Neurobiological Functioning and the Personality-Trait Hierarchy: Central Serotonergic Responsivity and the Stability Metatrait

Trait domains of the five-factor model are not orthogonal, and two metatraits have often been estimated from their covariation. Here, we focus on the stability metatrait, which reflects shared variance in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and (inversely) neuroticism. It has been hypothesized that stability manifests, in part, because of individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. We explored this possibility in a community sample ( N = 441) using a multiverse analysis of (a) multi-informant five-factor-model traits and (b) stability as a predictor of individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. Differences in serotonergic functioning were assessed by indexing change in serum prolactin concentration following intravenous infusion of citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Results were mixed, showing that trait neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the stability metatrait, were significantly associated with prolactin response but that these findings were contingent on a number of modeling decisions. Specifically, these effects were nonlinear, emerging most strongly for participants with the highest levels (or lowest, for neuroticism) of the component traits.

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Neurobiological Functioning and the Personality Trait Hierarchy: Central Serotonergic Responsivity and the Stability Meta-trait

10.31234/osf.io/cfsma ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Aidan G.C. Wright ◽

Kasey Creswell ◽

Janine Flory ◽

Matthew Muldoon ◽

Stephen N. Manuck

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Personality Trait ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Community Sample ◽

Serum Prolactin ◽

Component Traits ◽

Shared Variance ◽

Prolactin Response ◽

The Stability

Trait domains of the five-factor model (FFM) are not orthogonal, and two meta-traits have often been estimated from their covariation. Here we focus on the Stability meta-trait, which reflects shared variance in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism (inversely). It has been hypothesized that Stability manifests, in part, due to individual differences in central serotonergic functioning. We explore this possibility in a community sample (N=441) using a multiverse analysis of multi-informant FFM traits and Stability predicting individual differences in central serotonergic functioning, as assessed by change in serum prolactin concentration following intravenous infusion of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, citalopram. Results were mixed, showing that trait neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the Stability meta-trait, are significantly associated with prolactin response, but that these findings are contingent on a number of modeling decisions. Specifically, these effects were non-linear, emerging most strongly for those highest (lowest for neuroticism) on the component traits.

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Do the happy-go-lucky?

Current Psychology ◽

10.1007/s12144-019-00554-w ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Edmund R. Thompson ◽

Gerard P. Prendergast ◽

Gerard H. Dericks

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Personality Trait ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Positive Association ◽

Negative Association ◽

Negatively Associated ◽

Valid Measurement ◽

Potential Link ◽

The Relationship

AbstractWhile popular aphorisms and etymologies across diverse languages suggest an intrinsic association between happiness and luck beliefs, empirically testing the existence of any potential link has historically been constrained by varying and unclear conceptualizations of luck beliefs and by their sub-optimally valid measurement. Employing the Thompson and Prendergast Personality and Individual Differences, 54(4), 501-506, (2013) bi-dimensional refinement of trait luck beliefs into, respectively, ‘Belief in Luck’ and ‘Belief in Personal Luckiness’, we explore the relationship between luck beliefs and a range of trait happiness measures. Our analyses (N = 844) find broadly that happiness is negatively associated with Belief in Luck, but positively associated with Belief in Personal Luckiness, although results differ somewhat depending on which measure of happiness is used. We further explore interrelationships between luck beliefs and the five-factor model of personality, finding this latter fully accounts for Belief in Luck’s negative association with happiness, with additional analyses indicating this is wholly attributable to Neuroticism alone: Neuroticism appears to be a possible mediator of Belief in Luck’s negative association with happiness. We additionally find that the five-factor model only partially attenuates Belief in Personal Luckiness’ positive association with happiness, suggesting that Belief in Personal Luckiness may be either a discrete facet of trait happiness or a personality trait in and of itself.

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Anxiety and depressive disorders and the five-factor model of personality: A higher- and lower-order personality trait investigation in a community sample

Depression and Anxiety ◽

10.1002/da.20026 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 92-97 ◽

Cited By ~ 208

Author(s):

O. Joseph Bienvenu ◽

Jack F. Samuels ◽

Paul T. Costa ◽

Irving M. Reti ◽

William W. Eaton ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Trait ◽

Lower Order ◽

Depressive Disorders ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Community Sample

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An fMRI investigation of the relations between Extraversion, internalizing psychopathology, and neural activation following reward receipt in the Human Connectome Project sample

Personality Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/pen.2020.11 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Courtland S. Hyatt ◽

Emily S. Hallowell ◽

Max M. Owens ◽

Brandon M. Weiss ◽

Lawrence H. Sweet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Personality Trait ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Effect Sizes ◽

Levels Of Analysis ◽

Future Research ◽

Neural Activation ◽

Internalizing Psychopathology ◽

Human Connectome Project

Abstract Quantitative models of psychopathology (i.e., HiTOP) propose that personality and psychopathology are intertwined, such that the various processes that characterize personality traits may be useful in describing and predicting manifestations of psychopathology. In the current study, we used data from the Human Connectome Project (N = 1050) to investigate neural activation following receipt of a reward during an fMRI task as one shared mechanism that may be related to the personality trait Extraversion (specifically its sub-component Agentic Extraversion) and internalizing psychopathology. We also conducted exploratory analyses on the links between neural activation following reward receipt and the other Five-Factor Model personality traits, as well as separate analyses by gender. No significant relations (p < .005) were observed between any personality trait or index of psychopathology and neural activation following reward receipt, and most effect sizes were null to very small in nature (i.e., r < |.05|). We conclude by discussing the appropriate interpretation of these null findings, and provide suggestions for future research that spans psychological and neurobiological levels of analysis.

