Individual Differences and Mindfulness

Author(s):  
Johannes Alfons Karl ◽  
Ronald Fischer

What makes some people more mindful than others? Previous research has indicated that dispositional mindfulness is related to both the five factor model (FFM) and the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST). However, previous research has examined those associations in isolation. We examined the unique effects of RST and the FFM on mindfulness in a sample 399 participants. Overall, we found the individual facets of mindfulness were differentially correlated with RST and FFM dimensions. Specifically, RST (BIS) and FFM (Neuroticism) dimensions that draw attention to external stimuli negatively correlated with mindfulness except for Observing. In contrast, FFM dimensions Openness and Conscientiousness correlated positively with mindfulness, suggesting a pattern where individuals routinely allocate attention to internal stimuli (being mindful) in order to explore (Openness) or to regulate these experiences (Conscientiousness). Our findings provide new insights into the underlying individual difference structure of being mindfulness and implies that mindfulness may not be a unitary construct. We suggest that future research should investigate mindfulness correlates at the facet level instead of the higher level of overall mindfulness.

2007 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 869-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Mitchell ◽  
Nathan A. Kimbrel ◽  
Natalie E. Hundt ◽  
Amanda R. Cobb ◽  
Rosemery O. Nelson‐Gray ◽  
...  

Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) and the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) are two prominent personality accounts that have emerged from different backgrounds. Although the two accounts are applied to similar research topics, there is limited empirical work examining the correspondence between them. The current study explored the relationship between RST‐based personality traits and the FFM domains and facets in an undergraduate sample (n = 668). Regression analyses indicated that Sensitivity to Punishment (SP) was positively associated with Neuroticism and Agreeableness, and negatively associated with Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness. In contrast, Sensitivity to Reward (SR) was positively associated with Extraversion and Neuroticism, and negatively associated with Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Exploratory analyses at the facet level specified the relationship between SP, SR, and each domain. A factor analysis was also conducted to explore the higher‐order factor structure of RST and the FFM domains. Three factors emerged, which we labelled SP, Stability‐Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking. Taken together, these findings suggest that there is substantial overlap between these two accounts of personality. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Author(s):  
Serafine Dierickx ◽  
Dirk Smits ◽  
Philip J. Corr ◽  
Penelope Hasking ◽  
Laurence Claes

Abstract. Introduction: The Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality Questionnaire (RST-PQ) has its roots in the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality. Objectives: This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Dutch translation of the RST-PQ and proposed a brief version. Methods: A sample of 603 Belgian and Dutch adults completed the RST-PQ, and to assess convergent and divergent validity, a subgroup also completed other personality and symptom questionnaires. Results: A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the a priori six-factor structure of the RST-PQ, similar to other translations. However, this model did not satisfy the requirements of an acceptable fit. Therefore, a brief version of the RST-PQ (B-RST-PQ) was developed. In line with the aims of the RST-PQ, a CFA showed an acceptable fit for the six-factor model of the B-RST-PQ. The B-RST-PQ obtained good reliability coefficients of the six scales and high correlations with the original RST-PQ. Conclusion: The B-RST-PQ seems to be a valid and reliable instrument for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-347
Author(s):  
Alison M. Bacon ◽  
Dino Krupić ◽  
Nese Caki ◽  
Philip J. Corr

Abstract. This review appraises evidence for the role of personality in COVID-19 related emotions and behaviors. Three key models of personality are considered: the Five-factor Model, HEXACO model, and Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST). In line with personality research, more generally, most studies focus on the Five-Factor model. Key findings are that neuroticism is most associated with poor mental health, and extraversion is associated with a reluctance to socially isolate. Conscientiousness predicts compliance with safety guidelines but also with fewer prosocial behaviors, particularly stockpiling. Research within the HEXACO framework largely confirms these findings, especially for emotionality and mental health. The additional HEXACO Honesty-Humility factor is found to be associated with prosocial views and abstention from panic buying. Studies based on the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of personality indicate emotional conflict as people wish to stay safe while maintaining a sense of normality. Behavioral compliance is driven by activation in the Fight-Flight-Freeze System (FFFS; fear-related) and the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS; anxiety-related). The Behavioral Approach System (BAS) is implicated in approach-driven behaviors such as avoiding infection. These findings have implications for health communications and post-pandemic support.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Stern ◽  
Christoph Schild ◽  
Benedict C Jones ◽  
Lisa Marie DeBruine ◽  
Amanda Hahn ◽  
...  

