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

Vainik, Uku; Realo, Anu; Colodro‐Conde, Lucía; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Jang, Kerry L.; Ando, Jun; Kandler, Christian; Sørensen, Thorkild I A; Mõttus, René

doi:10.1111/obr.12856

Cited by 58 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(174 reference statements)

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“…[28,29] proved that high levels of neuroticism are associated with high body mass index, especially in women and the elderly. Similar results were also obtained as a result of an extensive study (involving 14,848 people) conducted by Vainik U. and coauthors [30].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Correlations of body structure and size indicators with personality indicators of practically healthy women with mesomorphic somatotype

Andriievskyi

Serebrennikova

Kyrychenko

et al. 2020

Biomed. and Biosoc. Anthrop.

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The category of personality is one of the basic concepts for psychology, but at the same time the most controversial in theoretical and methodological terms. That is why the study of personal characteristics in different populations, ethnicities, ages, professional groups, etc. still does not lose its relevance in the scientific field. Given that certain components of individual personality traits are innate, it is advisable to find connections between them and the characteristics of the human body. The purpose of the work is to determine and analyze the peculiarities of correlations between indicators of body structure and size and personality indicators of practically healthy women with mesomorphic somatotype. Primary anthropo-somatotypological and personality indicators of 33 practically healthy Ukrainian women of the first mature age of mesomorphic somatotype were selected from the data bank of materials of the research center of National Pirogov Memorial Medical University, Vinnytsya. The analysis of correlations between anthropo-somatotypological and indicators of personality traits was performed in the licensed package "Statistica 6.1" using the non-parametric Spearman's method. Multiple, mostly reliable, medium-strength straight lines (r = -0.35 to -0.50), Eysenck G. insincerity scales with the majority of girth dimensions, thickness of skin and fat folds, somatotype components, and body weight component composition; multiple, mostly significant medium-strength inverse (r = -0.37 to -0.52) correlations of the exaltation character of the exalted type according to Shmishek G. with the majority of girth dimensions, the majority of pelvic sizes, somatotype components and components of body weight composition; multiple significant mean strength inverse (r = -0.38 to -0.49) correlations of the extraversion-introversion scale according to Eysenck G. with the thickness of the skin and fat folds of the upper limb and under the shoulder blade. In other cases, single, medium-strength, reliable and unreliable direct and inverse correlations of anthropo-somatotypological indicators with the leading typological characteristics of temperament, psychodynamic features of personality and indicators of severity and features of accentuated personality traits. As a result of quantitative analysis of reliable and unreliable average correlations of anthropo-somatotypological indicators with personality traits of practically healthy women of mesomorphic somatotype, the highest relative percentage of correlations was found between: leading typological characteristics of temperament according to Eysenck G. and somatotype components body weight composition and body girth; psychodynamic personality traits according to Spielberger C. D. and longitudinal body size, thickness of skin and fat folds and components of the somatotype; indicators of severity and features of accentuated personality traits according to Shmishek G. and indicators of the component composition of body weight, somatotype components, body circumference and thickness of skin and fat folds; indicators of the level of subjective control over Rotter J. and the width of the distal epiphyses of the extremities and the transverse dimensions of the body.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Correlations of body structure and size indicators with personality indicators of practically healthy women with mesomorphic somatotype

Andriievskyi

Serebrennikova

Kyrychenko

et al. 2020

Biomed. and Biosoc. Anthrop.

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“…Although similar negative relations between Neuroticism and BMI have been reported previously 13,50,51 , positive correlations have been found between them elsewhere 52,53 . Future studies could consider potential moderators to clarify the nature of their links.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Two genetic analyses to elucidate causality between body mass index and personality

