Neuroticism

Neuroticism refers to the tendency to experience negative feelings and emotion.


Facets

The below facets represent sub-constructs of the overall trait Neuroticism.

Anger
Anger is the tendency to feel anger, frustration, and bitterness.
Anxiety
Anxiety represents the tendency to experience free-floating anxiety or fears and more frequent triggering of the 'fight-or-flight' system of the brain.
Depression
Depression is the tendency to feel sad, dejected, and discouraged.
Immoderation
Immoderation refers to an inability to control cravings and urges.
Self-Consciousness
Self-Consciousness refers to the tendency to experience shame and embarrassment.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is the tendency to feel overwhelmed or panicked by stress.


Related Social Outcomes

Over the last 100 years, there has been a growing body of academic research dedicated to defining and understanding human personality and how differences among personalities are related to important social constructs. A good summary of this research is provided by Ozer & Benet (2006). This section is meant to provide a summary of how the trait scores from this test relate to a curated selection of some of the most well defined personality relationships to social outcomes. The information below is divided into three categories of outcomes, based on the level of social impact: individual, interpersonal, and social-institutional.

Individual Outcomes

Anxiety

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Anxiety is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Type I Anxiety includes the following categories: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and social phobia.

Representative Findings

Trull & Sher (1994) found a significant relationship between higher scores in Neuroticism and Axis I Anxiety disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (p < .001)

Coping

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Coping is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Coping refers to the ability to overcome a stressful situation. Strategies that are commonly used to cope include: distraction, redefinition, direct action, catharsis, acceptance, social support, relaxation, and religion.

Representative Findings

David & Suls (1999) found a moderating effect of Neuroticism on the ability to effectively cope using relaxation and distracting coping techniques (p < .05).

Depression

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Depression is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Major depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest.

Representative Findings

Trull & Sher (1994) found a significant relationship between higher scores in Neuroticism and Axis I major depression (p < .001)

Existential well-being

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Existential well-being is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Existential Well-Being is a construct that reflects an individuals sense of meaning, purpose, and resilience.

Representative Findings

In a study of 993 undergraduates, Macdonald (2000) demonstrate a correlation of -.66 (p < .001) between Existential Well-Being and Neuroticism.

Humor

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Humor is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

The general tendency to appreciate amusement, comedy, jokes, self-referential humor, jests, wit, or sarcasm.

Representative Findings

In a study of 169 college students, Cann & Calhoun (2001) found a significant negative relationship between humor and Neuroticism: higher scores in Neuroticism were associated with lower scores on the humor scale (p < .05).

Identity integration or consolidation

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Identity integration or consolidation is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

A persons identity refers to a self-structure: an internal, self-constructed, dynamic organization of drives, abilities, beliefs, and individual history (Marcia, 1980). Identity integration and consolidation are processes of reconciling various roles, responsibilities, and contexts to construct a coherent identity.

Representative Findings

In a longitudinal study of 96 married women, Pals (1999) found a negative corelation of -.42 (p < .01) between Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism and a measure of married identity consolidation.

Subjective well-being

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Subjective well-being is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Subjective Well-Being is a construct that reflects an individuals overall evaluation on the quality or their life from their own perspective.

Representative Findings

See Diener & Lucas (2015) for an overview; the Steel, P., Schmidt, J., & Shultz, J. (2008) meta-analysis demonstrate correlations between -.30 and -.50 depending on the facet of subjective well-being (SWB) measured. In a metanalysis of more than 140 studies, DeNeve & Cooper (1998) found a positive correlation between SWB and Extraversion of -.22.

Verbal Fluency

Social Impact Level

Individual

Relationship with Neuroticism

Verbal Fluency is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Verbal fluency is the ability to produce correct examples from a specific category. It is a cognitive task that relies on verbal knowledge, inhibition of similar words from a different semantic category, and tracking / memory of words that have already been produced.

Representative Findings

In a meta-analysis of 10 studies with combined participation of over 80,000 participants, Sutin et al. (2019) found that neuroticism is negatively related to verbal fluency (p < .001)



Interpersonal Outcomes

Abuse of romantic partner

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Abuse of romantic partner is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Romantic abuse refers to physical acts of abuse between romantic partners (e.g., slapping, hitting, forcing sex, etc.).

Representative Findings

In a longitudinal study of New Zealand cohort (n = ~1,000), measured at birth to age 26, Robins et al. (2002) found significant mean correlations (between .23 and .29, depending on age; p < .01) between negative emotionality and relationship abuse.

Family satisfaction

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Family satisfaction is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Family satisfaction in this context refers to quality of dyadic relationships between intergenerational family members (e.g., parent-child).

Representative Findings

Belsky et al. (2003) found a significant negative relationship in the quality of parent-child relationship: relationship quality is less positive when children score higher on negative emotionality. Relationship quality measures included intergenerational contact, closeness, conflict, and assistance.

