Neuroticism: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:11, 15 August 2017

Neuroticism is one of the Big Five higher-order personality traits in the study of psychology. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody and to experience such feelings as anxiety, worry, fear, anger, frustration, envy, jealousy, guilt, depressed mood, and loneliness.^[1] People who are neurotic respond worse to stressors and are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They are often self-conscious and shy, and they may have trouble controlling urges and delaying gratification.

People with high neuroticism indexes are at risk for the development and onset of common mental disorders,^[2]^[3] such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorder, symptoms of which had traditionally been called neuroses.^[3]^[4]

History

Galen of Pergamom popularized the idea that mixes of four bodily fluids or humours resulted in four personality types or temperaments. The melancholic personality type, which can be seen as the conceptual predecessor of neuroticism, was characterized by being mentally unbalanced, fearful, anxious, or sad. According to Hippocrates, it resulted from too much black bile.^[5]

Definition

Neuroticism is a trait in many models within personality theory, but there is little agreement on its definition. Some define it as a tendency for quick arousal when stimulated and slow relaxation from arousal; others define it as emotional instability and negativity or maladjustment, in contrast to emotional stability and positivity, or good adjustment. Others yet define it as lack of self-control, poor ability to manage psychological stress, and a tendency to complain.^[6]

Various personality tests produce numerical scores, and these scores are mapped onto the concept of "neuroticism" in various ways, which has created some confusion in the scientific literature, especially with regard to sub-traits or "facets".^[6]

Individuals who score low in neuroticism tend to be more emotionally stable and less reactive to stress. They tend to be calm, even-tempered, and less likely to feel tense or rattled. Although they are low in negative emotion, they are not necessarily high on positive emotion. Being high in scores of positive emotion is generally an element of the independent trait of extraversion. Neurotic extraverts, for example, would experience high levels of both positive and negative emotional states, a kind of "emotional roller coaster".^[7]^[8]

Measurement

Like other personality traits, neuroticism is typically viewed as a continuous dimension rather than a discrete state. Neuroticism test scores approximate a normal distribution given a large enough sample of people.

The extent of neuroticism is generally assessed using self-report measures, although peer-reports and third-party observation can also be used. Self-report measures are either lexical^[1] or based on statements.^[9] Deciding which measure of either type to use in research is determined by an assessment of psychometric properties and the time and space constraints of the study being undertaken.

Lexical measures use individual adjectives that reflect neurotic traits, such as anxiety, envy, jealousy, and moodiness, and are very space and time efficient for research purposes. Lewis Goldberg (1992)^[10] developed a 20-word measure as part of his 100-word Big Five markers. Saucier (1994)^[11] developed a briefer 8-word measure as part of his 40-word mini-markers. Thompson (2008)^[1] systematically revised these measures to develop the International English Mini-Markers which has superior validity and reliability in populations both within and outside North America. Internal consistency reliability of the International English Mini-Markers for the Neuroticism (emotional stability) measure for native English-speakers is reported as .84, and that for non-native English-speakers is .77.^[1]

Statement measures tend to comprise more words, and hence consume more research instrument space, than lexical measures. Respondents are asked the extent to which they, for example, "Remain calm under pressure", or "Have frequent mood swings".^[9] While some statement-based measures of neuroticism have similarly acceptable psychometric properties in North American populations to lexical measures, their generally emic development makes them less suited to use in other populations.^[12] For instance, statements in colloquial North American English like "Seldom feel blue" and "Am often down in the dumps" are sometimes hard for non-native English-speakers to understand.

Neuroticism has also been studied from the perspective of Gray's biopsychological theory of personality, using a scale that measures personality along two dimensions: the behavioural inhibition system (BIS) and the behavioural activation system (BAS).^[13]^[14] The BIS is thought to be related to sensitivity to punishment as well as avoidance motivation, while the BAS is thought to be related to sensitivity to reward as well as approach motivation. Neuroticism has been found to be positively correlated with the BIS scale, and negatively correlated with the BAS scale.^[15]^[16]

Neuroticism has been included as one of the four dimensions that comprise core self-evaluations, one's fundamental appraisal of oneself, along with locus of control, self-efficacy, and self-esteem.^[17] The concept of core self-evaluations was first examined by Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997),^[17] and since then evidence has been found to suggest these have the ability to predict several work outcomes, specifically, job satisfaction and job performance.^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21]

There is a risk of selection bias in surveys of neuroticism; a 2012 review of N-scores said that "many studies used samples drawn from privileged and educated populations".^[6]

Mental disorder correlations

Questions used in many neuroticism scales overlap with instruments used to assess mental disorders like anxiety disorders (especially social anxiety disorder) and mood disorders (especially major depressive disorder), which can sometimes confound efforts to interpret N scores, and makes it difficult to determine whether each of neuroticism and the overlapping mental disorders might cause the other, or if both might stem from other cause. Correlations can be identified.^[6]

A 2013 meta-analysis found that a wide range of clinical mental disorders are associated with elevated levels of neuroticism compared to levels in the general population.^[22]^[23] It found that high neuroticism is predictive for the development of anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, psychosis, and schizophrenia, and is predictive but less so for substance abuse and non-specific mental distress.^[2] These associations are smaller after adjustment for elevated baseline symptoms of the mental illnesses and psychiatric history.^[2]

Neuroticism has also been found to be associated with death. In 2007, Mroczek & Spiro found that among older men, upward trends in neuroticism over life as well as increased neuroticism overall both contributed to higher mortality rates.^[24]

Mood disorders

Disorders associated with elevated neuroticism include mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and hypochondriasis. Mood disorders tend to have a much larger association with neuroticism than most other disorders.^[2]^[22] The five big studies have described children and adolescents with high neuroticism as "anxious, vulnerable, tense, easily frightened, 'falling apart' under stress, guilt-prone, moody, low in frustration tolerance, and insecure in relationships with others," which includes both traits concerning the prevalence of negative emotions as well as the response to these negative emotions.^[25] Neuroticism in adults similarly were found to be associated with the frequency of self-reported problems.^[25]

These associations can vary with culture: for example, Adams found that among upper-middle-class American teenaged girls, neuroticism was associated in eating disorders and cutting, but among Ghanaian teenaged girls, higher neuroticism was associated with magical thinking and extreme fear of enemies.^[24]

