Hostname: page-component-669899f699-tpknm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-26T19:52:47.805Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Determining associations between Big Five personality traits and executive function in an undergraduate student sample

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2024

Emma Quarles Open the ORCID record for Emma Quarles [Opens in a new window] ,
Samuel J. West  and
Larry Keen
Emma Quarles*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA Center for Outreach and Treatment Through Education and Research, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA
Samuel J. West
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA Department of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
Larry Keen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA Center for Outreach and Treatment Through Education and Research, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA, USA
*
Corresponding author: Emma Quarles; Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

The present study sought to determine the associations between executive functioning and Big Five personality traits in an undergraduate sample.

Method:

Participants included 200 undergraduates (73% women), with a mean age of approximately 21 years. Participants completed the Big Five Inventory-44 and a psychological assessment battery, which included the Trail Making Test and the Semantic Fluency Test.

Results:

Results from multiple regression analyses suggested agreeableness was negatively associated with Semantic Fluency – Animals (β = −0.310, p < 0.001). Moreover, conscientiousness was positively associated with Trail Making Test B-A (β = 0.197, p = 0.016), but negatively associated with Trail Making Test A (β = −0.193, p = 0.017).

Conclusions:

Overall results identified that executive function association with personality varies by construct. Given conscientiousness’ differential associations within the executive function task performances, future research should examine the conscientious threshold that would result in psychological symptomatology associated with extreme lows and highs in conscientiousness.

