FACTOR ANALYSIS OF A NEUROTICISM INVENTORY

The Lidvall neuroticism inventory is comprised of 25 questions referring to symptoms presumed to be connected with manifest neurotic anxiety. It was presented to 377 persons, an unscreened group with respect to neurotic symptoms, and a factor analysis with rotation to simple structure was performed.—Four factors could be identified: (1) manifest neurotic anxiety, (2) neurotic difficulties in interpersonal relations, (3) neurasthenic symptoms and (4) obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The factor scales were correlated with Neuroticism and Extraversion in MPI. Neuroticism was shown to be a heterogeneous factor. The correlation between Factor (2) and Extraversion was high.     

Unstable in more ways than one: reaction time variability and the neuroticism/distress relationship

The authors hypothesized that a greater degree of stimulus-response variability could either serve adaptive or maladaptive control purposes, depending on levels of Neuroticism. Specifically, a more variable relation between stimulus and response may be emotionally beneficial if such flexibility is used to support non-neurotic forms of self-regulation, but costly if it is used to support neurotic forms of self-regulation. To investigate these ideas, the authors asked 232 college undergraduates within three studies to perform several choice reaction time (RT) tasks. On the basis of performance, we could quantify stimulus-response variability in terms of RT variability from trial to trial. Such a measure of stimulus-response variability interacted with Neuroticism in predicting momentary negative affect (Study 1), informant judgments of negative affect (Study 2), and informant judgments of anxious symptoms (Study 3). As hypothesized, greater stimulus-response variability tended to be associated with less distress among individuals low in Neuroticism, but more distress among individuals high in Neuroticism. The results highlight the manner in which Neuroticism may "taint" control functions, in turn reinforcing Neuroticism-linked outcomes.     

Benefits of all work and no play: the relationship between neuroticism and performance as a function of resource allocation

The authors evaluate a model suggesting that the performance of highly neurotic individuals, relative to their stable counterparts, is more strongly influenced by factors relating to the allocation of attentional resources. First, an air traffic control simulation was used to examine the interaction between effort intensity and scores on the Anxiety subscale of Eysenck Personality Profiler Neuroticism in the prediction of task performance. Overall effort intensity enhanced performance for highly anxious individuals more so than for individuals with low anxiety. Second, a longitudinal field study was used to examine the interaction between office busyness and Eysenck Personality Inventory Neuroticism in the prediction of telesales performance. Changes in office busyness were associated with greater performance improvements for highly neurotic individuals compared with less neurotic individuals. These studies suggest that highly neurotic individuals outperform their stable counterparts in a busy work environment or if they are expending a high level of effort.     

Type D Personality: A Five-Factor Model Perspective

This study investigated the position of Type D (high Negative Affectivity and high Social Inhibition) within the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality. A sample of 155 healthy subjects were administered the Type D Scale and the NEO-FFI, assessing the FFM traits. Subjects also filled out the General Health Questionnaire and the Job Stress Survey. Negative Affectivity was positively correlated with Neuroticism (0.74) and negatively with Conscientiousness ( m 0.38), Agreeableness ( m 0.37), and Extraversion ( m 0.35). Social Inhibition was negatively correlated with Extraversion ( m 0.61) and Conscientiousness ( m 0.40) and positively with Neuroticism (0.50). Type D subjects reported more somatic distress ( p <0.0001), anxiety ( p <0.0001) and depression ( p <0.01) than non-Type D subjects. An alternative one-dimensional representation of the D-traits was suggested, conceptualized as a dimension ranging from neurotic introversion with relatively low conscientiousness to stable extraversion with relatively high conscientiousness. These findings are discussed in the light of the renewed interest in psychology for type versus dimensional representations of individual differences.     

Self-criticism, dependency and the five factor model of personality in depression: assessing construct overlap

The construct overlap between the lower-ordered personality constructs linked to depression, dependency and self-criticism, and higher-ordered personality constructs of the Five Factor Model (FFM) were assessed by exploratory factor analysis in a depressed sample. Three robust factors were extracted: negative affectivity (Neuroticism, Self-Criticism), positive affectivity (Extraversion, Openness), and interpersonal sensitivity (Dependency, Agreeableness). These findings suggest that there is significant construct redundancy between self-criticism and Neuroticism, while dependency appears to represent a more unique dimension associated with, but relatively distinct from Neuroticism and the other dimensions of the FFM.     