Research on links between peoples’ personality traits and their voices has primarily focused on other peoples’ personality judgments about a target person based on a target person’s vocal characteristics, particularly voice pitch. However, it remains unclear whether individual differences in voices are linked to actual individual differences in personality traits, and thus whether vocal characteristics are indeed valid cues to personality. Here, we investigate how the personality traits of the Five Factor Model of Personality, sociosexuality, and dominance are related to measured fundamental frequency (voice pitch) and formant frequencies (formant position). For this purpose, we conducted a secondary data analysis of a large sample (2,217 participants) from eleven different, independent datasets with a Bayesian approach. Results suggest substantial negative relationships between voice pitch and self-reported sociosexuality, dominance and extraversion in men and women. Thus, personality might at least partly be expressed in people’s voice pitch. Evidence for an association between formant frequencies and self-reported personality traits is not compelling but remains uncertain. We discuss potential underlying biological mechanisms of our effects and suggest a number of implications for future research.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Passamonti ◽  
R. Riccelli ◽  
I. Indovina ◽  
A. Duggento ◽  
A. Terracciano ◽  
...  

Abstract The human brain is characterized by highly dynamic patterns of functional connectivity. However, it is unknown whether this time-variant ‘connectome’ is related to the individual differences in the behavioural and cognitive traits described in the five-factor model of personality. To answer this question, inter-network time-variant connectivity was computed in n = 818 healthy people via a dynamical conditional correlation model. Next, network dynamicity was quantified throughout an ad-hoc measure (T-index) and the generalizability of the multi-variate associations between personality traits and network dynamicity was assessed using a train/test split approach. Conscientiousness, reflecting enhanced cognitive and emotional control, was the sole trait linked to stationary connectivity across several circuits such as the default mode and prefronto-parietal network. The stationarity in the ‘communication’ across large-scale networks offers a mechanistic description of the capacity of conscientious people to ‘protect’ non-immediate goals against interference over-time. This study informs future research aiming at developing more realistic models of the brain dynamics mediating personality differences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dino Krupić ◽  
Philip J. Corr

One of the hottest topics in neuroscience is the study of brain-behavioural circuits underlying the processing of reward-related stimuli. A growing body of studies has shed new light on the neural structure of this reward system. In this paper, we discuss the significance of these studies from the perspective of a neuropsychological theory of personality, namely the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST). RST assumes that variation in sensitivity/reactivity of the reward system is the cause of individual differences in approach motivation (e.g. desire or need for achievement, persistence, and positive emotionality). Within RST, these individual differences are contained in the construct of the Behavioural Approach System (BAS). However, there is an ongoing debate as regards the nature of the BAS. This fact motivated us to review the latest refinements in the neuroscience of the BAS in the context of the reward system. In this review, we identity four distinctive aspects of the BAS: wanting, incentive motivation, striving and liking. Their behavioural effects are compared with the behavioural manifestations of testosterone, dopamine, serotonin and endogenous opioids, respectively. We conclude that the unidimensional view of the BAS is overly oversimplified; and we suggest that it should be studied as a multidimensional construct and, by implication, so too should the reward system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Suzuki ◽  
K. D. Novak ◽  
B. Ait Oumeziane ◽  
D. Foti ◽  
D. B. Samuel

Abstract Psychophysiological measures have become increasingly accessible to researchers and many have properties that indicate their use as individual difference indicators. For example, the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential (ERP) thought to reflect error-monitoring processes, has been related to individual differences, such as Neuroticism and Conscientiousness traits. Although various tasks have been used to elicit the ERN, only a few studies have investigated its variability across tasks when examining the relations between the ERN and personality traits. In this project, we examined the relations of the ERN elicited from four variants of the Flanker task (Arrow, Social, Unpleasant, and Pleasant) that were created to maximize the differences in their relevance to personality traits. A sample of 93 participants with a history of treatment for psychopathology completed the four tasks as well as self-report measures of the general and maladaptive five-factor model (FFM) traits. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) of ERN amplitudes indicated that three of the four tasks (Arrow, Social, and Unpleasant) were unidimensional. Another set of CFAs indicated that a general factor underlies the ERN elicited from all tasks as well as unique task-specific variances. The correlations of estimated latent ERN scores and personality traits did not reflect the hypothesized correlation patterns. Variability across tasks and the hierarchical model of the ERN may aid in understanding psychopathology dimensions and in informing future endeavors integrating the psychophysiological methods into the study of personality. Recommendations for future research on psychophysiological indicators as individual differences are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin F. Baker ◽  
Lisa M. Larson ◽  
Matthew T. Seipel

Using the constructs of the behavioral activation system (BAS) and behavioral inhibition system (BIS), as defined by the reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality, the purpose of this study was to determine new linkages between personality traits and interest/self-efficacy across Holland’s hexagon. Specifically, it was proposed that (a) the BAS would positively relate to global liking of vocational interest and negatively relate to global disliking of interest; (b) the BAS would positively relate to enterprising interest and social/enterprising self-efficacy; and (c) the BIS would negatively relate to realistic interest and self-efficacy in a sample of 265 college students. The hypotheses were mostly supported. The BAS was found to be meaningfully positively related to (a) global liking of vocational activities, (b) enterprising interest, and (c) social and enterprising self-efficacy. The BIS was found to be meaningfully negatively related to realistic interest but not realistic self-efficacy. Limitations, implications, and future research are discussed.


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