Personality disorders

A 2004 meta-analysis attempted to analyze personality disorders in light of the five-factor personality theory and failed to find meaningful disciminations; it did find that elevated neuroticism is correlated with many personality disorders.^[26]

Theories of causation

Mental-noise hypothesis

Studies have found that the mean reaction times will not differ between individuals high in neuroticism and those low in neuroticism, but that, with individuals high in neuroticism, there is considerably more trial-to-trial variability in performance reflected in reaction time standard deviations. In other words, on some trials neurotic individuals are faster than average, and on others they are slower than average. It has been suggested that this variability reflects noise in the individual's information processing systems or instability of basic cognitive operations (such as regulation processes), and further that this noise originates from two sources: mental preoccupations and reactivity processes.^[27]

Flehmig et al. (2007) studied mental noise in terms of everyday behaviours using the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire, which is a self-report measure of the frequency of slips and lapses of attention. A "slip" is an error by commission, and a "lapse" is an error by omission. This scale was correlated with two well-known measures of neuroticism, the BIS/BAS scale and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Results indicated that the CFQ-UA (Cognitive Failures Questionnaire- Unintended Activation) subscale was most strongly correlated with neuroticism (r = .40)^{[clarification needed]} and explained the most variance (16%) compared to overall CFQ scores, which only explained 7%. The authors interpret these findings as suggesting that mental noise is "highly specific in nature" as it is related most strongly to attention slips triggered endogenously by associative memory. In other words, this may suggest that mental noise is mostly task-irrelevant cognitions such as worries and preoccupations.^[28]

Evolutionary psychology

The theory of evolution may also explain differences in personality.^[29] For example, one of the evolutionary approaches to depression focuses on neuroticism and finds that heightened reactivity to negative outcomes may have had a survival benefit, and that furthermore a positive relationship has been found between neuroticism level and success in university with the precondition that the negative effects of neuroticism are also successfully coped with.^[30] Likewise, a heightened reactivity to positive events may have had reproductive advantages, selecting for heightened reactivity generally.^[22] Nettle contends that evolution selected for higher levels of neuroticism until the negative effects of neuroticism outweighed its benefits, resulting in selection for a certain optimal level of neuroticism. This type of selection will result in a normal distribution of neuroticism, so the extremities of the distribution will be individuals with excessive neuroticism or too low neuroticism for what is optimal, and the ones with excessive neuroticism would therefore be more vulnerable to the negative effects of depression, and Nettle gives this as the explanation for the existence of depression rather than hypothesizing, as others have, that depression itself has any evolutionary benefit.^[30]

Terror management theory

According to Terror Management Theory (TMT) neuroticism is primarily caused by insufficient anxiety buffers against unconscious death anxiety^[31]. These buffers consist of

1) Cultural worldviews that impart life with a sense of enduring meaning, such as social continuity beyond one's death, future legacy and afterlife beliefs, and

2) A sense of personal value or self-esteem in the context of this cultural worldview or enduring meaning.

While TMT agrees with standard Evolutionary Psychology accounts that the roots of neuroticism in Homo Sapiens or its ancestors are likely in adaptive sensitivities to negative outcomes, it posits that once Homo Sapiens achieved a higher level of self-awareness, neuroticism increased enormously, becoming largely a spandrel, a non-adaptive byproduct of our adaptive intelligence, which resulted in a crippling awareness of death that threatened to undermine other adaptive functions. This overblown anxiety thus needed to be buffered via intelligently creative, but largely fictitious and arbitrary notions of cultural meaning and personal value. Since highly religious or supernatural conceptions of the world provide "cosmic" personal significance and literal immortality, they are deemed to offer the most efficient buffers against death anxiety and neuroticism. Thus, historically, the shift to more materialistic and secular cultures - starting in the neolithic, and culminating in the industrial revolution, is deemed to have increased neuroticism.^[31]

Genetic and environmental factors

A 2013 review found that "Neuroticism is the product of the interplay between genetic and environmental influences. Heritability estimates typically range from 40% to 60%."^[3] The effect size of these genetic differences remain largely the same throughout development, but the hunt for any specific genes that control neuroticism levels has "turned out to be difficult and hardly successful so far."^[3] On the other hand, with regards to environmental influences, adversities during development such as "emotional neglect and sexual abuse" were found to be positively associated with neuroticism.^[3] However, "sustained change in neuroticism and mental health are rather rare or have only small effects."^[3]

In children and adolescents, psychologists speak of temperamental negative affectivity that, during adolescence, develops into the neuroticism personality domain.^[24] Mean neuroticism levels change throughout the lifespan as a function of personality maturation and social roles,^[32]^[33] but also the expression of new genes.^[34] Neuroticism in particular was found to decrease as a result of maturity by decreasing through age 40 and then leveling off.^[24] Generally speaking, the influence of environments on neuroticism increases over the lifespan,^[34] although people probably select and evoke experiences based on their neuroticism levels.^[25]

The emergent field of "imaging genetics," which investigates the role of genetic variation in the structure and function of the brain, has studied certain genes suggested to be related to neuroticism, and the one studied so far concerning this topic has been the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region gene known as 5-HTTLPR, which is transcribed into a serotonin transporter that removes serotonin.^[22] It has been found that compared to the long (l) variant of 5-HTTLPR, the short (s) variant has reduced promoter activity, and the first study on this subject has shown that the presence of the s-variant 5-HTTLPR has been found to result in higher amygdala activity from seeing angry or fearful faces while doing a non-emotional task, with further studies confirming that the s-variant 5-HTTLPR result greater amygdala activity in response to negative sitmuli, but there have also been null findings.^[22] A meta-analysis of 14 studies have shown that this gene has a moderate effect size and accounts for 10% of the phenotypic difference. However, the relationship between brain activity and genetics may not be completely straightforward due to other factors, with suggestions made that cognitive control and stress may moderate the effect of the gene. There are two models that have been proposed to explain the type of association between the 5-HTTLPR gene and amygdala activity: "phasic activation" model proposes that the gene controls amygdala activity levels in response to stress, whereas the "tonic activation" model on the other hand proposes that the gene controls baseline amygdala activity. Another gene that has been suggested for further study to be related to neuroticism is the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene.^[22]

