Driven to Tears or to Joy: Response Dominance and Trait-Based Predictions

Abstract

The present studies reinvigorate the construct of traitedness from a cognitive perspective. Tendencies toward habit (vs. flexibility) were assessed by examining response dominance performance within choice reaction time tasks. Consistent with the idea that response dominance reflects a tendency toward habitual modes of thought and action, three studies involving 428 undergraduates revealed that trait-outcome and test-retest correlations were higher among individuals higher in response dominance. In Studies 1 and 2, such trait-consistency effects took the form of stronger relations between extraversion and neuroticism, on one hand, and mood states and behavior, on the other. In Study 3, such tendencies took the form of higher test-retest correlations related to daily experiences of mood states, somatic symptoms, and life satisfaction. Together, the studies reveal a consistent effect of response dominance on trait-like consistency and raise some important issues for future studies of the traitedness construct.

Agreeableness and the self-regulation of negative affect: Findings involving the neuroticism/somatic distress relationship

“…However, recent studies have shown that there are a large number of variables that moderate relations between trait neuroticism and everyday experiences of distress. These variables include those related to threat-recognition skills (Tamir, Robinson, & Solberg, 2006), habitual response tendencies (Robinson, Goetz, Wilkowski, & Hoffman, 2006b), and perseveration tendencies (Robinson, Wilkowski, Kirkeby, & Meier, 2006a). Although these sorts of moderator variables are cognitive in nature rather than based on trait self-reports, the more general point is that skills related to self-regulation appear to mitigate neuroticism-linked tendencies toward distress (e.g., Robinson et al, 2006a).…”

Cognitive sources of evidence for neuroticism's link to punishment-reactivity processes

“…Participants were 31 (15 male) undergraduates from North Dakota State University who received extra credit. Individual differences in neuroticism were assessed using Goldberg's (1999) 10-item scale, which correlates highly with alternative measures of neuroticism such as that from the NEO-PI (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and has been shown to be reliable and valid in many previous studies (e.g., Robinson, Goetz, Wilkowski, & Hoffman, 2006a;Robinson & Meier, 2005;Tamir & Robinson, 2004). Participants indicated the extent (10very inaccurate; 50very accurate) to which items reflective of high (e.g., ''I get upset easily'') and low (e.g., ''I am relaxed most of the time'') levels of neuroticism generally characterise the self, with the latter items reverse scored.…”

Cognitive Control Moderates Relations Between Impulsivity and Bulimic Symptoms

“…In support of this moderation-related model, Robinson and colleagues have reported several studies in which higher levels of cognitive control moderated the tendency for neurotic individuals to experience higher distress in everyday life, such that neuroticism-distress relations were somewhat particular to individuals low in cognitive control (e.g., Robinson et al 2006a, b). No prior work of this type, however, has examined the potential moderating role of cognitive control in understanding impulsivity-linked outcomes and this was the specific focus of the present study.…”