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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: Equa9524@students.vsu.edu
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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

Information

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

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