The anxiety and maladaptive stress responses that are aspects of neuroticism have been the subject of intensive study. Dysregulation of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and glucocorticoid system, and influence of different versions of the serotonin transporter and 5-HT1A receptor genes may influence the development of neuroticism in combination with environmental effects like the quality of upbringing.^[22]^[26]

Neuroimaging studies with fMRI have had mixed results, with some finding that increased activity in the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex, brain regions associated with arousal, is correlated with high neuroticism scores, as is activation of the associations have also been found with the medial prefrontal cortex, insular cortex, and hippocampus, while other studies have found no correlations.^[22]^[35] Further studies have been conducted trying to tighten experimental design by using genetics to add additional differentiation among participants, as well as twin study models.^[22]

A related trait, behavioral inhibition, or "inhibition to the unfamiliar," has received attention as the trait concerning withdrawal or fear from unfamiliar situations, which is generally measured through observation of child behavior in response to, for example, encountering unfamiliar individuals. This trait in particular has been hypothesized to be related to amygdala function, but evidence so far has been mixed.^[25]

Demographic and geographic patterns

A 2013 review found that groups associated with higher levels of neuroticism are young adults who are at high risk for mood disorders and women.^[22]

For gender, the same review found that "research in large samples has shown that levels of N (neuroticism) are higher in women than men. This is a robust finding that is consistent across cultures. This is especially the case during the reproductive years, but is also visible in children and elderly." It furthermore said that EEG responses showed clear differences between the genders in individuals with high N levels, but no functional MRI studies have yet been performed to investigate the differences in genders regarding N. However, there is a reason to suspect physiological differences to play a role because of previous studies that showed for example, a correlation between the size of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and N in female teenagers, so "the issue of sex differences in N and the implications for understanding N’s neurobiological basis deserve more detailed and systematic investigation."^[22] A 2010 review found personality differences between genders to be between "small and moderate," the largest of those differences being in the traits of agreeableness and neuroticism.^[36] Many personality traits were found to have had larger personality differences between men and women in developed countries compared to less developed countries, and differences in three traits -- extraversion, neuroticism, and people-versus-thing orientation -- showed differences that remained consistent across different levels of economic development, which is also consistent with the "possible influence of biologic factors."^[36] Three cross-cultural studies have revealed higher levels of female neuroticism across almost all nations: 25 out of 26 in Costa et al.'s study, 53 out of 55 in Schmitt's study, and 52 out of 53 in Lippa's study.^[36]

