Adult Personality Traits Research Articles

Big Five personality traits in inmates and normal adults in Japan

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in personality traits among violent, theft, and illegal drug use criminals, comparing them with normal adults. Inmates (N = 645) and normal adults (N = 4546) in Japan responded to a questionnaire, including the Big Five personality traits. Results indicated that violent criminals tended to show lower Agreeableness and higher Extraversion than other criminals. Theft criminals tended to display low Conscientiousness. Illegal drug use criminals showed higher Extraversion and Openness. Inmates tended to show higher Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness, and Conscientiousness than normal adults. Characteristics of personality traits of criminals were discussed.

Urbanisation and sex affect the consistency of butterfly personality across metamorphosis

Animal behaviour may change with age, when young individuals experience different environments from adults. However, the role of ontogeny in personality traits is still open to debate and it is not clear whether individual differences in behaviour are maintained across important ontogenetic changes such as metamorphosis. Here, we repeatedly quantified personality in rural and urban populations of the speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria) at the larval, pupal and adult stages. We detected significant repeatability at all life stages, showing that personality is already present at the immature stages. We found no evidence for landscape-related differences in personality traits, but adult males were bolder and more active than adult females. Adults also became bolder with trial sequence, suggesting habitation to the experimental procedure. Urbanisation, together with sex, affected relationships among larval and adult personality traits. More active larvae with short latencies resulted in more explorative adults. However, this was the case in males of urban origin only, and we detected no such correlation in females or in rural males. We suggest that harsh conditions prevailing in cities may lead to stronger trait integration across metamorphosis but also that these urbanisation-related selective pressures may act differently on males and females. In many taxa, metamorphosis marks the transition between the juvenile and the adult stages. During this crucial developmental step, morphology and physiology are deeply remodelled, which may have important consequences for the behaviour of individuals. Although personality has emerged as a hot topic in behavioural ecology, little is known about the consequences of metamorphosis for personality stability. We studied rural and urban speckled wood butterflies at the immature and adult stages to examine whether insect personality is retained over metamorphosis. Sexes differed regarding boldness and activity, but rural and urban butterflies behaved similarly. Nevertheless, urbanisation affected relationships among larval and adult personality traits. Some larval and adult traits correlated in urban males, whereas this was not the case in females or in rural males. This suggests that urbanisation may alter trait combinations across metamorphosis, but this in a sex-specific manner.

The effect of sibship size on non-cognitive Skills: Evidence from natural experiments

A large literature has documented how families shape the developmental trajectories of children. While the formation of socio-emotional and non-cognitive traits, like personality, are driven by both genetic and environmental factors, much of the variation in these traits is unexplained. Economic and psychological models of personality formation suggest an important role for family interactions and dynamics, though much of the research has focused on parental time and financial resources and has not yet focused attention on the potential importance of sibling interactions. Siblings could have a negative effect on children's development if they are in competition for household resources but could have a positive effect if they provide opportunities for beneficial interactions, behavior modeling, and kin care. The net effect of these processes on children's personality development is an empirical question. We used data from Add Health to examine causal effects of having additional siblings on adult personality traits. We deploy two analytic aims within a “natural experiment” empirical design that use the birth of twins in the household to estimate sibling effects. Using both intent-to-treat and instrumental variables research designs we report large (0.5–1.5 standard deviation) differences in adult personality of those who have an additional younger sibling in the household during childhood. These differences likely create labor market and life course disadvantages for children with larger sibships.