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Educational Attainment and Personality Are Genetically Intertwined

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797617719083 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 28 (11) ◽

pp. 1631-1639 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

René Mõttus ◽

Anu Realo ◽

Uku Vainik ◽

Jüri Allik ◽

Tõnu Esko

Keyword(s):

Educational Attainment ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Personality Trait ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Molecular Genetic ◽

Maximum Amount ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Psychological Traits ◽

Polygenic Scores

Heritable variance in psychological traits may reflect genetic and biological processes that are not necessarily specific to these particular traits but pertain to a broader range of phenotypes. We tested the possibility that the personality domains of the five-factor model and their 30 facets, as rated by people themselves and their knowledgeable informants, reflect polygenic influences that have been previously associated with educational attainment. In a sample of more than 3,000 adult Estonians, education polygenic scores (EPSs), which are interpretable as estimates of molecular-genetic propensity for education, were correlated with various personality traits, particularly from the neuroticism and openness domains. The correlations of personality traits with phenotypic educational attainment closely mirrored their correlations with EPS. Moreover, EPS predicted an aggregate personality trait tailored to capture the maximum amount of variance in educational attainment almost as strongly as it predicted the attainment itself. We discuss possible interpretations and implications of these findings.

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Technical comment on Sutin, A.R., Aschwanden, D., Stephan, Y & Terracciano, A. (2020). Five factor model personality traits and subjective cognitive failures. Personality and Individual Differences, 155, 109741

Personality and Individual Differences ◽

10.1016/j.paid.2021.110915 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 179 ◽

pp. 110915

Author(s):

Steven Hall ◽

Nadhim Al-Talib

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Cognitive Failures

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Individual differences of sensitivity of tennis players to injustice situations from the perspective of the five-factor model of personality Big Five Theory

Acta Gymnica ◽

10.5507/ag.2018.002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 21-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Adriana Kaplanova

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Big Five ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Tennis Players

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Using the 16PF to Test the Differentiation of Personality by Intelligence Hypothesis

Journal of Intelligence ◽

10.3390/jintelligence8010012 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 12 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Julie Aitken Schermer ◽

Georg Krammer ◽

Richard D. Goffin ◽

Michael D. Biderman

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Factor Model ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Consistent Pattern ◽

Factor Analyses ◽

Personality Measure ◽

G Factor ◽

Configural Invariance ◽

Job Candidates

The differentiation of personality by intelligence hypothesis suggests that there will be greater individual differences in personality traits for those individuals who are more intelligent. Conversely, less intelligent individuals will be more similar to each other in their personality traits. The hypothesis was tested with a large sample of managerial job candidates who completed an omnibus personality measure with 16 scales and five intelligence measures (used to generate an intelligence g-factor). Based on the g-factor composite, the sample was split using the median to conduct factor analyses within each half. A five-factor model was tested for both the lower and higher intelligence halves and were found to have configural invariance but not metric or scalar invariance. In general, the results provide little support for the differentiation hypothesis as there was no clear and consistent pattern of lower inter-scale correlations for the more intelligent individuals.

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Multiple uses for longitudinal personality data

European Journal of Personality ◽

10.1002/per.2410060203 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 85-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Paul T. Costa ◽

Robert R. McCrae

Keyword(s):

Longitudinal Studies ◽

Factor Model ◽

Current Knowledge ◽

Five Factor Model ◽

Life Outcomes ◽

Age Related ◽

Retrospective Reports ◽

Baltimore Longitudinal Study ◽

Observer Ratings ◽

The Stability

Most longitudinal studies are designed to serve fairly narrow purposes, such as the prediction of life outcomes from theoretically relevant antecedent variables, or the documentation of age‐related changes in the level of personality or cognitive variables. However, the accumulation of data on a single group of people observed over a period of many years permits a variety of other types of analyses. Creative use of a longitudinal archive can amply justify the costs of maintaining the sample and should encourage investigators to initiate more longitudinal projects. Findings from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging are used to illustrate both traditional and alternative uses of personality data, including (a) development of nomological nets for the interpretation of personality measures, (b) evaluation of state effects in personality measurement, (c) validation of retrospective reports, and (d) heuristic exploratory analyses. Current knowledge on the stability of personality in adulthood, the correspondence of observer ratings and self‐reports, and the comprehensiveness of the five‐factor model can enhance the design of future longitudinal studies.

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