Arumäe¹,

Briley²,

Colodro‐Conde³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Importance: Many personality traits robustly correlate with BMI, but the existence and direction of causality are unclear. As personality traits also correlate with various other mental and physical health outcomes, understanding causality in these intersections is widely useful; understanding causality between BMI and personality specifically could inform weight management strategies (if personality influences BMI) or delineate mechanisms of personality development (if otherwise).Objective: To test the existence and direction of causal links between BMI and personality.Design: Two genetically informed analyses. In Mendelian randomization, an allele score for BMI was used to predict eating-specific and domain-general phenotypic personality scores, and allele scores for personality traits were used to predict phenotypic BMI. In Direction of Causation, twin data were used to infer the best-fitting causal model (personality influencing BMI, BMI influencing personality, reciprocal causation, or no causation).Setting: Cross-sectional data: molecular genetic data for Mendelian randomization, twin data for Direction of Causation.Participants: Mendelian randomization used Estonian Biobank data (N=3,541); Direction of Causation combined twin samples from five countries (N=5,424).Exposures: In Mendelian randomization, genetic propensity for BMI and the personality traits Neuroticism, Worry, and Depressive Affect was summarized in allele scores. In Direction of Causation, phenotypic BMI and phenotypic personality scores were treated as both exposures and outcomes. Phenotypic scores for domain-general and eating-specific personality were calculated by summing relevant questionnaire items weighted by their empirical association with BMI, maximizing statistical power.Main outcomes and measures: Phenotypic BMI and phenotypic personality scores.Results: The allele score for BMI predicted domain-general (β=0.05, 95% CI 0.01–0.08, P=.009) and eating-specific phenotypic personality score (β=0.05, 95% CI 0.01–0.08, P=.009). The allele score for Worry also predicted BMI (β=-0.07, 95% CI -0.10–-0.03, P<.001), while those for Neuroticism and Depressive Affect did not (P≥.358). In Direction of Causation, BMI similarly predicted domain-general (β=0.21, 95% CI 0.18–0.24, P<.001) and eating-specific personality (β=0.19, 95% CI 0.16–0.22, P<.001). In exploratory analyses, causal links between BMI and domain-general personality traits appeared reciprocal for higher-weight individuals (BMI>~25).Conclusions and Relevance: Results suggest an influence of BMI on personality. Maintaining or achieving normal-range weight may contribute to a more favorable personality profile, possibly relevant in mental health and general well-being.Supplement: Supplementary online content available at https://osf.io/meqxn/

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“…Although the exact structure of facets is still debated and authors have proposed different solutions (e.g., Ashton & Lee, 2007;Condon, 2018;Soto & John, 2017), the 30-facet solution implemented in the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (six for each Big Five domain; NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992) has been widely used. Facets contain a substantial amount of unique information about how people differ in personality, above and beyond the domains under which they are subsumed (e.g., Elleman, Condon, Holtzman, Allen, & Revelle, 2020;Elleman, McDouglad, Condon, & Revelle, 2020;Mõttus, 2016;Mõttus & Rozgonjuk, 2019;Paunonen & Ashton, 2001;Vainik et al, 2019).…”

Section: Personality and Conservation Psychologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Big Five facets' associations with pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors

Soutter

Mõttus

2020

Journal of Personality

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Climate change mandates us to understand why individuals do (not) behave pro‐environmentally and personality traits are well suited for this purpose. Past research has mostly focused on how broad domain‐level personality traits were associated with pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors. In two datasets (N = 501 and 287), we examined whether personality facets provided a more detailed picture of how personality traits were associated with pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors. It was found that some facets were the main drivers of domain‐level associations. Furthermore, it was found that facets, collectively, predicted pro‐environmental attitudes (r = .50 to .52) and behaviors (r = .29 to .42) in holdout datasets. This predictive ability was on par with the predictive ability of domains. Therefore, facets provided a greater understanding of how personality traits were associated with pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors. Furthermore, facets provided a similar predictive ability of pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors to that of domains.

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

Cited by 58 publications

References 70 publications

Correlations of body structure and size indicators with personality indicators of practically healthy women with mesomorphic somatotype

Correlations of body structure and size indicators with personality indicators of practically healthy women with mesomorphic somatotype

Two genetic analyses to elucidate causality between body mass index and personality

Big Five facets' associations with pro‐environmental attitudes and behaviors

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