Geographically, a 2016 review said that in the US, neuroticism is highest in the mid-Atlantic states and southwards and declines westward, while openness is highest in ethnically diverse regions of the mid-Atlantic, New England, the West Coast, and cities. Likewise, in the UK neuroticism is lowest in urban areas. Generally, geographical studies find correlations between low neuroticism and entrepreneurship and economic vitality, and correlations between high neuroticism and poor health outcomes. The review found that the causal relationship between regional cultural and economic conditions and psychological health was entirely unclear.^[37]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Thompson, E.R. (October 2008). "Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers". Personality and Individual Differences. 45 (6): 542–548. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.013.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Jeronimus B.F.; Kotov, R.; Riese, H.; Ormel, J. (2016). "Neuroticism's prospective association with mental disorders halves after adjustment for baseline symptoms and psychiatric history, but the adjusted association hardly decays with time: a meta-analysis on 59 longitudinal/prospective studies with 443 313 participants". Psychological Medicine. 46 (14): 2883–2906. doi:10.1017/S0033291716001653. PMID 27523506.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Ormel J.; Jeronimus, B.F.; Kotov, M.; Riese, H.; Bos, E.H.; Hankin, B. (2013). "Neuroticism and common mental disorders: Meaning and utility of a complex relationship". Clinical Psychology Review. 33 (5): 686–697. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003. PMC 4382368. PMID 23702592.
^ Carducci, Bernardo J (2009-02-20). "The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications": 173–174. ISBN 978-1-4051-3635-8.
^ Berrios, G. E. (1988). "Melancholia and depression during the 19th century: A conceptual history". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 153 (3): 298–304. doi:10.1192/bjp.153.3.298. PMID 3074848.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ormel, J; Riese, H; Rosmalen, JG (February 2012). "Interpreting neuroticism scores across the adult life course: immutable or experience-dependent set points of negative affect?". Clinical psychology review. 32 (1): 71–9. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.10.004. PMID 22172577.
^ Passer, Michael W.; Smith, Ronald E. (2009). Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN 978-0-07-711836-5.
^ De Neve, K., Cooper, H. (1998). "The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being". Psychological Bulletin. 124 (2): 197–229. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197. PMID 9747186.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Goldberg, L.R.; Johnson, JA; Eber, HW; et al. (2006). "The international personality item pool and the future of public-domain personality measures". Journal of Research in Personality. 40 (1): 84–96. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2005.08.007.
^ Goldberg, L.R. (1992). "The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure". Psychological Assessment. 4 (1): 26–42. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26.
^ Saucier, G (1994). "Mini-Markers – a brief version of Goldberg's unipolar big-five markers". Journal of Personality Assessment. 63 (3): 506–516. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6303_8. PMID 7844738.
^ Piedmont, R.L.; Chae, J.H. (1997). "Cross-cultural generalizability of the five-factor model of personality - Development and validation of the NEO PI-R for Koreans". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 28 (2): 131–155. doi:10.1177/0022022197282001.
^ Gray, J.A. (1981). A critique of Eysenck's theory of personality, In H.J. Eysenck (Ed.) A model for personality (pp 246–276)
^ Gray, J.A. (1982). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system.
^ Boksema, M.A.S, Topsa, M., Westera, A.E., Meijmana, T.F. & Lorist, M.M. (June 2006). "Error-related ERP components and individual differences in punishment and reward sensitivity". Brain Research. 1101 (1): 92–101. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.05.004. PMID 16784728.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Carver, C.S. & White, T.L. (1994). "Behavioral Inhibition, Behavioral Activation, and Affective Responses to Impending Reward and Punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 67 (2): 319–333. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.319.
^ ^a ^b ^c Judge T. A.; Locke E. A.; Durham C. C. (1997). "The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach". Research in Organizational Behavior. 19: 151–188.
^ Bono J. E.; Judge T. A. (2003). "Core self-evaluations: A review of the trait and its role in job satisfaction and job performance". European Journal of Personality. 17 (Suppl 1): S5–S18. doi:10.1002/per.48 (inactive 2017-08-10).
^ Dormann C.; Fay D.; Zapf D.; Frese M. (2006). "A state-trait analysis of job satisfaction: On the effect of core self-evaluations". Applied Psychology: an International Review. 55 (1): 27–51. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00227.x.
^ Judge T. A.; Locke E. A.; Durham C. C.; Kluger A. N. (1998). "Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations". Journal of Applied Psychology. 83 (1): 17–34. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.83.1.17. PMID 9494439.
^ Judge T. A.; Bono J. E. (2001). "Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis". Journal of Applied Psychology. 86 (1): 80–92. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80. PMID 11302235.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Ormel, J; Bastiaansen, A; Riese, H; Bos, EH; Servaas, M; Ellenbogen, M; Rosmalen, JG; Aleman, A (January 2013). "The biological and psychological basis of neuroticism: current status and future directions". Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 37 (1): 59–72. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.09.004. PMID 23068306. ... two groups that have both been associated with elevated N scores – healthy women relative to men (Ellenbogen et al., 1996), and young adults at high risk for affective disorders (p62). Research in large samples has shown that levels of N are higher in women than men. This is a robust finding that is consistent across cultures (Costa et al., 2001). This is especially the case during the reproductive years, but is also visible in children and elderly (Jorm, 1987). ....Clearly, the issue of sex differences in N and the implications for understanding N’s neurobiological basis deserve more detailed and systematic investigation. (p65)}}
^ Kotov; et al. (2010). "Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: a meta-analysis". Psychological Bulletin. 136 (5): 768–821. doi:10.1037/a0020327. PMID 20804236.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d McAdams, D.P.; Olson, B.D. (2010). "Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course". Annual Review of Psychology. 61: 517–42. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507. PMID 19534589.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Caspi, A.; Shiner, R. (2011). Temperament and Personality, in Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (5th ed). Malden: Blackwell Publishing Limited. p. 182. doi:10.1002/9781444300895. ISBN 9781444300895.
^ ^a ^b Depue, RA; Fu, Y (June 2011). "Neurogenetic and experiential processes underlying major personality traits: implications for modelling personality disorders". International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England). 23 (3): 258–81. doi:10.3109/09540261.2011.599315. PMID 21923227.
^ Robinson, M.D & Tamir, M. (2006). "Neuroticism as mental noise: a relation between neuroticism and reaction time standard deviations". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 89 (1): 107–114. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.1.107. PMID 16060749.
^ Flehmig, H.C., Steinborn, M., Langner, R., & Westhoff, K. (2007). "Neuroticism and the mental noise hypothesis: Relationships to lapses of attention and slips of action in everyday life". Psychology Science. 49 (4): 343–360.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Buss, D.M. (1991). "Evolutionary personality psychology". Annual Review of Psychology. 42: 459–491. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.42.1.459.
^ ^a ^b Allen, N.; Badcock, P. (2006). "Darwinian models of depression: A review of evolutionary accounts of mood and mood disorders". Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 30 (5): 815–826. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.007. PMID 16647176.
^ ^a ^b Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289309102_Thirty_Years_of_Terror_Management_Theory
^ Roberts, B.W., Walton, K.E., Viechtbauer, W. (2006). "Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits Across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies". Psychological Bulletin. 132 (1): 1–25. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1. PMID 16435954.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ McCrae, R.R.; et al. (1999). "Age Differences in Personality Across the Adult Life Span: Parallels in Five Cultures". Developmental Psychology. 35 (2): 466–477. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.466. PMID 10082017.
^ ^a ^b Briley, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2014). "Genetic and environmental continuity in personality development: A meta-analysis". Psychological Bulletin. 140 (5): 1303–31. doi:10.1037/a0037091. PMC 4152379. PMID 24956122.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Servaas, MN; van der Velde, J; Costafreda, SG; Horton, P; Ormel, J; Riese, H; Aleman, A (September 2013). "Neuroticism and the brain: a quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies investigating emotion processing". Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 37 (8): 1518–29. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.005. PMID 23685122.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lippa, Richard A. (2010). "Gender Differences in Personality and Interests: When, Where, and Why?". Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 4 (11): 1098–1110. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00320.x. ISSN 1751-9004.
^ Rentfrow, Peter J.; Jokela, Markus (December 2016). "Geographical Psychology". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 25 (6): 393–398. doi:10.1177/0963721416658446.

[Thompson-1] Thompson, E.R. (October 2008). "Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers". Personality and Individual Differences. 45 (6): 542–548. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.013.

[NeuroticismMA-2] Jeronimus B.F.; Kotov, R.; Riese, H.; Ormel, J. (2016). "Neuroticism's prospective association with mental disorders halves after adjustment for baseline symptoms and psychiatric history, but the adjusted association hardly decays with time: a meta-analysis on 59 longitudinal/prospective studies with 443 313 participants". Psychological Medicine. 46 (14): 2883–2906. doi:10.1017/S0033291716001653. PMID 27523506.

[Ormel2013a-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Ormel J.; Jeronimus, B.F.; Kotov, M.; Riese, H.; Bos, E.H.; Hankin, B. (2013). "Neuroticism and common mental disorders: Meaning and utility of a complex relationship". Clinical Psychology Review. 33 (5): 686–697. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003. PMC 4382368. PMID 23702592.

[4] Carducci, Bernardo J (2009-02-20). "The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications": 173–174. ISBN 978-1-4051-3635-8.

[5] Berrios, G. E. (1988). "Melancholia and depression during the 19th century: A conceptual history". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 153 (3): 298–304. doi:10.1192/bjp.153.3.298. PMID 3074848.

[Ormel2012-6] Ormel, J; Riese, H; Rosmalen, JG (February 2012). "Interpreting neuroticism scores across the adult life course: immutable or experience-dependent set points of negative affect?". Clinical psychology review. 32 (1): 71–9. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.10.004. PMID 22172577.

