Research Feed

Aravindh et al. (2026) surveyed 260 retired older adults in Chennai, India, finding that roughly one-third showed problematic or at-risk internet use. Among Big Five traits, conscientiousness was negatively associated with internet addiction while neuroticism and openness were positively associated; extraversion and agreeableness showed no significant links. Younger age, higher education, and prior government employment were also independent predictors of problematic use.

This study confirms that the Big Five personality factors are reliable predictors of significant real-world behaviors, such as academic performance and alcohol consumption. By testing two independent samples using three different assessment tools (including traditional verbal inventories and an experimental nonverbal measure) researchers found consistent behavioral patterns across all versions. These results provide strong construct validity for the Big Five model, demonstrating that these five traits are not just theoretical abstractions but stable determinants of complex human actions in social and cultural contexts.