Keywords

Big Fiveexecutive functionundergraduatesconscientiousnesscognitive flexibilityneuroticism
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , January 2025 , pp. 67 - 74
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Neuropsychological Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Ahrens, B., Lee, M., Zweibruck, C., Tumanan, J., Larkin, M. S., & Beck, A. (2019). The role of executive function skills for college-age students. Academia.Google Scholar
Ajilchi, B., & Nejati, V. (2017). Executive functions in students with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 8(3), 223–232.Google ScholarPubMed
Altinok, D. C. A., Rajkumar, R., Nießen, D., Sbaihat, H., Kersey, M., Shah, N. J., Veselinović, T., & Neuner, I. (2021). Common neurobiological correlates of resilience and personality traits within the triple resting-state brain networks assessed by 7-Tesla ultra-high field MRI. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 11564.Google ScholarPubMed
Baker, T., & Bichsel, J. (2006). Personality predictors of intelligence: Differences between young and cognitively healthy older adults. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 861-871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.02.017 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck depression inventory-II. Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Benton, A. H., & Hamsher, K. D. K. (1976). Multilingual aphasia examination. University of Iowa.Google Scholar
Bigelow, R. T., & Agrawal, Y. (2015). Vestibular involvement in cognition: Visuospatial ability, attention, executive function, and memory. Journal of Vestibular Research, 25(2), 73–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bigler, E. D., Mortensen, S., Neeley, E. S., Ozonoff, S., Krasny, L., Johnson, M., Lu, J., Provencal, S. L., McMahon, W., & Lainhart, J. E. (2007). Superior temporal gyrus, language function, and autism. Developmental Neuropsychology., 31(2), 217–238.Google ScholarPubMed
Blanken, L. M., White, T., Mous, S. E., Basten, M., Muetzel, R. L., Jaddoe, V. W., & Tiemeier, H. (2017). Cognitive functioning in children with internalising, externalising and dysregulation problems: A population-based study. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 26, 445–456.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buhan, H. D., Rehman, S., & Keat, O. B. (2017). The relationship between beck’s depression inventory (BDI-II) and big five personality. Journal of Management and Science, 15(1), 108–119.Google Scholar
Byrne, K. A., Silasi-Mansat, C. D., & Worthy, D. A. (2015). Who chokes under pressure? The Big Five personality traits and decision-making under pressure. Personality and Individual Differences, 74, 22–28.Google ScholarPubMed
Campbell, A. M., Davalos, D. B., McCabe, D. P., & Troup, L. J. (2011). Executive functions and extraversion. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(6), 720–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carbone, E., Meneghetti, C., & Borella, E. (2019). The influence of personality traits and facets on visuo-spatial task performance and self-assessed visuo-spatial inclinations in young and older adults. Plos One, 14(8), e0220525.Google ScholarPubMed
Carter, N. T., Guan, L., Maples, J. L., Williamson, R. L., & Miller, J. D. (2016). The downsides of extreme conscientiousness for psychological well-being: The role of obsessive compulsive tendencies. Journal of Personality, 84(4), 510–522.Google ScholarPubMed
Carvalho, J. O., & Ready, R. E. (2010). Emotion and executive functioning: The effect of normal mood states on fluency tasks. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 32(3), 225–230.Google ScholarPubMed
Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Furnham, A. (2004). A possible model for understanding the personality-intelligence interface. British Journal of Psychology, 95(2), 249–264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chapman, B., Duberstein, P., Tindle, H. A., Sink, K. M., Robbins, J., Tancredi, D. J., & Gingko Evaluation of Memory Study Investigators. Personality predicts cognitive function over 7 years in older persons. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(7), 612–621.Google Scholar
Chapman, B. P., Benedict, R. H., Lin, F., Roy, S., Federoff, H. J., & Mapstone, M. (2017). Personality and performance in specific neurocognitive domains among older persons. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 25(8), 900–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, M. (2012). The importance of self-regulation for college student learning. College Student Journal, 46(4), 892–902.Google Scholar
Corrigan, J. D., & Hinkeldey, N. S. (1987). Relationships between parts A and B of the Trail Making Test. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43(4), 402–409.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1999). A five-factor theory of personality. The Five-Factor model of personality. Theoretical Perspectives, 2, 51–87.Google Scholar
Crespo-Sanmiguel, I., Zapater-Fajarí, M., Garrido-Chaves, R., Hidalgo, V., & Salvador, A. (2024). Subjective memory complaints in young people; their relationship with objective cognitive performance and the role of neuroticism. Anales de Psicología/Annals of Psychology, 40(2), 323–334.Google Scholar
Crittenden, B. M., Mitchell, D. J., & Duncan, J. (2015). Recruitment of the default mode network during a demanding act of executive control. eLife, 4, e06481.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crow, A. J. (2019). Associations between neuroticism and executive function outcomes: Response inhibition and sustained attention on a continuous performance test. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 126(4), 623–638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Douglas, H. E., Cunningham, M. L., Tisdell, J., & Arneson, J. (2023). The problem with confidence: Too much and too little results in poorer achievement, inner conflict, and social inhibition. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 960013.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubey, S., Singh, I. L., & Srivastava, S. (2014). Effect of personality on working memory capacity. Indian Journal of Positive Psychology, 5(2), 150.Google Scholar
Erdfelder, E., Faul, F., & Buchner, A. (1996). GPOWER: A general power analysis program. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments & Computers, 28(1), 1–11.Google Scholar
Fleming, K. A., Heintzelman, S. J., & Bartholow, B. D. (2016). Specifying associations between conscientiousness and executive functioning: Mental set shifting, not prepotent response inhibition or working memory updating. Journal of Personality, 84(3), 348–360.Google ScholarPubMed
Flory, K., Lynam, D., Milich, R., Leukefeld, C., & Clayton, R. (2002). The relations among personality, symptoms of alcohol and marijuana abuse, and symptoms of comorbid psychopathology: Results from a community sample. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 10(4), 425–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forbes, C. E., Poore, J. C., Krueger, F., Barbey, A. K., Solomon, J., & Grafman, J. (2014). The role of executive function and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the expression of neuroticism and conscientiousness. Social Neuroscience, 9(2), 139–151.Google ScholarPubMed