[PasserSmith2009-7] Passer, Michael W.; Smith, Ronald E. (2009). Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN 978-0-07-711836-5.

[DeNeve-8] De Neve, K., Cooper, H. (1998). "The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being". Psychological Bulletin. 124 (2): 197–229. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197. PMID 9747186.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

[Goldbergetal-9] Goldberg, L.R.; Johnson, JA; Eber, HW; et al. (2006). "The international personality item pool and the future of public-domain personality measures". Journal of Research in Personality. 40 (1): 84–96. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2005.08.007.

[10] Goldberg, L.R. (1992). "The development of markers for the Big-Five factor structure". Psychological Assessment. 4 (1): 26–42. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.4.1.26.

[11] Saucier, G (1994). "Mini-Markers – a brief version of Goldberg's unipolar big-five markers". Journal of Personality Assessment. 63 (3): 506–516. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6303_8. PMID 7844738.

[12] Piedmont, R.L.; Chae, J.H. (1997). "Cross-cultural generalizability of the five-factor model of personality - Development and validation of the NEO PI-R for Koreans". Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 28 (2): 131–155. doi:10.1177/0022022197282001.

[13] Gray, J.A. (1981). A critique of Eysenck's theory of personality, In H.J. Eysenck (Ed.) A model for personality (pp 246–276)

[14] Gray, J.A. (1982). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system.

[15] Boksema, M.A.S, Topsa, M., Westera, A.E., Meijmana, T.F. & Lorist, M.M. (June 2006). "Error-related ERP components and individual differences in punishment and reward sensitivity". Brain Research. 1101 (1): 92–101. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2006.05.004. PMID 16784728.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

[16] Carver, C.S. & White, T.L. (1994). "Behavioral Inhibition, Behavioral Activation, and Affective Responses to Impending Reward and Punishment: The BIS/BAS Scales". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 67 (2): 319–333. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.319.

[Judge1997-17] Judge T. A.; Locke E. A.; Durham C. C. (1997). "The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach". Research in Organizational Behavior. 19: 151–188.

[BonoJudge2003-18] Bono J. E.; Judge T. A. (2003). "Core self-evaluations: A review of the trait and its role in job satisfaction and job performance". European Journal of Personality. 17 (Suppl 1): S5–S18. doi:10.1002/per.48 (inactive 2017-08-10).

[dorman2006-19] Dormann C.; Fay D.; Zapf D.; Frese M. (2006). "A state-trait analysis of job satisfaction: On the effect of core self-evaluations". Applied Psychology: an International Review. 55 (1): 27–51. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00227.x.

[judge1998b-20] Judge T. A.; Locke E. A.; Durham C. C.; Kluger A. N. (1998). "Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations". Journal of Applied Psychology. 83 (1): 17–34. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.83.1.17. PMID 9494439.

[judge2001a-21] Judge T. A.; Bono J. E. (2001). "Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis". Journal of Applied Psychology. 86 (1): 80–92. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80. PMID 11302235.

[Ormel2013b-22] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Ormel, J; Bastiaansen, A; Riese, H; Bos, EH; Servaas, M; Ellenbogen, M; Rosmalen, JG; Aleman, A (January 2013). "The biological and psychological basis of neuroticism: current status and future directions". Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 37 (1): 59–72. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.09.004. PMID 23068306. ... two groups that have both been associated with elevated N scores – healthy women relative to men (Ellenbogen et al., 1996), and young adults at high risk for affective disorders (p62). Research in large samples has shown that levels of N are higher in women than men. This is a robust finding that is consistent across cultures (Costa et al., 2001). This is especially the case during the reproductive years, but is also visible in children and elderly (Jorm, 1987). ....Clearly, the issue of sex differences in N and the implications for understanding N’s neurobiological basis deserve more detailed and systematic investigation. (p65)}}

[23] Kotov; et al. (2010). "Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: a meta-analysis". Psychological Bulletin. 136 (5): 768–821. doi:10.1037/a0020327. PMID 20804236.

[McAdams-24] McAdams, D.P.; Olson, B.D. (2010). "Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course". Annual Review of Psychology. 61: 517–42. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507. PMID 19534589.

[Caspi2011-25] Caspi, A.; Shiner, R. (2011). Temperament and Personality, in Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (5th ed). Malden: Blackwell Publishing Limited. p. 182. doi:10.1002/9781444300895. ISBN 9781444300895.

[Depue2011-26] Depue, RA; Fu, Y (June 2011). "Neurogenetic and experiential processes underlying major personality traits: implications for modelling personality disorders". International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England). 23 (3): 258–81. doi:10.3109/09540261.2011.599315. PMID 21923227.

[27] Robinson, M.D & Tamir, M. (2006). "Neuroticism as mental noise: a relation between neuroticism and reaction time standard deviations". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 89 (1): 107–114. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.1.107. PMID 16060749.

[28] Flehmig, H.C., Steinborn, M., Langner, R., & Westhoff, K. (2007). "Neuroticism and the mental noise hypothesis: Relationships to lapses of attention and slips of action in everyday life". Psychology Science. 49 (4): 343–360.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

[Buss-29] Buss, D.M. (1991). "Evolutionary personality psychology". Annual Review of Psychology. 42: 459–491. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.42.1.459.

[AllenBadcock2006-30] Allen, N.; Badcock, P. (2006). "Darwinian models of depression: A review of evolutionary accounts of mood and mood disorders". Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 30 (5): 815–826. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.007. PMID 16647176.

[:1-31] Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289309102_Thirty_Years_of_Terror_Management_Theory

[32] Roberts, B.W., Walton, K.E., Viechtbauer, W. (2006). "Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits Across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies". Psychological Bulletin. 132 (1): 1–25. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1. PMID 16435954.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

[McCrae,_Costa,_and_Ostendorf-33] McCrae, R.R.; et al. (1999). "Age Differences in Personality Across the Adult Life Span: Parallels in Five Cultures". Developmental Psychology. 35 (2): 466–477. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.466. PMID 10082017.