Lay understandings of defence mechanisms: The role of personality traits and gender

This study looks at lay people's knowledge and use of the defence mechanisms. It focused on 21 of the better known "Freudian" defence mechanisms. A total of 208 participants (73 males and 135 females) completed a questionnaire regarding their knowledge and reported personal use of 21 defence mechanisms and a short personality test. Participants were required to state (1) whether they had heard of each mechanism, (2) how common they believed it to be and (3) whether they themselves used each of them. The defences were categorised into four levels: Pathological, immature, neurotic and mature. Two personality traits (Openness and Neuroticism) positively correlated with two of the levels but few gender or age correlations were identified. Regression analysis showed that Neuroticism predicted the three less mature defence levels; Gender was a contributing predictor of a pathological defence style and Openness and religiosity combined with Neuroticism predicted an immature defence style. Participants admitted using the more socially acceptable (mature) defences (i.e. humour, intellectualisation) than the less acceptable (pathological) defences (i.e. distortion, hypochondriasis). Implications for psychotherapy are discussed and the limitations of the study considered.     

Coronary heart disease and psychological variables: is Type A enough to increase the risk?

A group of coronary patients (89 males and 19 females) suffering from angina pectoris and a control group (157 males and 95 females) were psychometrically studied before and after being matched by age and sex, in order to test if psychological variables other than Type A could be related to the coronary risk. Type A behaviour was assessed through the Jenkins Activity Survey, form C (JAS-C) and the Borther questionnaire. Other psychological variables studied were hostility-aggressivity, assessed through the Buss-Durkee Inventory, and Psychoticism (P), Neuroticism (N) and Extraversion (E). Results supported the authors' hypothesis that CHD events are more probable in Type A people with neurotic and aggressive features (coronary-prone behavior) than in people showing only Type A traits. Neuroticism scores were significantly higher in coronary patients, in whom the aggressive features could be related to a ‘hostile-paranoid’ structure, more prominent in men.     

Personality traits measured at baseline can predict academic performance in upper secondary school three years late

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, 1992 ) – 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.     

The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the normal personality sphere (16PF)

An examination of the internal structure of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) and the interrelationship among the TSCS scales and the secondary dimensions of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) supported three conclusions: (a) The primary dimension underlying the TSCS is positive self-evaluation, freedom from neurotic symptoms, or the absence of anxiety, (b) this central dimension of the TSCS aligns with the 16PF secondary Anxiety vs. Adjustment, and is virtually independent of the other dimensions of the normal personality sphere, and (c) the mutual orthogonality of extraversion, anxiety or neuroticism, and an empirically derived psychoticism scale provided some support for Eysenck's PEN theory of personality organization.     

Behavioral Correlates of Selected MMPI–2 Clinical,Content, and Restructured Clinical Scales

An examination of the internal structure of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS) and the interrelationship among the TSCS scales and the secondary dimensions of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) supported three conclusions: (a)The primary dimension underlying the TSCS is positive self-evaluation, freedom from neurotic symptoms, or the absence of anxiety, (b) this central dimension of the TSCS aligns with the 16PF secondary Anxiety vs. Adjustment, and is virtually independent of the other dimensions of the normal personality sphere, and (c) the mutual orthogonality of extraversion, anxiety or neuroticism, and an empirically derived psychoticism scale provided some support for Eysenck's PEN theory of personality organization.     

Reconstructing N: A New Approach to Measuring Emotional Sensitivity

Neuroticism (N) assesses emotional sensitivity or lability, but the construct is poorly defined and instruments used to assess N are marred by a number of psychometric shortcomings. Neuroticism is also described in an overtly pejorative way, with items keyed for themes reflecting low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. The present paper presents a revised model based on a new questionnaire entitled the Emotional Sensitivity Scale (ESS). Using an innovative scenario technique to generate items, exploratory factor analysis of the responses of 242 participants yielded orthogonal dimensions for positive (other-oriented) and negative (self-centered) emotional sensitivity, and the structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Validation studies showed that the ESS dimensions were related in systematic ways to related psychometric instruments and that, as predicted, participants scoring high on the positive dimension were better able to recognize displayed emotions. The new scale offers a basis for extending the research on emotional sensitivity using empirically discriminable positive and negative components.     

