Personality and Body Weight

Abstract

Models of personality and health have grown in complexity as more is discovered about how traits are related to health-related behaviors, morbidity, and mortality. The present article applies a model of personality and health that incorporates longitudinal relations, behavioral and physiological mechanisms, and context to the relation between Five-Factor Model personality traits and body mass index (BMI) and obesity (BMI≥30). Conscientiousness is associated consistently with lower body weight; the relation between the other traits and BMI is more complex. Conscientiousness is also associated with risk of obesity over time, and specific aspects of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism are associated with greater weight gain and are also sensitive to changes in weight over time. Behavioral (e.g., physical activity) and physiological (e.g., inflammation) factors explain part of the association between personality and BMI. Finally, the broader social environment shapes the expression of personality in relation to body weight. This review highlights replicable associations between personality and BMI and potential mechanisms of this association. Future research needs to better address how specific aspects of the social and family environment moderate the relation between personality and BMI and take a lifespan perspective to better incorporate how traits contribute to weight starting in childhood.

Personality‐obesity associations are driven by narrow traits: A meta‐analysis

“…In case personality trait–BMI associations slightly varied from sample to sample, we found that the variation was partly explained by general sample characteristics, such as percent of participants with obesity and prevalence of females in the sample. Sex differences in Extraversion‐BMI associations have been demonstrated previously and were found again in the current study. As novel findings, we reported obesity status moderating the effects of N5: Impulsiveness, C2: Order, and Extraversion.…”

“…The domain‐level associations of BMI with higher Neuroticism and lower Conscientiousness may suggest a role of increased anxious behaviour and decreased self‐control capabilities . However, many details remain hidden in broad domain‐based findings.…”

“…As novel findings, we reported obesity status moderating the effects of N5: Impulsiveness, C2: Order, and Extraversion. Therefore, the previously observed effect size differences between samples attributed to culture may also be attributed to differences in basic sample characteristics. In future, these basic characteristics should be accounted for, before attributing effect size differences to culture.…”

“…Obesity is a widespread and broadly consequential health condition, characterized by excess body fat. Studies using body mass index (BMI; kg/m 2 ) as a proxy for body fat percentage have associated BMI with several personality traits . As personality traits summarize stable patterns in how people typically think, act, feel, and behave, they may prove instrumental in delineating how people with obesity differ from people with normal weight status in their typical, weight‐relevant behaviour.…”

“…For instance, the associations of Neuroticism and Extraversion with BMI may be moderated by sex: Conceivably, women are more likely to engage in negative but men in positive emotional eating . Sutin and Terracciano also discussed cultural difference such as Conscientiousness having weaker associations with BMI in Asia or Neuroticism having weaker associations in Latin America. However, they omitted sample differences in age and prevalence of obesity as potential moderators; these variables have been tested as moderators in a meta‐analysis on the associations between BMI and executive function …”