[Briley2014-34] Briley, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M. (2014). "Genetic and environmental continuity in personality development: A meta-analysis". Psychological Bulletin. 140 (5): 1303–31. doi:10.1037/a0037091. PMC 4152379. PMID 24956122.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

[Servaas2013-35] Servaas, MN; van der Velde, J; Costafreda, SG; Horton, P; Ormel, J; Riese, H; Aleman, A (September 2013). "Neuroticism and the brain: a quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies investigating emotion processing". Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. 37 (8): 1518–29. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.005. PMID 23685122.

[Lippa2010-36] Lippa, Richard A. (2010). "Gender Differences in Personality and Interests: When, Where, and Why?". Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 4 (11): 1098–1110. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00320.x. ISSN 1751-9004.

[37] Rentfrow, Peter J.; Jokela, Markus (December 2016). "Geographical Psychology". Current Directions in Psychological Science. 25 (6): 393–398. doi:10.1177/0963721416658446.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

Neuroticism: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:11, 15 August 2017

Contents

History

Definition

Measurement

Mental disorder correlations

Mood disorders

Personality disorders

Theories of causation

Mental-noise hypothesis

Evolutionary psychology

Terror management theory

Genetic and environmental factors

Demographic and geographic patterns

See also

References

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Interaction

Tools

Print/export

Languages

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Distinguish|Neurosis}}
-'''Neuroticism''' is one of the [[Big Five personality traits|Big Five]] higher-order [[trait theory|personality traits]] in the study of [[psychology]]. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody and to experience such feelings as [[anxiety]], [[worry]], [[fear]], [[anger]], [[frustration]], [[envy]], [[jealousy]], [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]], [[Depression (mood)|depressed mood]], and [[loneliness]].<ref name="Thompson">{{cite journal|last=Thompson|first=E.R.|date=October 2008|title=Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886908002195|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|volume=45|issue=6|pages=542–548|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book
+'''Neuroticism''' is one of the [[Big Five personality traits|Big Five]] higher-order [[trait theory|personality traits]] in the study of [[psychology]]. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than average to be moody and to experience such feelings as [[anxiety]], [[worry]], [[fear]], [[anger]], [[frustration]], [[envy]], [[jealousy]], [[guilt (emotion)|guilt]], [[Depression (mood)|depressed mood]], and [[loneliness]].<ref name="Thompson">{{cite journal|last=Thompson|first=E.R.|date=October 2008|title=Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886908002195|journal=Personality and Individual Differences|volume=45|issue=6|pages=542–548|doi=10.1016/j.paid.2008.06.013}}</ref> People who are neurotic respond worse to [[stressor]]s and are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They are often [[Self-consciousness|self-conscious]] and [[Shyness|shy]], and they may have trouble controlling urges and [[Delayed gratification|delaying gratification]].
- | author = G. Matthews and [[Ian J. Deary]]
- | year = 1998
- | title = Personality traits
- | location = Cambridge, UK
- | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]]
-}}</ref> People who are neurotic respond worse to [[stressor]]s and are more likely to interpret ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. They are often [[Self-consciousness|self-conscious]] and [[Shyness|shy]], and they may have trouble controlling urges and [[Delayed gratification|delaying gratification]]. High neuroticism indexes a risk constellation that exists prior to the development and onset of any of the "common [[mental disorder]]s",<ref name="NeuroticismMA">{{cite journal |author1=Jeronimus B.F.|author2=Kotov, R.|author3=Riese, H.|author4=Ormel, J.| year = 2016 | title = Neuroticism's prospective association with mental disorders halves after adjustment for baseline symptoms and psychiatric history, but the adjusted association hardly decays with time: a meta-analysis on 59 longitudinal/prospective studies with 443 313 participants | journal = Psychological Medicine | volume = 46 | issue = 14 | pages = 2883–2906 | url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716001653 | doi=10.1017/S0033291716001653 | pmid=27523506}}</ref><ref name="Ormel">{{cite journal |author1=Ormel J.|author2=Jeronimus, B.F.|author3=Kotov, M.|author4=Riese, H.|author5=Bos, E.H.|author6=Hankin, B. | year = 2013 | title = Neuroticism and common mental disorders: Meaning and utility of a complex relationship | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 33 | issue = 5 | pages = 686–697 | url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003 | doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003 | pmid=23702592 | pmc=4382368}}</ref> such as [[Depression (differential diagnoses)|depression]], [[phobia]], [[panic disorder]], other [[anxiety disorder]]s, and [[substance use disorder]]—symptoms that traditionally have been called [[neurosis|neuroses]].<ref name="Ormel" /><ref>{{cite journal
-|last1=Hettema |first1=J. M. |last2=Neale |first2=M. C. |last3=Myers |first3=J. M. |last4=Prescott |first4=C. A. |last5=Kendler |first5=K. S. |date=2006 |title=A population-based twin study of the relationship between neuroticism and internalizing disorders |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |volume=163 |issue= 5|pages=857–864 |doi=10.1176/appi.ajp.163.5.857}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/h011745713t7l243/|title=Personality correlates of male sexual arousal and behavior | doi=10.1007/BF01541871 | volume=5|journal=Archives of Sexual Behavior|pages=149–156}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
-|last=Carducci |first=Bernardo J |date=2009-02-20 |title=The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications |isbn=978-1-4051-3635-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gJPXv5wQbIC&pg=PA288&lpg=PA288&dq=introversion+masturbation#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref><ref name="Leese2014">{{cite book |last=Leese |first=Peter |date=2014 |title=Shell Shock: Traumatic Neurosis and the British Soldiers of the First World War |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-1-137-45337-2 |url=http://www.amazon.com/Shell-Shock-Traumatic-Neurosis-Soldiers/dp/033396926X |accessdate=2014-09-30}}</ref>