Reconstructing N: A New Approach to Measuring Emotional Sensitivity

Neuroticism (N) assesses emotional sensitivity or lability, but the construct is poorly defined and instruments used to assess N are marred by a number of psychometric shortcomings. Neuroticism is also described in an overtly pejorative way, with items keyed for themes reflecting low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression. The present paper presents a revised model based on a new questionnaire entitled the Emotional Sensitivity Scale (ESS). Using an innovative scenario technique to generate items, exploratory factor analysis of the responses of 242 participants yielded orthogonal dimensions for positive (other-oriented) and negative (self-centered) emotional sensitivity, and the structure was confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis. Validation studies showed that the ESS dimensions were related in systematic ways to related psychometric instruments and that, as predicted, participants scoring high on the positive dimension were better able to recognize displayed emotions. The new scale offers a basis for extending the research on emotional sensitivity using empirically discriminable positive and negative components.     

Dimensional structure and psychopathology correlates of the fear survey schedule (FSS-III) in a phobic population: A factorial definition of agoraphobia

The responses of 703 non-institutionalized phobics to the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS-III) were factor-analyzed utilizing a principal components procedure. Factors previously identified in student, adolescent and ‘non-phobic patient’ populations—(I) Social Anxiety, (III) Fears related to Bodily Injury, Death and Illness. (IV) Fear of Display to Sexual and Aggressive Scenes, (V) Small Animal Fears—were replicated. Additionally, an Agoraphobia (II) factor, corroborating recent findings by Hallam and Hafner (1978), and pointing to the specificity of this fear, emerged. Due to substantially high intercorrelations found, the Social Inadequacy dimension of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) and the Social Anxiety scale (I), on the one hand, and the Agoraphobic dimension of the SCL-90 and the Agoraphobia scale (II), on the other, could be used interchangeably with phobic populations. A higher-order factor analysis run on psychopathology scales employed, including factored FSS scales, yielded three components, (1) Neuroticism, (2) Phobia and (3) Agoraphobia. Opportunity was taken to define the Agoraphobic Syndrome empirically. A specific Somatization dimension was as highly related to Neuroticism, as to the higher-order Agoraphobic cluster, clearly supporting clinical observations with regard to the Agoraphobic syndrome. Some interesting findings are focused upon and discussed.     

Modeling stability and change in borderline personality disorder symptoms using the revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Big Five (IASR-B5)

Personality disorders have been defined as "stable over time." However, research now supports marked change in the symptoms of these disorders and significant individual variability in the trajectories across time. Using the Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders (Lenzenweger, 2006), we explore the ability of the Revised Interpersonal Adjective Scales--Big Five (IASR-B5; Trapnell & Wiggins, 1990) to predict individual variation in initial value and rate of change in borderline personality disorder symptoms. The dimensions of the IASR-B5 predict variability in initial symptoms and rates of change. Interaction effects emerged between Dominance and Conscientiousness, Love and Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness and Neuroticism in predicting initial symptoms; and between Dominance and Love and Love and Neuroticism in predicting rates of change, suggesting that the effects of broad domains of personality are not merely additive but conditional on each other.     

The Relationship Between Personality and Subjective Well-Being: Different Association Patterns When Measuring the Affective Component in Frequency and Intensity

The aim was to determine whether the relationship between personality traits and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) differs when the affective component of SWB is measured in terms of frequency or intensity. Extraversion and Neuroticism were expected to show significant but different associations to SWB depending on the dimension of the affective component. Swedish undergraduate students (N = 153) self-reported personality, life satisfaction (LS), and affect measured in both frequency (i.e., how often they feel certain affects) and intensity (i.e., how strongly they feel certain affects). Two types of SWB-scores were constructed by merging LS with affect measured in either frequency or intensity. While Extraversion had a similar effect on both types of SWB, Neuroticism had a significantly stronger effect on SWB when the affective component was measured in frequency. More importantly, the effect of Neuroticism, compared to Extraversion, was stronger on SWB regardless of the dimension of the affective component. These findings suggest that future research should clearly distinguish between intensity and frequency when measuring the affective component of SWB. The distinction is important, not only due to the distinctiveness of the affective dimensions per se, but also due to different association patterns between personality traits and both dimensions.     

