Do tinted spectacle lens wearers have a different personality?

Abstract

The wearing of tinted spectacle lenses is considered by some health care workers to be a marker of psychopathology or a hypochondriacal personality type. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between the wearing of tinted spectacle lenses and personality type in physically healthy subjects. The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire 5th Edition, a multidimensional standardized self-report inventory, was used to determine the personality type of 98 participants. Twenty currently wore tinted spectacle lenses for reasons other than ocular disease, sun protection, outdoor or indoor glare reduction, pattern sensitive epilepsy, migraines, reading difficulties or fashion. The remainder did not wear tinted spectacle lenses for any purpose other than sun protection. Tinted lens wear and no tinted lens wear groups were age and gender matched. There was no statistically significant difference in five global personality factors between the no-tint and tint groups: extraversion (p = 0.31), anxiety (p = 0.75), tough-mindedness (p = 0.96), independence (p = 0.63), and self-control (p = 0.87). This suggests that the use of tinted lenses by physically healthy people is unlikely to be an indicator of personality type.