379 middle-aged adults. Measures that parallel C. D. Ryffs (1989) psychological model were selected to assess well-being. The 30 facet scales of the NEO-PI-R were used to measure personality. More than 83% of the facet-well-being correlations within the domains of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness reached statistical significance, whereas, less than half of the correlations within the domains of Agreeableness and Openness were significant. The facets within each domain demonstrated different patterns of associations with the well-being measures, indicating that facet-level assessments yield additional information.     

Religion and the five factor model of personality: An exploratory investigation using a Canadian university sample

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of religion, defined in terms of religious affiliation, religious involvement and religious orientation, to the five factor model of personality as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised using a religiously heterogeneous sample of 1129 Canadian university students. Results indicate that NEO-PI-R Agreeableness and Conscientiousness domains are significantly related to and affected by religion as measured across all three operationalizations of the construct used, though some sex differences were observed. Contrary to expectation, Neuroticism was found to differ as a function of religious affiliation with persons, particularly females, reporting No Religion obtaining significantly higher scores than those persons reporting a formal religious institution for their affiliation. Findings involving Extraversion were also inconsistent with hypotheses; Extraversion did not significantly relate to any form of religion measured. Openness was found to be largely unassociated with religion except for a significant negative correlation with a measure of extrinsic religious orientation. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings in relation to existing literature and Eysenck's hypothesis that religiousness is a function of conditionability and tender-minded attitudes. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also overviewed.     

A multigroup multitrait-multimethod study in two countries supports the validity of a two-factor higher order model of personality

This study examined the factor structure of the Big Five Inventory and tested the hypothesis that the five personality dimensions could be summarized by two higher order factors, namely, plasticity and stability, using multigroup multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analyses. We tested the higher order model in two young adult samples drawn from Germany and Turkey. Adequate inter-rater agreement between self- and informant reports was obtained. Among the models tested, a two-factor model was the most parsimonious model in which the first factor included Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and low Neuroticism; and the second factor included Extraversion and Openness to Experience. Invariance of this model was supported by multiple-group analyses, suggesting a lack of variability across samples.     

From BIS/BAS to the big five

Gray ( 1987 ) proposed two systems that underlie much of our behaviour and personality. One system relates to avoidance or withdrawal behaviour, called the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), whereas the other system relates to approach behaviour, called the Behavioural Approach System (BAS). In two samples, it was investigated whether individual differences in surface of personality as described by the Big Five can be explained by BIS/BAS. Neuroticism and Extraversion could be explained well by BIS/BAS, but also for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness consistent findings were obtained. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional coordination of personality strategies with physical strength and attractiveness: A multi-sample investigation at the HEXACO facet-level

Previous research has supported adaptationist hypotheses pertaining to the functional coordination of personality strategies with phenotypic determinants of bargaining power, such as physical strength and attractiveness. However, prior studies have focused primarily on explaining variation in Extraversion and Emotionality/Neuroticism as broadband traits. The current study synthesizes data from three subject samples (N = 766) to test correlations of physical strength and attractiveness with the HEXACO factors and facets among young adults. Our analyses reveal specific, functionally meaningful, patterns of phenotypic coordination, and thereby help illuminate which facets drive previously documented associations at the factor-level. Among both sexes, strength was an especially important predictor of facets whose secondary loadings place them in the quadrant of factor space defined by high Extraversion (Expressiveness, Liveliness, Social Boldness) and low Emotionality (Fearfulness, Anxiety). Findings bolster the hypothesis that specific personality strategies are coordinated with phenotypic components of bargaining power, and suggest that granular measures of personality (such as facets) may provide more mechanistic and functional insight than broadband trait factors.     

Genetic and environmental structure of adjectives describing the domains of the Big Five Model of personality: A nationwide US twin study

We applied multivariate models specifying genetic and environmental influences on adjectives describing each of the five personality domains specified in the Big Five Model of personality (BFM; Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness). We selected the specific models to partition the observed covariance among the adjectives describing each domain into genetic and environmental components in order to assess the etiologic basis for each domain's phenotypic coherence. The sample on which our analyses were based was part of the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS). It consisted of 315 monozygotic and 275 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs. Results revealed both common and specific genetic and environmental influences for each domain, suggesting that all of the domains are etiologically complex. Models specifying the domains as latent phenotypic constructs fit more poorly than models suggesting more complex structures for all domains except Extraversion and Neuroticism. These results raise questions about the BFM as a coherent model of genetic and environmental influences on personality or, alternatively, about the etiological unity of latent phenotypic personality trait constructs beyond Extraversion and Neuroticism.     

Understanding the dynamic relationships among personality, mood, and job satisfaction: A field experience sampling study

This study investigated the within-individual relationship between mood and job satisfaction, and examined the role of personality characteristics in moderating this relationship. The design of the study involved an experience sampling methodology (ESM); 27 employees completed mood and job satisfaction surveys at four different times during the day for a period of four weeks, resulting in a total of 1907 observations. Results showed that within-individual variance comprised 36% of the total variance in job satisfaction, and mood explained 29% of the within-individual variance in job satisfaction. Second, mood and job satisfaction were related both within and across individuals. Third, two personality traits—Neuroticism and Extraversion—were associated with average levels of mood. Fourth, within-individual variability in mood was significantly related to within-individual variability in job satisfaction, and variability in both mood and job satisfaction was predicted by Neuroticism. Finally, personality impacted the degree of association between mood and job satisfaction within individuals.     

Personality, Meta-Mood Experience, Life Satisfaction, and Anxiety in Australian versus Singaporean Students

This study explores two issues concerning the relationships between personality, meta-mood experience, life satisfaction, and anxiety. First, it explored the incremental value of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience in predicting the three components of meta-mood experience (that is, attention to feelings, emotional clarity, clarity of feelings and mood repair), after controlling for demographic variables across Australia and Singapore. Second, it explored the incremental value of the three meta-mood experience components in predicting life satisfaction and anxiety, after controlling for demographic variables and personality variables across the two countries. One hundred and eighty nine tertiary students from Australia and 243 tertiary students from Singapore participated in this study. First, hierarchical regression analyses for both samples suggested that Agreeableness and Neuroticism are the two most important personality predictors of meta-mood experience, emotional attention, and emotional repair. Second, hierarchical regression analyses for both samples suggested that emotional repair was a significant predictor for life satisfaction and anxiety, even after controlling for demographic variables and personality variables. These results have implications for therapeutic interventions with life satisfaction versus anxiety. Funding for this research is facilitated partially by a research grant from the National Institute of Education.     

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

ABSTRACT 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.     

Emotional Experience and Its Relation to the Five-Factor Model in Estonian

ABSTRACT In this article we studied relations between self-rated emotional experience and the five-factor model of personality. Replicating previous findings we found that two dominant dimensions of emotional experience, Negative Affect and Positive Affect (that accounted for three to five times more total variance among Estonian emotion-related terms than any other factors) are selectively related to Neuroticism and Extraversion. Data supported the hierarchical taxonomy scheme proposed by Watson and Clark (1992) in which two broad higher order affective states were each composed of several correlated but still clearly distinguishable moods with their specific content. The content of specific emotions mapped systematically onto measures of personality: Affect scales explained 40% to 50% of the total variance of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, approximately 20% of the total variance of Agreeableness, and only 13% of Openness to Experience. Besides the replication of the hierarchical bipartite structure of emotion terms itself in a non-Indo-European language, our data demonstrated that the general pattern of associations between affect and personality domains is also generalizable across languages and cultures.