+People with high neuroticism indexes are at risk for the development and onset of common [[mental disorder]]s,<ref name="NeuroticismMA">{{cite journal |author1=Jeronimus B.F.|author2=Kotov, R.|author3=Riese, H.|author4=Ormel, J.| year = 2016 | title = Neuroticism's prospective association with mental disorders halves after adjustment for baseline symptoms and psychiatric history, but the adjusted association hardly decays with time: a meta-analysis on 59 longitudinal/prospective studies with 443 313 participants | journal = Psychological Medicine | volume = 46 | issue = 14 | pages = 2883–2906 | url =  | doi=10.1017/S0033291716001653 | pmid=27523506}}</ref><ref name="Ormel2013a">{{cite journal |author1=Ormel J.|author2=Jeronimus, B.F.|author3=Kotov, M.|author4=Riese, H.|author5=Bos, E.H.|author6=Hankin, B. | year = 2013 | title = Neuroticism and common mental disorders: Meaning and utility of a complex relationship | journal = Clinical Psychology Review | volume = 33 | issue = 5 | pages = 686–697 | url = | doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2013.04.003 | pmid=23702592 | pmc=4382368}}</ref> such as [[mood disorders]], [[anxiety disorder]]s, and [[substance use disorder]], symptoms of which had traditionally been called [[neurosis|neuroses]].<ref name="Ormel2013a" /><ref>{{cite journal
-==Emotional stability==
+|last=Carducci |first=Bernardo J |date=2009-02-20 |title=The Psychology of Personality: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications |isbn=978-1-4051-3635-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gJPXv5wQbIC&pg=PA174|pages=173–174}}</ref>
-At the opposite end of the spectrum, individuals who score low in neuroticism are more emotionally stable and less reactive to stress. They tend to be calm, even-tempered, and less likely to feel tense or rattled. Although they are low in negative emotion, they are not necessarily high on positive emotion. Being high on positive emotion is an element of the independent trait of [[extraversion]]. Neurotic extraverts, for example, would experience high levels of both positive and negative emotional states, a kind of "emotional roller coaster". Individuals who score low on neuroticism (particularly those who are also high on extraversion) generally report more [[happiness]] and satisfaction with their lives.<ref name="PasserSmith2009">{{cite book |last1=Passer |first1=Michael W. |last2=Smith |first2=Ronald E. |date=2009 |title=Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour |publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education |isbn=978-0-07-711836-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFaAAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="DeNeve">{{cite journal |author= De Neve, K., Cooper, H. | year = 1998 | title = The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being| journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume=124|issue=2|pages=197–229|url= http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197|doi= 10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197 | pmid=9747186}}</ref>
 ==History==
 [[Galen]] of Pergamom popularized the idea that mixes of four bodily fluids or [[Humorism|humours]] resulted in four personality types or [[Four temperaments|temperaments]]. The [[Melancholia|melancholic]] personality type, which can be seen as the conceptual predecessor of neuroticism, was characterized by being mentally unbalanced, fearful, anxious, or sad. According to [[Hippocrates]], it resulted from too much black [[bile]].<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1192/bjp.153.3.298 | last1 = Berrios | first1 = G. E. | title = Melancholia and depression during the 19th century: A conceptual history | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 153 | issue = 3 | pages = 298–304 | year = 1988 | pmid = 3074848}}</ref>
+==Definition==
+Neuroticism is a trait in many models within [[personality theory]], but there is little agreement on its definition.  Some define it as a tendency for quick [[arousal]] when stimulated and slow relaxation from arousal; others define it as emotional instability and negativity or maladjustment, in contrast to emotional stability and positivity, or good adjustment.  Others yet define it as lack of [[self-control]], poor ability to manage [[psychological stress]], and a tendency to complain.<ref name=Ormel2012>{{cite journal|last1=Ormel|first1=J|last2=Riese|first2=H|last3=Rosmalen|first3=JG|title=Interpreting neuroticism scores across the adult life course: immutable or experience-dependent set points of negative affect?|journal=Clinical psychology review|date=February 2012|volume=32|issue=1|pages=71–9|doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2011.10.004|pmid=22172577}}</ref>
+Various [[Personality_psychology#Personality_tests|personality tests]] produce numerical scores, and these scores are mapped onto the concept of "neuroticism" in various ways, which has created some confusion in the [[scientific literature]], especially with regard to sub-traits or "facets".<ref name=Ormel2012/>
+Individuals who score low in neuroticism tend to be more emotionally stable and less reactive to stress. They tend to be calm, even-tempered, and less likely to feel tense or rattled. Although they are low in negative emotion, they are not necessarily high on positive emotion. Being high in scores of positive emotion is generally an element of the independent trait of [[extraversion]]. Neurotic extraverts, for example, would experience high levels of both positive and negative emotional states, a kind of "emotional roller coaster".<ref name="PasserSmith2009">{{cite book |last1=Passer |first1=Michael W. |last2=Smith |first2=Ronald E. |date=2009 |title=Psychology: the science of mind and behaviour |publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education |isbn=978-0-07-711836-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eFaAAAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="DeNeve">{{cite journal |author= De Neve, K., Cooper, H. | year = 1998 | title = The happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being| journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume=124|issue=2|pages=197–229|url= |doi= 10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.197 | pmid=9747186}}</ref>
 ==Measurement==
@@ Line 46: / Line 45: @@
 }}</ref>
+Neuroticism has been included as one of the four dimensions that comprise [[core self-evaluations]], one's fundamental appraisal of oneself, along with [[locus of control]], [[self-efficacy]], and [[self-esteem]].<ref name=Judge1997>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Locke E. A. |author3=Durham C. C. | year = 1997 | title = The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach | url = | journal = Research in Organizational Behavior | volume = 19 | issue = | pages = 151–188 }}</ref> The concept of core self-evaluations was first examined by Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997),<ref name="Judge1997"/> and since then evidence has been found to suggest these have the ability to predict several work outcomes, specifically, [[job satisfaction]] and [[job performance]].<ref name="Judge1997"/><ref name=BonoJudge2003>{{cite journal |author1=Bono J. E. |author2=Judge T. A. | year = 2003 | title = Core self-evaluations: A review of the trait and its role in job satisfaction and job performance | url = | journal = European Journal of Personality | volume = 17 | issue = Suppl 1| pages = S5–S18 | doi = 10.1002/per.48 |doi-broken-date=2017-08-10 }}</ref><ref name=dorman2006>{{cite journal |author1=Dormann C. |author2=Fay D. |author3=Zapf D. |author4=Frese M. | year = 2006 | title = A state-trait analysis of job satisfaction: On the effect of core self-evaluations | url = | journal = Applied Psychology: an International Review | volume = 55 | issue = 1| pages = 27–51 | doi=10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00227.x}}</ref><ref name=judge1998b>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Locke E. A. |author3=Durham C. C. |author4=Kluger A. N. | year = 1998 | title = Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations | url = | journal = Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 83 | issue = 1| pages = 17–34 | doi=10.1037/0021-9010.83.1.17 | pmid=9494439}}</ref><ref name=judge2001a>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Bono J. E. | year = 2001 | title = Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis | url = | journal = Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 86 | issue = 1| pages = 80–92 | doi=10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80 | pmid=11302235}}</ref>