The cybernetic approach to the treatment of neurotic disorders

This work is an attempt at a cybernetic analysis of the process of treatment of neurotic disorders. This approach is based on the consideration of a patient as an object of control. Assuming that the neurosis is an expression of some imbalance in an organism, the process of treatment is reduced to the exertion of influence on the system thrown out of balance (i.e., the patient) so that its homeostasis with the environment is restored. Thus the treatment of neurotic disorders consists of the use of negative feedback, both internal (those within the patients organism) and external (those within the system created by the interaction of patient and environment).     

Causality-Interpretation and Obsessive versus Hysterical Functioning

Relationships were predicted between the relative salience of the theme of voluntary control (VC) and the relative predominance of obsessive versus hysterical personality traits, and between the relative salience of VC and the relative predominance of obsessive versus hysterical neurotic symptoms. A coding system for VC was applied to TAT stories written by 89 males and 96 females solicited from undergraduate populations. 20 males and 20 females who scored high on VC and 20 males and 20 females who scored low on VC were given further instruments pertaining to obsessive/hysterical personality traits and neurotic symptoms. As predicted, high VC Ss were significantly more obsessive (or less hysterical) in their personality traits than low VC Ss. Predicted relationships between VC and obsessive/hysterical neurotic symptoms were not significant.     

Personality dispositions in the prediction of posttraumatic stress reactions

The study examined the relationship of extraversion, neuroticism, and impulsiveness with posttraumatic stress reactions of avoidance and intrusion. 36 outpatients from a trauma unit at a major metropolitan hospital in Melbourne (Victoria), and 24 age-matched controls completed the Impact of Event Scale, the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised, and the Impulsivity Questionnaire. Intrusion symptoms were predicted both by Extraversion and Neuroticism, after controlling for age and gender, with Neuroticism making a stronger contribution to the prediction. The only predictor of Avoidance symptoms was Neuroticism. Impulsivity correlated with Intrusion symptoms but predicted them only in the trauma group. This finding, along with the observed positive associations of Extroversion with both posttraumatic symptoms, lends support to Gray's model of dispositions influencing responses to trauma, suggesting that impulsive (extroverted) neurotics are more vulnerable to posttraumatic stress than introverted ones.     

神经质人格的神经生理基础

神经质作为一种人格特质, 核心特征是具有负性情绪体验的倾向。高神经质个体表现出更强的情绪反应、更差的情绪感知和应对, 因而体验到更多的负性情绪, 进而容易形成一系列精神障碍和身体疾病。因此, 神经质成为精神病理学中一个重要的风险因素。来自自主神经系统、神经内分泌系统和脑的证据发现, 高神经质个体心血管灵活性降低、HPA轴基线活动增强、EEG活动增大以及负性情绪引起的杏仁核活动增强, 其中杏仁核的自上而下和自下而上通路可能是整合多方面证据的关键。进一步研究应致力于将遗传学、电生理学、生物化学、脑成像技术等相结合, 构建神经质产生、形成的神经生理模型。     

The impact of personality on the reporting of unfounded symptoms and illness.

This study examined the role of personality in the reporting of symptoms and illness not supported by underlying pathology. After assessment of the Big Five personality factors, 276 healthy volunteers were inoculated with a common cold virus. On each of the following 5 days, objective indicators of pathology, self-reported symptoms, and self-reported illness onset were assessed. Neuroticism was directly associated with reports of unfounded (without a physiological basis) symptoms in individuals at baseline and postinoculation in those with and without colds. Neuroticism was also indirectly associated with reports of unfounded illness through reports of more symptoms. Openness to Experience was associated with reporting unfounded symptoms in those with verifiable colds, whereas Conscientiousness was associated with reporting unfounded illness in those who were not ill.