Normative and Maladaptive Personality Traits and Self-Reported Executive Functioning

Abstract

Research on self-reported executive functioning (EF) and personality has largely focused on normative personality traits. While previous research has demonstrated that maladaptive personality traits are associated with performance-based EF, the literature examining the relationship between these traits and self-reported EF is limited. The current study examined the relationship between multiple domains of self-reported EF (Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale) and both normative (The International Personality Item Pool–NEO–120 Item [IPIP-120]) and maladaptive (Personality Inventory for DSM-5–Short Form [PID-5-SF]) personality traits in an undergraduate student sample ( n = 354). Similar to past research, relationships were largest across EF domains for both measures related to neuroticism (i.e., IPIP-120 neuroticism and PID-5-SF negative affectivity) and conscientiousness (i.e., IPIP-120 conscientiousness and PID-5-SF disinhibition). Normative personality traits generally accounted for greater variance in EF when examined alone and were also generally associated with greater incremental validity when compared with maladaptive personality traits. However, multiple regression analyses indicated that maladaptive personality traits added unique predictive variance above and beyond normative personality traits in their association with multiple domains of EF. These results highlight the utility of assessing both normative and maladaptive personality traits as well as multiple domains of EF to more fully understand the relationship between personality and EF.

Maladaptive personality traits are associated with burnout risk in Italian anesthesiologists and intensivists: a secondary analysis from a cross-sectional study

“…Maladaptive personality traits, such as paranoid (pervasive and unwarranted mistrust and suspiciousness of others), are defined as enduring, inflexible traits that deviate significantly from cultural expectations, impairing an individual’s social, occupational, or personal functioning [ 10 – 12 ]. These traits, while present in various degrees among individuals, become particularly problematic when their expression is rigid and dysfunctional, contributing to significant distress or impairment [ 13 – 16 ].…”

Higher levels of neuroticism in older adults predict lower executive functioning across time: the mediating role of perceived stress

“…According to the Big Five Model, the following personality traits can be distinguished: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (Costa and McCrae, 1992). The relationship to EF has been repeatedly examined for openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness (Bell et al, 2020;Buchanan, 2016;Campbell et al, 2011;Chapman et al, 2017;DeYoung et al, 2010;Hall et al, 2014;Ihle et al, 2019c;Jensen-Campbell et al, 2002;Murdock et al, 2013;Roye et al, 2020;Schretlen et al, 2010;Unsworth et al, 2009;Williams et al, 2010). In contrast, so far, very few studies investigated the association between neuroticism and EF, and particularly how EF develop as a function of neuroticism in old age.…”

Neuroscientific insights into executive functions

“…(Burger, 2014). Previous studies already consistently linked low levels of conscientiousness and high levels of neuroticism to more self-reported complaints about EFs (Buchanan, 2016;Meltzer et al, 2017;Roye et al, 2022). In fact, the constructs conscientiousness and EF share similarities and there is overlap between the items of their self-report scales.…”