The Default Mode Network Mediates the Impact of Infant Regulatory Problems on Adult Avoidant Personality Traits

BackgroundInfant regulatory problems (RPs), i.e., problems with crying, feeding, and/or sleeping, are associated with behavioral and emotional problems in childhood. It is unclear, however, whether these behavioral and emotional problems persist into adulthood. The default mode network (DMN) and salience network (SN) support both interoceptive regulation and social and emotional abilities. We thus hypothesized that adults who had experienced RPs in infancy have more behavioral and emotional problems, which are mediated by DMN and/or SN alterations. MethodsWithin the scope of the Bavarian Longitudinal Study, adults (mean age 28 years; 50% female subjects) with (n = 79) and without (n = 254) a history of multiple and/or persistent infant RPs were assessed by the Young Adult Self Report to measure behavioral and emotional problems, and—in a subsample (n = 49 with and n = 71 without a history of infant RPs)—by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure DMN/SN integrity via intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC). ResultsCompared with adults with no history of infant RPs, adults who had experienced infant RPs had more total problems (p = .002), more internalizing problems (p = .005), and more avoidant personality traits (p < .001). They showed decreased iFC of the DMN and SN. DMN iFC decreases were strongest in adults with multiple and persistent RPs, and they were linked with avoidant personality traits (r = −.42, p = .006). Remarkably, DMN iFC decrements fully mediated the association between infant RPs and adult avoidant personality traits. ConclusionsAdults who had experienced infant RPs have more avoidant personality traits that are mediated by the DMN. Persistent and/or multiple infant RPs and the DMN may be targets to attenuate behavioral and emotional problems.

Povezanost roditeljskog ponašanja i osobina ličnosti deteta - metaanaliza

By looking through various psychology papers we have come to a conclusion that there is a large amount of research papers concerned with connection of parental behavior and the personality traits of the children. Our goal has been to examine works that dealt with connections between perception of parental behavior and personality traits of adults as well as to quantify conclusions of previous works through meta-analysis. Method of meta-analysis has included 12 papers that provided data on 14 independent samples. In other words, we have gathered data on 3995 examinees from eight countries. Results of metaanalysis show somewhat larger connection of mother's Care with child's personality traits than that of father's Care and child's personality traits. An important result of this meta-analysis is connection between both father's and mother's Care with positive aspects of child's personality traits (Extraversion, Consciousness, Cooperation). Control is connected with two aspects of personality, Neuroticism which is positive and Cooperation which is negative. On the other hand, we have noticed negative correlation between parental warmth and child's Neuroticism.

Relationship Between Personality Traits, Generativity, and Life Satisfaction in Individuals Attending University Programs for Seniors.

Personality traits of older adults and their contribution to life satisfaction and generative interest were assessed. A total of 342 older participants (66% women), mean age = 67.89 years old ( SD = 6.52, range = 55-84 years old), who attended the University of the Experience in Salamanca (Spain), were evaluated. Information on sociodemographic data, perceived health and activity, personality traits, generativity, and life satisfaction was collected using self-reported questionnaires. Results confirmed a relation between personality traits, life satisfaction, and generativity. In addition, generative concern, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted life satisfaction at this stage. Moreover, the role of personality on generativity was confirmed. Individuals with interest and agreeableness toward others, who are organized, persistent, and motivated, are more predisposed to generativity. These results open the way to develop intervention programs that enhance positive personality traits and generative interest to improve quality of life of older people.

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

There is a recent debate in the field of personality development whether and how personality traits can be modified or changed over short periods of time. Whereas traditional positions highlight the relative stability of personality traits in adulthood, recent research investigates intentional personality trait change, that is, desires and attempts to change personality traits. The main goal of the present article is to connect recent activities and intervention efforts in personality psychology with psychotherapy process-outcome research. More specifically, we argue that 4 empirically derived common change factors in psychotherapy research might provide some useful heuristic principles for personality change interventions in normal population that do not particularly suffer from personality disorders. We discuss the implications of the use of these principles to change personality traits and suggest some ideas for future research and practice.

Exploring the relationship between non suicidal self-injury and borderline personality traits in young adults

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent during late adolescence and young adulthood. There is some evidence of a link between NSSI and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), but little is known about the association between BPD traits and the various functions that maintain NSSI. The main purpose of this study was to explore the association between borderline personality traits and NSSI functions in a sample of college students. We also compared NSSI functions in college students who engaged in NSSI to those in an age-matched sample of BPD patients. This study included a total of 238 college students and 36 BPD patients. Participants were asked to complete a number of clinical measures. In the non-clinical sample, BPD features were more pronounced in the presence of NSSI, and we observed a differential relationship between NSSI functions and psychopathological BPD-traits. The NSSI clinical variables most strongly associated with BPD were frequency, variety of methods and severity, but not age of onset. Our results provide new information on the relationship between BPD and NSSI in young adults, and could be used to improve the early detection of vulnerable BPD-individuals and in planning NSSI treatment.

