Neuroticism predicts reactions to cues of social inclusion |
| |
Authors: | Jaap J. A. Denissen Lars Penke |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Humboldt University Berlin, Germany;2. University of Edinburgh, UK |
| |
Abstract: | In the current paper, we hypothesized that people who are high in neuroticism (N) share a motivational predisposition to react vigilantly to threatening cues, most of which tend to be social in humans. In three studies, support for this prediction was found: based on cross‐sectional and diary data, it was found that the self‐esteem (SE) of individuals high in N decreases more in response to perceptions of relationship conflict and low relationship quality than that of emotionally stable ones. In a study of people's reactions to imagined threats, neurotic individuals showed a heightened sensitivity to both nonsocial and social cues, though reactions to social cues were somewhat more pronounced. Results are consistent with principles from evolutionary and process‐oriented personality psychology. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
| |
Keywords: | neuroticism social inclusion close relationships self‐esteem sociometer theory |
|
|