Research Feed

This comprehensive meta-analysis of over 160,000 participants explores the deep connections between personality and intelligence. The findings identify Openness and Neuroticism as the strongest predictors of cognitive ability, with Openness specifically linked to 'crystallized' intelligence, or acquired knowledge. By looking at specific facets, the researchers found that intellectual engagement and unconventionality correlate positively with intelligence, while traits like sociability and orderliness actually show slight negative correlations.

Most research on how individual differences affect COVID-19 guideline adherence has been cross-sectional, capturing only a single point in time. This leaves a significant gap in understanding prospective associations; how specific personality traits or behaviors actually predict future actions. Specifically, we lack longitudinal data that can forecast mask-wearing habits, the onset of symptoms, or the likelihood of an individual seeking viral testing over time.

This state-level analysis reveals that the American response to COVID-19 was driven by a complex interplay of politics and personality. Even when controlling for partisan allegiances, Openness emerged as a key predictor of mask-wearing, while Conscientiousness predicted less stringent state restrictions. Using commonality regression, researchers found that the shared variance between these personality traits and political affiliation accounted for roughly 35% of the differences in state policies and mask compliance. This suggests that the 'political' divide observed by the public was deeply rooted in underlying psychological clusters that vary geographically across the United States.

Applying a Lewinian interactionist framework, this study examined how both government policy and personality traits influenced sheltering-in-place behavior across 54 countries. Researchers found that while strict government policies effectively increased compliance, individual personality traits remained significant predictors of behavior. Specifically, high levels of Openness, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism were linked to staying home, while Extraversion was associated with lower compliance. Notably, the influence of Openness and Neuroticism weakened as government restrictions became more stringent, suggesting that while personality drives behavior in flexible environments, strong external policies can partially override these internal tendencies.

This meta-analysis of 90,000 participants identifies Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness as key predictors of verbal fluency. These traits consistently correlate with word retrieval across all age groups, independent of education. Notably, the protective effects of these personality profiles are strongest in older adults and those with less education, highlighting their significant role in maintaining cognitive resilience against age-related decline.

Research identifies that the clinical impact of nightmares is driven not only by how often they occur but by the dreamer's underlying emotional framework. While nightmare frequency is a baseline factor, Neuroticism (or heightened emotional reactivity) is a significant contributor to the distress these dreams cause. This supports the neurocognitive model of dreaming, suggesting that those with higher emotional sensitivity process nightmare content with greater intensity. Additionally, nightmares that directly mirror real-life events are linked to higher distress levels. These findings suggest that addressing a nightmare disorder requires looking beyond the frequency of the episodes to treat the individual's emotional response and the specific waking-life connections involved.

This chapter offers a comprehensive introduction to the theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence linking personality to parenting. It begins by establishing the core concepts within personality psychology and parenting research, then transitions into a detailed review of how specific traits influence caregiving behaviors. The chapter concludes by identifying critical gaps in the current literature, proposing future research directions, and summarizing the broader implications of these personality-parenting associations.

Research involving over 44,000 participants confirms that personality traits are reliably communicated through musical preferences, extending beyond simple self-reports to behavioral actions. Both reactions to unfamiliar music and 'Likes' for specific artists on social media successfully predicted individual differences, particularly for Openness and Extraversion. These results demonstrate high external validity, proving that our musical choices—whether passive listening or active public endorsement—serve as robust markers of our underlying personality structure across diverse demographic groups.

This meta-analysis examined links between Big Five personality traits and physical activity across over 60 studies. Extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness showed small positive associations with activity, while neuroticism showed a small negative link; agreeableness was not related. Effects varied across study designs and samples. Overall, findings suggest personality has modest but meaningful connections to physical activity, highlighting the need for stronger measures and longitudinal research.

This meta-analysis demonstrates that maternal personality and psychopathology are deeply interconnected determinants of parenting. Mothers with high Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness, alongside low Neuroticism and psychopathology, consistently exhibited more adaptive warmth and control. Path analyses suggest these traits do not act in isolation; rather, shared variance among these psychological characteristics explains their collective impact on parenting behavior, highlighting the need for more integrated family interventions.