Friedman, N. P., du Pont, A., Corley, R. P., & Hewitt, J. K. (2018). Longitudinal relations between depressive symptoms and executive functions from adolescence to early adulthood: A twin study. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(4), 543–560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaillard, W. D., Sachs, B. C., Whitnah, J. R., Ahmad, Z., Balsamo, L. M., Petrella, J. R., & Grandin, C. B. (2003). Developmental aspects of language processing: FMRI of verbal fluency in children and adults. Human Brain Mapping, 18(3), 176–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldstein, S., & Naglieri, J. A. (2014). Executive functioning. Springer.Google Scholar
Graham, E. K., & Lachman, M. E. (2014). Personality traits, facets and cognitive performance: Age differences in their relations. Personality and Individual Differences, 59, 89–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, J. R. (2001). Emotional modulation of cognitive control: Approach-withdrawal states double-dissociate spatial from verbal two-back task performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(3), 436–52.Google ScholarPubMed
Hall, P. A., & Fong, G. T. (2013). Conscientiousness versus executive function as predictors of health behaviors and health trajectories. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 45(3), 398–399.Google ScholarPubMed
Herrmann, W., & Wacker, J. (2021). The selective dopamine D2 blocker sulpiride modulates the relationship between agentic extraversion and executive functions. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 21(4), 852–867.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hubbard, K., Reohr, P., Tolcher, L., & Downs, A. (2018). Stress, mental health symptoms, and help-seeking in college students. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 23, 293–305 Google Scholar
IBM Corp. 2020). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 27.0. IBM Corp.Google Scholar
Ihle, A., Zuber, S., Gouveia, É.R., Gouveia, B. R., Mella, N., Desrichard, O., & Kliegel, M. (2019). Cognitive reserve mediates the relation between openness to experience and smaller decline in executive functioning. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 48(1-2), 39–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Rosselli, M., Workman, K. A., Santisi, M., Rios, J. D., & Bojan, D. (2002). Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and effortful control processes. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(5), 476–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). Big Five Inventory (BFI) [Database record]. APA PsycTests.Google Scholar
Karaman, M. A., Lerma, E., Vela, J. C., & Watson, J. C. (2019). Predictors of academic stress among college students. Journal of College Counseling, 22(1), 41–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keen, L., George, L., Williams, G., Blanden, G., & Ramirez, M. (2022). Assessing the validity of the Self-Report Webexec Questionnaire: Self-report vs performance neurocognitive inferences. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 29(5), 1030–1038.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keen, L. II, Tan, A. Y., & Abbate, A. (2020). Inverse associations between parasympathetic activity and cognitive flexibility in African Americans: Preliminary findings. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 155, 204–209.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keen, L., Turner, A. D., Mwendwa, D., Callender, C., & Campbell, A. (2015). Depressive symptomatology and respiratory sinus arrhythmia in a non-clinical sample of middle-aged African Americans. Biological Psychology, 108, 56–61.Google Scholar
Kidwell, K. S. (2005). Understanding the college first-year experience. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 78(6), 253–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klojčnik, M., Kavcic, V., & Bakracevic Vukman, K. (2017). Relationship of depression with executive functions and visuospatial memory in elderly. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 85(4), 490–503.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kochanska, G., Aksan, N., Penney, S. J., & Doobay, A. F. (2007). Early positive emotionality as a heterogenous trait: Implications for children’s self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(6), 1054–1066.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krieger, V., Amador-Campos, J. A., & Guàrdia-Olmos, J. (2020). Executive functions, Personality traits and ADHD symptoms in adolescents: A mediation analysis. Plos One, 15(5), e0232470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krogh, J., Benros, M. E., Jørgensen, M. B., Vesterager, L., Elfving, B., & Nordentoft, M. (2014). The association between depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and inflammation in major depression. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 35, 70–76.Google ScholarPubMed
Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2019). Cognitive flexibility and pro-environmental behaviour: A multimethod approach. European Journal of Personality, 33(4), 488–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, D. K. (2016). Alternatives to P value: Confidence interval and effect size. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 69(6), 555–562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, J., Li, L., Pan, N., Liu, X., Zhang, X., Suo, X., & Gong, Q. (2023). Neural correlates of neuroticism: A coordinate-based meta-analysis of resting-state functional brain imaging studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 146, 105055.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luchetti, M., Terracciano, A., Stephan, Y., & Sutin, A. R. (2016). Personality and cognitive decline in older adults: Data from a longitudinal sample and meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71(4), 591–601.Google ScholarPubMed
McKee, J. (2017). Executive functions and resilience in first-year undergraduate students. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.Google Scholar
Mercuri, G., & Holtzer, R. (2021). Engagement in cognitively stimulating activities mediates the relationship between openness and attention/executive functions, but not memory in older adults. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 36(4), 485–497.Google Scholar
