Research Feed

A curated collection of research papers, articles, and related news and media exploring the Big Five personality traits.

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Associations among personality traits, basic psychological needs, and work engagement: An organisational neuroscience perspective
P. J. Vorster, Dirk J. Geldenhuys · Journal of Applied Neurosciences · May 2026

A 2026 South African study (n=118) found work engagement positively linked to all Big Five traits except neuroticism, which correlated negatively. Extraversion and conscientiousness were the strongest predictors. Basic psychological need satisfaction (especially "joyful connection") explained add...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Role of artificial intelligence in analyzing human behavior and predicting personality traits and personality disorders
Amani M. Aldosari, Sumayyah E. Sharaf, Fahd M. Aldosari · Nature.com · May 2026

This multimodal AI system predicts Big Five personality traits from text, speech, and facial expressions using the myPersonality dataset (86,220 participants). GPT-3 achieved 89.1% accuracy, with Openness (91%) and Extraversion (90%) most reliably classified. Agreeableness proved hardest to detec...

NEWS
Agreeableness
Nobody talks about why the most agreeable people in a family can become the angriest by their late fifties, and it may be because nobody ever noticed they had a preference to begin with
Space Daily Editorial Team · Space Daily · May 2026

Highly agreeable people in families often become the "easy one," accommodating others' preferences while suppressing their own. Research on midlife women found suppressed anger, unlike outward anger, doesn't decline with age. Over decades, unvoiced preferences accumulate into resentment. By their...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Five-Factor personality traits and dietary guidelines: A multilevel meta-analysis.
P. Harrison, T. Bogg · Health Psychology · May 2026

A 2026 multilevel meta-analysis (k=34 studies) found agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness positively associated with healthy eating and fruit/vegetable consumption; neuroticism was negatively associated. Agreeableness and conscientiousness also predicted lower sodium intak...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Language-based personality assessment from life narratives: a focus on model interpretability and efficiency
Rasiq Hussain, Zerui Ma, Ritik Khandelwal · Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence · May 2026

This study developed an efficient AI system for predicting Big Five personality traits from long-form life narrative interviews (the kind of detailed life stories people tell about key events and relationships). Rather than relying on questionnaires, which can be biased, the model reads how peopl...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Age as a Moderator of Gender Differences in Five-Factor Model Personality Traits: A Cross-National and Cross-Sectional Study
Yehya, A., Ausmees, L., Gosling, S. D., Potter, J., & Realo, A. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. · May 2026

Using a cross-sectional sample of 3+ million participants across 68 countries, this study examined how age moderates gender differences in Big Five personality traits. Women scored higher than men on Neuroticism, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness; men scored higher on Openness. T...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Agreeableness
Personality Traits and Social Isolation in Older Adults
Ren Y, Hou Z, Zhang Y, Zhang H, Xin H, Liu H · JAMA Netw Open · May 2026

Using NHATS data from 2,672 older adults, this longitudinal cohort study examined Big Five traits and social isolation risk over nine years. Higher extraversion and agreeableness predicted lower odds of baseline isolation, with extraversion remaining protective at three-year follow-up even after ...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
The Human Five Factor Personality Model Is Not Appropriate for Describing Great Ape Personality
Michael Minkov · American Journal of Primatology · May 2026

A theoretical analysis argues the human Big Five personality model is inappropriate for describing great ape personality, as structural overlap between human and ape trait dimensions is below 50% for chimpanzees and as low as 25% for other great apes. The author proposes studying simpler, cross-s...

NEWS
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
How much of our personalities are determined at birth?
Laurie Clarke · BBC · May 2026

This BBC article explores how genes and environment interact to shape personality. Twin studies suggest 40–50% of Big Five personality differences are genetic, but genome-wide association studies find only 9–18% heritability—a gap researchers are working to explain. Environmental influences are e...

RESEARCH
Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness
The character model of a scientist: Structure and role
Jian Zhou, Jian’er Yu, R. S. Dewey · Applied Psychology Research · April 2026

This study proposes a Character Model of Scientists (CMS) comprising four dimensions: personality traits, cognitive preferences, values, and habitual behaviors, each containing four elements drawn from a literature review of 24 studies. Big Five connections are explicit: scientists score higher i...