The site includes over 3,000 items and over 250 scales that have been constructed from the items. New items and scales are developed on an irregular basis. The items and scales are in the public domain. This work offers a robust scientific foundation for understanding the stable patterns of human personality and their significant real-world implications across different environments.

A meta-analysis of nearly 6,000 parent-child dyads indicates that a parent’s personality serves as a significant resource for their caregiving style. Higher levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness correlate with increased warmth and behavioral control. Furthermore, Agreeable parents with low Neuroticism are more likely to support a child’s autonomy. Although these effects are small, they remain consistent across various assessment methods and family structures.

A meta-analysis of studies spanning nearly four decades identifies Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism as the primary personality drivers of physical activity. Specifically, individuals who are more outgoing and disciplined tend to exercise more, while those higher in emotional instability are less active. Interestingly, traits like Openness and Agreeableness showed no significant link to activity levels. While more research is needed on specific types of exercise, these core personality-activity relationships appear remarkably consistent across different ages, genders, and cultures.

This cross-national study reveals that narrow personality facets predict cognitive ability nearly twice as effectively as the broad Big Five domains. While broad categories mask specific relationships, granular facets account for 10% of the variance in intelligence. Notably, these associations vary by country, particularly regarding Openness. These findings emphasize the necessity of a facet-level approach to accurately capture the complex link between personality and cognition.

The Big Five personality factors serve as powerful heuristics for predicting outcomes across multiple life domains. At the individual level, traits are linked to health, happiness, and identity. Interpersonally, they shape the quality of family and romantic relationships. Finally, at the institutional level, personality influences occupational success, political ideology, and community involvement. These findings underscore that personality dispositions are not just internal states but active drivers of significant life consequences.

This study examines the link between political ideology and personality by comparing adaptive traits with their maladaptive counterparts. While Openness to Experience remains a strong predictor of ideological leanings, the research highlights that traditional Conscientiousness has a weaker link than its maladaptive extreme, Compulsiveness. Additionally, maladaptive Disagreeableness showed a significant correlation with right-wing ideology. These findings suggest that certain political orientations may be more closely associated with specific rigid or antagonistic personality patterns than with broad, healthy trait variations, offering a more nuanced view of the psychological foundations of belief systems.

Research defines inspiration as a tripartite state consisting of evocation, transcendence, and motivation. It involves two distinct processes: being inspired by an idea and being inspired to act. Unlike positive affect, which is triggered by rewards and focuses on acquisition, inspiration is sparked by illumination and serves the function of transmission; allowing individuals to actualize and share creative insights with others.

Research indicates that while lucid dreaming is a common phenomenon (reported by 82% of students) it has a surprisingly weak direct link to major personality traits. The study found no significant association with Introversion or Neuroticism, refuting theories that link lucidity to specific levels of well-being. While small correlations exist with Openness to Experience (specifically fantasy and imagination), these are largely mediated by the dreamer's overall ability to recall dreams. Interestingly, a moderate link between nightmare frequency and lucidity suggests that intense or distressing dreams may actually act as a trigger for becoming aware within the dream state.

This twin study reveals that while parental personality and caregiving styles share a modest connection, their association is primarily driven by nongenetic factors. Although parenting dimensions themselves show moderate genetic influence, the overlap with personality traits stems from environmental experiences rather than shared DNA. This suggests that external social contexts and life events play a more decisive role in how personality shapes parenting.

This study examines the connection between the Big Five personality traits and Holland’s RIASEC occupational types. The findings reveal that while these models overlap, they measure distinct aspects of an individual. The strongest links exist between Enterprising roles and Extraversion, as well as Artistic roles and Openness to Experience. In contrast, the 'Realistic' type showed almost no correlation with the Big Five, suggesting that personality and vocational interests provide unique, complementary insights into a person's profile.