Peer status

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Peer status is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Peer status refers to relationships within a peer group network using measures such as peer acceptance (one peer nominates another as a friend) and friendship (two peers nominate each other as friends). Status often refers to differences in prominence, respect, and influence among members of a group.

Representative Findings

Anderson et al. (2001) found a significant relationship (zero-order corrrelation of -.31) between Neuroticism / Negative Emotionality and social status among a male fraternity members.

Romantic conflict

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Romantic conflict is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Romantic conflict refers to sources of disagreement between romantic partners.

Representative Findings

In a longitudinal study of New Zealand cohort (n = ~1,000), measured at birth to age 26, Robins et al. (2002) found significant mean correlations (between .30 and .35, depending on age; p < .01) between negative emotionality and relationship conflict.

Romantic dissolution

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Romantic dissolution is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

The breakup of a romantic relationship (e.g., separation or divorce).

Representative Findings

Kelly & Conley (1987) analyzed longitudinal data from married couples over 40 years and found a strong relationship between higher scores on Neuroticism and divorce outcomes.

Romantic satisfaction

Social Impact Level

Interpersonal

Relationship with Neuroticism

Romantic satisfaction is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Romantic satisfaction refers to married partners evaluations of the romantic relationship.

Representative Findings

In their meta-analysis, Karney & Bradbury (1995) found aggregate effect-size r of -.13 (husbands) and -.19 (wives) for neuroticism and marital satisfaction.



Social-Institutional Outcomes

Antisocial behavior

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Antisocial behavior is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Antisocial behavior refers to actions that are deemed delinquent, deviant, against social norms, and violate the rights of others.

Representative Findings

In a mail survey study of hundreds of twin participants, Krueger et al. (2001) found a significant correlation of (.28, p < .01) between Negative Emotionality / Neuroticism and Antisocial Behavior.

Extrinsic success

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Extrinsic success is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Extrinsic career success (e.g., salary and promotions) refer to observable rewards from the job.

Representative Findings

In an intergenerational study, Judge et al. (1999) found signficant correlations between Neuroticism and Income (-.32; p < .05) and Neuroticism and Occupational Status (-.27; p < .01), and extrinsic success (-.34, p < .01).

Financial security

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Financial security is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Financial security refers to the degree that people perceive that their earnings are adequate for their needs.

Representative Findings

In their longitudinal analysis, Roberts et al. (2003) found that negative emotionality scores from age 18 had a significant negative correlation with extrinsic success at age 26, including: -.27 occupational attainment (p < .01) and -.22 financial security (p < .01).

Job satisfaction

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Job satisfaction is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Job satisfaction refers to a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job / work experiences.

Representative Findings

Judge et al. (2002) meta-analytic results documented an estimated true score correlation of -.29 between trait Neuroticism and job satisfaction; Thoresen et al. (2003) also conducted a meta-analysis and found a mean correlation of -.28 between Neuroticism and job satisfaction

Occupational commitment

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Occupational commitment is negatively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

The psychological and emotional attachment an individual feels to an occupation.

Representative Findings

Thoresen et al. (2003) found a mean correlation of -.23 between Neuroticism and organizational commitment in their meta-analytic analysis.

Adhere to Shelter in Place Policy

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Adhere to Shelter in Place Policy is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

In the context of a pandemic health crisis, sheltering in place refers to the act of adhering to publich health guidelines to stay at a primary residence, avoiding travel and other public settings as much as possible.

Representative Findings

In a study of over 100,000 participants, controlling for socioeconomic factors, G?tz et al. (2020), found neuroticism to be positively associated with sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic (p < .001).

Vaccine hesitant

Social Impact Level

Social-Institutional

Relationship with Neuroticism

Vaccine hesitant is positively correlated with Neuroticism

Definition

Vaccine hesitancy and resistance refers to a situation where someone is unsure of or against vaccination.

Representative Findings

As part of a five-decade long birth cohort study, Moffitt et al. (2022) reported survey results gathered between April-July 2021 from 622 participants who responded to questions about their intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19. Among the many factors explored, one of the most significant differences found was that vaccine-hesitant participants were significantly more likely to score higher in neuroticism as adolescents than vaccine-willing participants were (p<.002).



References

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Belsky, J., Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T., & Silva, P. A. (2003). Intergenerational Relationships in Young Adulthood and Their Life Course, Mental Health, and Personality Correlates. Journal of Family Psychology, 17(4), 460–471. http://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.17.4.460

Cann, A., & Calhoun, L. G. (2001). Perceived personality associations with differences in sense of humor: Stereotypes of hypothetical others with high or low senses of humor. Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 14(2), 117-130. https://doi.org/10.1515/humr.14.2.117

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