NEWS
Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Are your students disengaging – or is it their personality type?
Chathura Sooriya-Arachch · Times Higher Education · April 2026

A study of 72 software engineering students found that roughly one-quarter of "problematic" learners are actually high-neuroticism "delayed starters" (anxious, deadline-driven students who spike activity 67% within 72 hours of due dates). By contrast, high-conscientiousness students showed steady...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Do traits matter for allyship? Exploring personality and character strengths as catalysts for allyship
M. Warren, Michael T. Warren, Erika T.H. Lutz · Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal · April 2026

Using latent profile analysis across 3,600+ men from 103 countries, this study challenges the prototype of the extraverted, confrontational ally. "Well-Adjusted" men (high on all Big Five traits, low neuroticism) rated both committed and relationship-building allyship strategies as best-fitting. ...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Personality–AI Fit: How Big Five Traits Drive the Adoption of AI-Powered Financial Robo-Advisors
Jung-Chieh Lee, Jiayi Ren · International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction · April 2026

Using PLS-SEM with 530 Chinese participants, this study models how Big Five traits shape adoption of AI-powered financial robo-advisors via perceived intelligence and anthropomorphism. Conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness positively influenced both AI perceptions and adoption direct...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Relationship between personality, resilience, and empathy among dental students: A cross-sectional study
Long-Fei You, Jie Qin, Yuwei Sun · World Journal of Psychiatry · April 2026

This cross-sectional study of 291 Chinese dental students examined how Big Five traits relate to empathy, with resilience as a mediator. Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness positively predicted empathic concern and perspective-taking, while neuroticism was associated with...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Understanding Consumer Responses to Robotic Cafés: A Person–Environment Interaction Perspective
Eojina Kim, Seonwoo Ko, Heesun Park · Cornell Hospitality Quarterly · April 2026

Using Big Five personality traits and Latent Profile Analysis, this study segments South Korean robotic café customers into two profiles: "Mindful Consumers" (higher neuroticism, lower openness) and "Future-Forward Consumers" (higher openness, extraversion, agreeableness). The latter reported str...

RESEARCH
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
Personality Traits and Working Relationships among the Employees of a Public Secondary School
Fregel Lou Prado · International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research · April 2026

This correlational study of 80 Filipino public school employees examined how Big Five traits relate to workplace relationship quality. Employees scored high on agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion, with moderate neuroticism. All four high-scoring traits positively and sign...

RESEARCH
Agreeableness
Personality as Compressed Social Information in Cooperative Partner Selection
Ryo Oda · Letters on Evolutionary Behavioral Science · April 2026

This opinion piece argues that personality traits function as compressed social information, allowing humans to efficiently evaluate cooperative partners. The Big Five personality framework is reframed not merely as a psychometric taxonomy, but as a cognitive shortcut that condenses complex behav...

NEWS
Extraversion Openness Agreeableness Conscientiousness Neuroticism
How I changed my personality in six weeks
Laurie Clarke · BBC · January 2026

Journalist Laurie Clarke, who scored with a high percentile for neuroticism on the Big Five personality test, spent six weeks deliberately trying to shift her personality traits through targeted behavioral exercises such as meditating, journaling, attending social events, and practicing kindness....

RESEARCH
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Big-Five personality traits and dream experiences: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Marin et al. · Dreaming · January 2026

This meta-analysis of over 65,000 participants confirms that Big Five traits significantly shape our nocturnal experiences. Neuroticism is the primary predictor of nightmare frequency and emotional distress, while Openness correlates with high dream recall, vividness, and lucid dreaming. Extraver...

RESEARCH
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
Linking Big Five personality traits to components of diet: A meta-analytic review
Allen et al. · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · January 2025

This large-scale meta-analysis of over 150,000 participants explores how the Big Five traits influence dietary habits. Researchers found that lower Neuroticism and higher levels of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, and Agreeableness consistently predict a healthier diet. These traits aff...