Parental educational attainment and adult offspring personality: An intergenerational life span approach to the origin of adult personality traits.

Why do some individuals have more self-control or are more vulnerable to stress than others? Where do these basic personality traits come from? Although a fundamental question in personality, more is known about how traits are related to important life outcomes than their developmental origins. The present research took an intergenerational life span approach to address whether a significant aspect of the childhood environment-parental educational attainment-was associated with offspring personality traits in adulthood. We tested the association between parents' educational levels and adult offspring personality traits in 7 samples (overall age range 14-95) and meta-analytically combined the results (total N > 60,000). Parents with more years of education had children who were more open, extraverted, and emotionally stable as adults. These associations were small but consistent, of similar modest magnitude to the association between life events and change in personality in adulthood, and were also supported by longitudinal analyses. Contrary to expectations, parental educational attainment was unrelated to offspring Conscientiousness, except for a surprisingly negative association in the younger cohorts. The results were similar in a subsample of participants who were adopted, which suggested that environmental mechanisms were as relevant as shared genetic variants. Participant levels of education were associated with greater conscientiousness, emotional stability, extraversion, and openness and partially mediated the relation between parent education and personality. Child IQ and family income were also partial mediators. The results of this research suggest that parental educational attainment is 1 intergenerational factor associated with offspring personality development in adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record

485. Childhood Maltreatment and Normal Adult Personality Traits: Evidence for Developmental Sensitive Periods of Exposure

485. Childhood Maltreatment and Normal Adult Personality Traits: Evidence for Developmental Sensitive Periods of Exposure

Childhood intelligence and personality traits neuroticism and openness contributes to social mobility: A study in the Aberdeen 1936 Birth Cohort

BackgroundSocial mobility has been linked to intelligence, education, personality traits and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). We explore these influences to evaluate their relative importance as sources of individual differences in social mobility. MethodsData are from the Aberdeen Birth Cohort of 1936 (ABC36) for whom childhood intelligence scores are available. Social mobility of participants was estimated from comparisons between their childhood and adult circumstances age 64. Personality traits were assessed using the Five Factor model. Structural Equation Modelling was used to investigate the influence on social mobility of socioeconomic variables, childhood and adult intelligence, education and personality traits. ResultsControlling for childhood socioeconomic status and childhood intelligence, upward social mobility is predicted by personality traits of Openness (positive) and Neuroticism (negative). Neuroticism had a significant direct influence on mobility after. Openness had an indirect effect via Education and adult cognitive ability. Education, childhood and adult cognitive ability are significant influences on mobility. ConclusionsSocioeconomic destination is determined in this sample by childhood intelligence and socioeconomic status and the adult personality traits of Openness and Neuroticism. Educational exposure and gains in cognitive ability over the life course mediate these influences.

Subsyndromal psychosomatic concepts and personality traits in community adults

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of features of the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in the Taiwanese community and to explore their relationships with psychological states and personality traits. MethodThe participants were 153 individuals without a DSM-5 psychiatric diagnosis who were grouped according to whether they had a DCPR diagnosis (at least one DCPR diagnosis, DCPR(+): n=66; no DCPR diagnosis, DCPR(−): n=87). The groups were compared with respect to psychological states (measured with Patient Health Questionnaire-15 [PHQ-15], Health Anxiety Questionnaire [HAQ], Beck Depression Inventory-II [BDI-II], Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI)]) and personality (measured with Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire). Multiple logistic and linear regressions were used to examine associations among demographic, personality, DCPR, and psychological states. ResultsThe DCPR(+) group had higher BDI-II, BAI, PHQ-15 and HAQ scores than the DCPR(−) group and also had a higher anticipatory worry. The most common DCPR diagnoses were health anxiety (42.42%) and alexithymia (37.88%). Anticipatory worry was the variable most closely associated with all the DCPR diagnoses. Health anxiety was related to anticipatory worry and age, whereas alexithymia was associated with dependence and fatiguability. PHQ-15, HAQ, and BDI-II scores were related to health anxiety but not alexithymia. ConclusionDCPR has clinical utility in the community samples without DSM-5 diagnoses. DCPR may be a valid mediator between psychological trait and state.

