Relationships between the big five personality characteristics and performance on behavioral decision making tasks

Abstract

Although significant research exists of a relationship between impulsivity and performance on behavioral risky decision making tasks, relatively few studies examined performance on these tasks as a function of the big five personality characteristics. The present study sought to investigate relationships between the big five personality characteristics and performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Columbia Card Task (CCT), and Game of Dice Task (GDT). Two samples of undergraduate student participants (n = 318 Study 1; n = 531 Study 2) completed the IGT, BART, CCT, GDT, and assessment of the big five in a random order. Results of the two studies indicated minimal relationships between performance on the decision making tasks and neuroticism, extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness, but some evidence of a relationship between agreeableness and the CCT in Study 2 only. The present results are among the first examining relationships between the big five and performance on the CCT and GDT, and largely replicate findings of limited relationships between these personality characteristics and performance on the IGT and BART. Future research should further examine personality predictors of performance on these tasks, as they are increasingly used to differentiate patient and non-patient samples.