Neuroticism and emotional risk during the COVID-19 pandemic

Large-scale health crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may evoke negative affective responses, which are linked to psychological maladjustment and psychopathology. Here, we shed light on the role of the personality trait neuroticism in predicting who experiences negative affective responses. In a large-scale experience-sampling study (N = 1,609; 38,120 momentary reports), we showed that individuals high in neuroticism experienced more negative affect and higher affective variability in their daily lives. Individuals high in neuroticism also (a) paid more attention to COVID-19-related information and worried more about the consequences of the pandemic (crisis preoccupation), and (b) experienced more negative affect during this preoccupation (affective reactivity). These findings offer new insights into the consequences and dynamics of neuroticism in extreme environmental contexts.     

Personality and coping in life challenge narratives

BackgroundSelf-reported personality traits are known to correlate with self-reported coping strategies. However, these correlations may be inflated by common method variance. The current study examined personality traits and coping strategies in autobiographical narratives.MethodIn open-ended interviews, 122 late-midlife participants described their single greatest life challenge. Participants’ responses were content coded for various coping strategies. We examined correlations between narrated coping strategies and self-reported personality traits assessed by the NEO-Five Factor Inventory.ResultsExtraversion was associated with narrated engagement coping. Neuroticism was associated with narrated disengagement coping. A trend suggested that conscientiousness was negatively associated with narrated disengagement coping. Surprisingly, openness was negatively associated with narrated problem-solving.ConclusionsThe current study replicates and extends the personality and coping literature into the domain of life narrative. Associations between extraversion, neuroticism, and coping styles appear to be robust outside the context of self-report coping questionnaires.     

Personality change goals and plans as predictors of longitudinal trait change in young adults: A replication with an Iranian sample

Goals and plans for changing one’s personality traits have been found to be commonly held, particularly in young adults. Evidence for whether such goals and plans can predict actual trait change is mixed. The current study replicated and extended the methodology of a previous study to investigate whether trait change goals and plans predict change over a year in a sample of Iranian students. It was found that goals and plans before and after the 12-month period predicted longitudinal change in Openness to Experience, but no association was found for other traits. To explore whether this relationship between goals and change in Openness to Experience is replicable, further research with samples of differing ages and cultures is needed.     

Characterizing the Linguistic Chameleon: Personal and Social Correlates of Linguistic Style Accommodation

Linguistic style accommodation between conversationalists is associated with positive social outcomes. We examine social power and personality as factors driving the occurrence of linguistic style accommodation, and the social outcomes of accommodation. Social power was manipulated to create 144 face‐to‐face dyadic interactions between individuals of high versus low power and 64 neutral power interactions. Particular configurations of personality traits (high self‐monitoring, Machiavellianism and leadership, and low self‐consciousness, impression management and agreeableness), combined with a low‐power role, led to an increased likelihood of linguistic style accommodation. Further, greater accommodation by low‐power individuals positively influenced perceptions of subjective rapport and attractiveness. We propose individual differences interact with social context to influence the conditions under which nonconscious communication accommodation occurs.     

Emotional dysregulation and Borderline Personality Disorder: Explaining the link between secondary psychopathy and alexithymia

Research explaining the overlap between psychopathy and alexithymia is in its infancy. A study by Lander, Lutz-Zois, Rye, and Goodnight (2012) revealed a significant positive correlation between secondary, but not primary, psychopathy and alexithymia. However, little is known about what accounts for this differential association. Because both alexithymia (Webb & McMurran, 2008) and secondary psychopathy (Blackburn, 1996) have been linked to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), the current study sought to determine if emotional processing deficits characteristic of BPD could explain the link between secondary psychopathy and alexithymia. The results supported the hypothesis that BPD would mediate the association between secondary psychopathy and alexithymia. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.     

Materialism: Profiles of agreeableness and neuroticism

The major personality correlates of materialism are high neuroticism and low agreeableness. While neuroticism and materialism have been examined in the literature, there is little research with agreeableness and materialism. In this study, three large samples of University students were tested comparing four neuroticism–agreeableness profile combinations. High materialists had the profile of low agreeableness–high neuroticism. Medium materialists had the profiles of either high agreeableness–high neuroticism or low agreeableness–low neuroticism. Low materialists were high agreeableness–low neuroticism. This pattern may be found because low agreeableness is related to lower effortful control so therefore, an inability to regulate materialistic impulses. With neuroticism, materialistic tendencies may be the anxious attempt to compensate for past experiences of feelings of deprivation.     

A conceptual dismantling of the Five Factor Form: Lexical support for the bipolarity of maladaptive personality structure

The Five Factor Form (FFF) assesses adaptive and maladaptive variants for both poles of the five-factor model (FFM), consistent with the hypothesis that there are indeed maladaptive variants for all 10 poles of the FFM. The current study dismantled the 30 FFF items. It was hypothesized that for each FFF item, the two maladaptive and adaptive components occupying the same side would be rated as similar in meaning, whereas components occupying opposite sides would be dissimilar (opposite) in meaning. The results supported the FFF scoring for four domains with mixed support for openness. The findings support not only the validity of the FFF but as well the perspective that there are maladaptive variants of all ten poles of the FFM.     

Born in Korea-adopted apart: Behavioral development of monozygotic twins raised in the United States and France

Monozygotic (MZ) twins raised in different countries and cultures are rare. This report examines behavioral and physical similarities and differences of MZ female twins from South Korea, but raised separately in the United States and France. Analyses of the twins’ intelligence, special cognitive abilities, personality traits, self-esteem, job satisfaction and health histories are considered with reference to their genetic relatedness and rearing conditions. Both striking similarities and intriguing differences were noted.     

Extraversion and psychopathology: A multilevel hierarchical review

We examine relations between extraversion and psychopathology, using a four-level hierarchical structure in which the general domain is divided into two aspects (Communal Extraversion, Agentic Extraversion), four consensual facets (Sociability, Liveliness, Venturesomeness, Dominance), and six NEO facets (Gregariousness, Warmth, Positive Emotions, Activity, Excitement-Seeking, Assertiveness). Our review indicates that extraversion’s negative correlations with depression primarily reflect the aspect of Communal Extraversion, the consensual facet of Liveliness, and NEO Positive Emotions. Its negative associations with social dysfunction largely are due to the aspect of Communal Extraversion, the consensual facet of Sociability, and NEO Warmth, Gregariousness, and Positive Emotions. Finally, externalizing and mania are positively related to the aspect of Agentic Extraversion, the consensual facets of Venturesomeness and Dominance, and NEO Excitement-Seeking.     

The General Factor of Personality and general intelligence: Testing hypotheses from Differential-K,Life History Theory,and strategic differentiation–integration effort

Life history as applied to human psychology has progressed on different levels of analysis including between racial groups (Differential-K) and between individuals (Life History Theory). While the approaches at each level have garnered significant research support, some findings at the level of individual differences are inconsistent with findings from the level of group differences. The association between the General Factor of Personality and general intelligence was examined across and within racial groups to investigate the inconsistency. The results were in line with predictions derived from strategic differentiation–integration effort (SD–IE), the proposition that aggregation amongst variables decreases as life history strategy slows. The results suggest SD–IE may be a useful tool in reconciling the apparent contradictions across the levels of analysis.