TY - JOUR
T1 - Personality and physiological reactions to acute psychological stress
AU - Bibbey, Adam
AU - Carroll, Douglas
AU - Roseboom, TJ
AU - Phillips, Anna
AU - De Rooij, SR
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Stable personality traits have long been presumed to have biological substrates, although the evidence relating personality to biological stress reactivity is inconclusive. The present study examined, in a large middle aged cohort (N = 352), the relationship between key personality traits and both cortisol and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured at rest and in response to a psychological stress protocol comprising 5 min each of a Stroop task, mirror tracing, and a speech task. Participants subsequently completed the Big Five Inventory to assess neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Those with higher neuroticism scores exhibited smaller cortisol and cardiovascular stress reactions, whereas participants who were less agreeable and less open had smaller cortisol and cardiac reactions to stress. These associations remained statistically significant following adjustment for a range of potential confounding variables. Thus, a negative personality disposition would appear to be linked to diminished stress reactivity. These findings further support a growing body of evidence which suggests that blunted stress reactivity may be maladaptive.
AB - Stable personality traits have long been presumed to have biological substrates, although the evidence relating personality to biological stress reactivity is inconclusive. The present study examined, in a large middle aged cohort (N = 352), the relationship between key personality traits and both cortisol and cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress. Salivary cortisol and cardiovascular activity were measured at rest and in response to a psychological stress protocol comprising 5 min each of a Stroop task, mirror tracing, and a speech task. Participants subsequently completed the Big Five Inventory to assess neuroticism, agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, and conscientiousness. Those with higher neuroticism scores exhibited smaller cortisol and cardiovascular stress reactions, whereas participants who were less agreeable and less open had smaller cortisol and cardiac reactions to stress. These associations remained statistically significant following adjustment for a range of potential confounding variables. Thus, a negative personality disposition would appear to be linked to diminished stress reactivity. These findings further support a growing body of evidence which suggests that blunted stress reactivity may be maladaptive.
KW - Acute stress
KW - Agreeableness
KW - Cardiovascular activity
KW - Cortisol
KW - Neuroticism
KW - Openness
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.10.018
DO - 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2012.10.018
M3 - Article
C2 - 23147393
SN - 0167-8760
VL - 90
SP - 28
EP - 36
JO - International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
JF - International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology
IS - 1
ER -