Murdock, K. W., Oddi, K. B., & Bridgett, D. J. (2013). Cognitive correlates of personality: Links between executive functioning and the big five personality traits. Journal of Individual Differences, 34(2), 97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muris, P., Roelofs, J., Rassin, E., Franken, I., & Mayer, B. (2005). Mediating effects of rumination and worry on the links between neuroticism, anxiety and depression. Personality and Individual Differences, 39(6), 1105–1111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nikolašević, Ž., Krstić, T., Rajšli, A., & Bugarski Ignjatović, V. (2024). The relationship between behavior aspects of executive functions and personality traits in healthy young adults. Psychological Reports, 127(3), 1317–1335.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pearman, A. (2009). Basic cognition in adulthood: Combined effects of sex and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(4), 357–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perkovic, S. J., & Pechenkov, I. G. (2023). Personality predictors of anhedonia and depression: The role of the big five, autonomy, and sociotropy. Personality and Individual Differences, 208, 112158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reitan, R. M. (1956). Trail making test. Manual for administration, scoring, and interpretation. Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Rickham, P. P. (1964). Human experimentation. Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki. British Medical Journal, 2(5402), 177–177.Google ScholarPubMed
Robinson, M. D. (2007). Personality, affective processing, and self-regulation: Toward process-based views of extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1(1), 223–235.Google Scholar
Sampaio, A., Soares, J. M., Coutinho, J., Sousa, N., & Gonçalves, Ó.F. (2014). The Big Five default brain: Functional evidence. Brain Structure and Function, 219(6), 1913–1922.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuel, D. B., & Widiger, T. A. (2011). Conscientiousness and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2(3), 161.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saylik, R., Szameitat, A. J., & Cheeta, S. (2018). Neuroticism related differences in working memory tasks. PloS One, 13(12), e0208248.Google ScholarPubMed
Schretlen, D. J., van der Hulst, E.-J., Pearlson, G. D., & Gordon, B. (2010). A neuropsychological study of personality: Trait openness in relation to intelligence, fluency, and executive functioning. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 32(10), 1068–1073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segel-Karpas, D., & Lachman, M. E. (2018). Social contact and cognitive functioning: The role of personality. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(6), 974–984.Google ScholarPubMed
Snyder, H. R. (2013). Major depressive disorder is associated with broad impairments on neuropsychological measures of executive function: A meta-analysis and review. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 81–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soubelet, A. (2011). Age-cognition relations and the personality trait of conscientiousness. Journal of Research in Personality, 45(6), 529–534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Speed, D., Hemani, G., Speed, M. S., Børglum, A. D., & Østergaard, S. D. (2019). Investigating the causal relationship between neuroticism and depression via Mendelian randomization. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 139(4), 395–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stafford, L. D., Ng, W., Moore, R. A., & Bard, K. A. (2010). Bolder, happier, smarter: The role of extraversion in positive mood and cognition. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(7), 827–832.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strough, J., Karns, T. E., & Schlosnagle, L. (2011). Decision-making heuristics and biases across the life span. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1235(1), 57–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Studer-Luethi, B., Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., & Perrig, W. J. (2012). Influence of neuroticism and conscientiousness on working memory training outcome. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(1), 44–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutin, A. R., Aschwanden, D., Stephan, Y., & Terracciano, A. (2022). The association between facets of conscientiousness and performance-based and informant-rated cognition, affect, and activities in older adults. Journal of Personality, 90(2), 121–132.Google ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Damian, R. I., Luchetti, M., Strickhouser, J. E., & Terracciano, A. (2019). Five-factor model personality traits and verbal fluency in 10 cohorts. Psychology and Aging, 34(3), 362–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., & Terracciano, A. (2019). Five-factor model personality traits and cognitive function in five domains in older adulthood. BMC Geriatrics, 19(1), 1–10.Google ScholarPubMed
Tanji, J., & Hoshi, E. (2008). Role of the lateral prefrontal cortex in executive behavioral control. Physiological Reviews, 88(1), 37–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teixeira, C. M., Pomedli, S. R., Maei, H. R., Kee, N., & Frankland, P. W. (2006). Involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex in the expression of remote spatial memory. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(29), 7555–7564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turkstra, L. S., & Byom, L. J. (2010). Executive functions and communication in adolescents. The ASHA Leader, 15(15), 8–11.Google Scholar
Vaughan, R. S., & Edwards, E. J. (2020). Executive function and personality: The moderating role of athletic expertise. Personality and Individual Differences, 161, 109973.Google Scholar
Vinograd, M., Williams, A., Sun, M., Bobova, L., Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Vrshek-Schallhorn, S., & Craske, M. G. (2020). Neuroticism and interpretive bias as risk factors for anxiety and depression. Clinical Psychological Science, 8(4), 641–656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waggel, S. E., Lipnicki, D. M., Delbaere, K., Kochan, N. A., Draper, B., Andrews, G., Sachdev, P. S., & Brodaty, H. (2015). Neuroticism scores increase with late-life cognitive decline. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(9), 985–993.Google ScholarPubMed
Wang, X., Zhuang, K., Li, Z., & Qiu, J. (2022). The functional connectivity basis of creative achievement linked with openness to experience and divergent thinking. Biological Psychology, 168, 108260.Google ScholarPubMed
Waris, O., Soveri, A., Lukasik, K. M., Lehtonen, M., & Laine, M. (2018). Working memory and the Big Five. Personality and Individual Differences, 130, 26–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, P. G., Suchy, Y., & Kraybill, M. L. (2010). Five-factor model personality traits and executive functioning among older adults. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(4), 485–491.Google Scholar
Yoon, K. L., Maltby, J., & Joormann, J. (2013). A pathway from neuroticism to depression: Examining the role of emotion regulation. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 26(5), 558–572.Google ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Quarles et al. supplementary material

Quarles et al. supplementary material
Download Quarles et al. supplementary material(File)
File 276.2 KB