Early Maladaptive Schemas and Agreeableness in Personality Five Factor Model

Abstract

According to Young's schema therapy the Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMSs) are the deepest level of cognition, and innate personality tendencies are important for the understanding of early maladaptive schemas. Early maladaptive schemas are thought to be trait-like in that they are stable over time. This study examined the relationship between early maladaptive schemas with personality trait, agreeableness of Five-factor model (FMM). One hundred and eighty-six students (100 boys, 86 girls) were included in this study. All participants completed the subscale of agreeableness of NEO PI-R, and the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF). The result of Correlational analyses showed that the early maladaptive schemas negatively associated with Agreeableness. Regression analyses indicated that the early maladaptive schemas such as Mistrust / Abuse (MA), Social Isolation / alienation (SI), Unrelenting Standards / hypercriticalness (US) and Failure (FA) schemas can predict Agreeableness. Implications of these findings are discussed.