Who gets ahead in life? Personality traits and childhood background in economic success

In many societies around the world, the ideal is that anyone can achieve a successful life independent of family background. An indication of such social mobility could be that personality characteristics have stronger impact than childhood background on economic success. The present study investigated how much of life outcomes (i.e., educational attainment, annual income, and life outcome satisfaction) were accounted for by adult personality traits (the Big Five), when controlled for childhood socio-economic status (SES). The results from a large, representative Swedish sample (N=5280) showed that personality traits (especially neuroticism) were associated as much as or more than childhood SES to annual income and life outcome satisfaction, whereas childhood SES related more to educational attainment. These results may help facilitate our understanding of the mechanisms behind individual economic success.

Life history strategy as a mediator between childhood environmental unpredictability and adulthood personality

Life history (LH) theory provides a unifying perspective on understanding human behaviors as adaptive LH strategies in response to particular environmental conditions. Although several studies have examined the association between personality traits and LH strategies, there is little extant empirical literature examining how early life environmental conditions might be related to personality traits in adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between childhood environmental unpredictability, life history strategies, and the basic dimensions of personality as identified by the Five Factor Model. A total of 252 undergraduate students completed measures of childhood environmental unpredictability, a slow LH strategy, and personality. Structural equation modeling indicated that, as predicted, a slow LH strategy mediated the association between childhood environmental unpredictability and five personality traits. These results define the evolutionary origin of personality traits. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Exploring the role of testosterone in the cerebellum link to neuroticism: From adolescence to early adulthood

Previous research has found an association between a smaller cerebellar volume and higher levels of neuroticism. The steroid hormone testosterone reduces stress responses and the susceptibility to negative mood. Together with in vitro studies showing a positive effect of testosterone on cerebellar gray matter volumes, we set out to explore the role of testosterone in the relation between cerebellar gray matter and neuroticism. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired, and indices of neurotic personality traits were assessed by administering the depression and anxiety scale of the revised NEO personality inventory and Gray’s behavioural avoidance in one hundred and forty-nine healthy volunteers between 12 and 27 years of age. Results demonstrated an inverse relation between total brain corrected cerebellar volumes and neurotic personality traits in adolescents and young adults. In males, higher endogenous testosterone levels were associated with lower scores on neurotic personality traits and larger cerebellar gray matter volumes. No such relations were observed in the female participants. Analyses showed that testosterone significantly mediated the relation between male cerebellar gray matter and measures of neuroticism. Our findings on the interrelations between endogenous testosterone, neuroticism and cerebellar morphology provide a cerebellum-oriented framework for the susceptibility to experience negative emotions and mood in adolescence and early adulthood.

Supplemental Material for Parental Educational Attainment and Adult Offspring Personality: An Intergenerational Life Span Approach to the Origin of Adult Personality Traits

Supplemental Material for Parental Educational Attainment and Adult Offspring Personality: An Intergenerational Life Span Approach to the Origin of Adult Personality Traits

Personality, Emotional Qualities of Leisure, and Subjective Well-Being in the Elderly.

In this study, we examined personality traits of older adults and their emotional experiences associated with engaging in specific leisure activities. Older individuals (17 males, 32 females), ages ranging from 65 to 97 years (mean age 74), completed measures of Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, subjective well-being (SWB), independent functioning, and an emotion-activity inventory. As expected, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to experience were related to positive affect, while Neuroticism was related to negative affect. Openness and Agreeableness were related to positive emotions experienced in social and cognitive domains, and Agreeableness was related to greater SWB, greater positive affect, and more positively experienced activities. Neuroticism was related to lower SWB and fewer positively experienced activities. These findings suggest that assessing the fit between personality and emotions experienced during activities should be considered when creating programs tailored to elderly individuals, with the goal of encouraging more active and rewarding lives.

Personality Traits and Successful Aging: Findings From the Georgia Centenarian Study.

The current study attempted to describe how personality traits of older adults are associated with components of successful aging (cognition, volunteering, activities of daily living, and subjective health). Three-hundred and six octogenarians and centenarians who participated in the third phase of the Georgia Centenarian Study provided data for this study. Factor analysis was conducted to test the existence of two higher-order factors of the Big Five personality traits, and a two-factor model (alpha and beta) fit the data well. Also, blocked multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between personality traits and four components of successful aging. Results indicated that low scores on neuroticism and high scores on extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness are significantly related to the components of successful aging. After controlling for demographic variables (age, gender, residential type, and race/ethnicity), alpha (i.e., emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) was associated with higher levels of cognition, higher likelihood of engaging in volunteer work, higher levels of activities of daily living, and higher levels of subjective health. Beta (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) was also positively associated with cognition and engaging in volunteer work.

Personality traits in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and their unaffected first-degree relatives.

BackgroundAttention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) shows clear, albeit heterogeneous, cognitive dysfunctions. However, personality traits are not well understood in adults with ADHD, and it is unclear whether they are predisposing factors or phenotypical facets of the condition.AimsTo assess whether personality traits of impulsivity, sensation seeking and sensitivity to punishment and reward are predisposing factors for ADHD or aspects of the clinical phenotype.MethodTwenty adults with ADHD, 20 unaffected first-degree relatives and 20 controls completed rating scales assessing traits of impulsivity, sensation seeking and sensitivity to punishment/reward.ResultsCompared with relatives and controls, individuals with ADHD showed increased impulsive personality traits, were more susceptible to boredom and presented hypersensitivity to reward but normal sensitivity to punishment.ConclusionsHigh impulsivity traits, heightened sensitivity to reward and boredom are associated with the phenotype of ADHD, rather than being predisposing factors, as these traits were not shared between ADHD probands and their relatives.Declaration of interestE.T.B. is employed part-time by GSK and part-time by the University of Cambridge; he holds stock in GSK. B.J.S. consults for Cambridge Cognition, Servier and Lundbeck; she holds a grant from Janssen/J&J. U.M. has received honoraria for consultancy and speaking at conferences and travel expenses from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Pharmacia-Upjohn and UCB Pharma.Copyright and usage© The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2016. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license.

Effect of trauma onset on personality traits of politically persecuted victims.

BackgroundThe hypothesis that traumatic experiences in early childhood impact personality formation and psychopathology is well known in psychology and psychiatry, but this is difficult to verify statistically in methodological terms. The aim of this study, conducted with politically persecuted Poles, was to establish the influence of the time when trauma is experienced on the development of psychopathological symptoms.MethodsThe subjects were divided into two groups: those who had experienced trauma before age five (group 1) and those who experienced trauma at an older age (group 2). Subjects in both groups suffered from chronic untreated post-traumatic stress disorder. In order to test the research hypothesis, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 profiles of both groups were compared using Student’s t-test, and the Mann–Whitney U-test.ResultsStatistically significant between-group differences were found for the F validity scale and the following clinical scales: Hypochondriasis, Depression, Psychopathic deviate, Psychasthenia, Schizophrenia, and Social introversion. All the significantly different scores were higher in the group traumatized in early childhood. People exposed to trauma under age five had profiles similar to those traumatized after age five, but they experienced their symptoms more intensely.ConclusionsOf clinical significance, higher scores on the psychasthenia, schizophrenia, and social introversion scales, especially on the psychopathic deviate scale, indicated pathology only in the early childhood trauma group. Taken together, these symptoms lead to withdrawal and hindrance of social functioning. This outcome confirms the hypothesis of the influence of various early childhood factors (such as trauma) on personality formation and personality traits in adulthood.