-==Life course development==
-In children and adolescents, psychologists speak of [[temperament]]al [[negative affectivity]] that, during adolescence, develops into the neuroticism personality domain.<ref name="McAdams">{{cite journal |author1=McAdams, D.P. |author2=Olson, B.D. | year = 2010 | title = Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course| journal = Annual Review of Psychology |volume=61|pages=517–42|url= http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507|doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507 | pmid=19534589}}</ref><ref name="Caspi2011">{{cite book |last1= Caspi |first1= A.|last2= Shiner|first2= R.| date= 2011|title= Temperament and Personality, in Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (5th ed)|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781444300895 |location= Malden|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Limited |page=182 |isbn= 9781444300895}}</ref> Mean neuroticism levels change throughout the lifespan as a function of personality maturation and social roles,<ref>{{Cite journal |author= Roberts, B.W., Walton, K.E., Viechtbauer, W. | title = Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits Across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies | journal = Psychological Bulletin |date= 2006 | volume = 132 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–25 | doi = 10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1 | pmid = 16435954 }}</ref><ref name="McCrae, Costa, and Ostendorf">{{cite journal|author=McCrae, R.R.| displayauthors=etal|title=Age Differences in Personality Across the Adult Life Span: Parallels in Five Cultures|journal=Developmental Psychology|year=1999|volume=35|issue=2|pages=466–477|doi=10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.466|pmid=10082017}}</ref> but also the [[Gene expression|expression]] of new [[gene]]s.<ref name="Briley2014">{{cite journal|author= Briley, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M.|year=2014|title= Genetic and environmental continuity in personality development: A meta-analysis|journal= Psychological Bulletin|volume=140|issue=5|pages=1303–31|doi=10.1037/a0037091|pmid=24956122|pmc=4152379}}</ref> Generally speaking, the influence of environments on neuroticism increases over the lifespan,<ref name="Briley2014"/> although people probably select and evoke experiences based on their neuroticism levels.<ref name="Jeronimus2014" /><ref name="Caspi2011"/> It has been shown that people change in neuroticism after positive or negative life experiences.<ref name="Riese">{{cite journal|author= Riese, H. | displayauthors=etal |journal=European Journal of Personality|year= 2014|volume=28|issue=2|pages=193–200|title= Timing of Stressful Life Events Affects Stability and Change of Neuroticism| doi= 10.1002/per.1929 }}</ref><ref name="Jeronimus2014">{{cite journal |author= Jeronimus| year=2014 | title = Mutual Reinforcement Between Neuroticism and Life Experiences: A Five-Wave, 16-Year Study to Test Reciprocal Causation|journal= Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=107|issue=4|pages=751–64|url=http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2014-33185-001|doi=10.1037/a0037009|pmid=25111305|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
+There is a risk of [[selection bias]] in surveys of neuroticism; a 2012 review of N-scores said that "many studies used samples drawn from privileged and educated populations".<ref name=Ormel2012/>
-==Psychopathology==
-Research has found that a wide range of clinical mental disorders are associated with elevated levels of neuroticism compared to levels in the general population.<ref name="Ormel" /><ref>{{cite journal|author=Malouff, J.M., Thorsteinsson, E.B., & Schutte N.S.|title=The relationship between the five factor model of personality and symptoms of clinical disorders|journal=Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment|year=2005|volume=27|issue=2|pages=101–114|doi=10.1007/s10862-005-5384-y}}</ref><ref name="Jeronimus2013">{{cite journal|author= Jeronimus, B.F., Ormel, J., Aleman, A., Penninx, B.W.J.H., Riese, H.|journal=Psychological Medicine|year= 2013|volume=43|issue=11|pages=2403–15|title= Negative and positive life events are associated with small but lasting change in neuroticism|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291713000159|doi=10.1017/s0033291713000159|pmid=23410535}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author= Kotov| year = 2010 | title = Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: a meta-analysis | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 136 | issue = 5 | pages = 768–821 | doi=10.1037/a0020327 | pmid=20804236|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Longitudinal studies indicate that high neuroticism is also predictive for the development of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, [[psychosis]], [[schizophrenia]], and non-specific mental distress;<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/> also after adjustment for these elevated baseline symptoms and psychiatric history.<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/>
+==Mental disorder correlations==
-===Mood disorders===
+Questions used in many neuroticism scales overlap with instruments used to assess [[mental disorders]] like [[anxiety disorders]] (especially [[social anxiety disorder]]) and [[mood disorders]] (especially [[major depressive disorder]]), which can sometimes [[Confounding|confound]] efforts to interpret N scores, and makes it difficult to determine whether each of neuroticism and the overlapping mental disorders might cause the other, or if both might stem from other cause. Correlations can be identified.<ref name=Ormel2012/>
+A 2013 meta-analysis found that a wide range of clinical mental disorders are associated with elevated levels of neuroticism compared to levels in the general population.<ref name="Ormel2013b" /><ref>{{cite journal |author= Kotov| year = 2010 | title = Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: a meta-analysis | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 136 | issue = 5 | pages = 768–821 | doi=10.1037/a0020327 | pmid=20804236|display-authors=etal}}</ref>  It found that high neuroticism is predictive for the development of anxiety disorders, major depressive disorder, [[psychosis]], and [[schizophrenia]], and is predictive but less so for substance abuse and non-specific mental distress.<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/>  These associations are smaller after adjustment for elevated baseline symptoms of the mental illnesses and psychiatric history.<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/>
-Disorders associated with elevated neuroticism include [[mood disorder]]s, such as depression and [[bipolar disorder]], [[anxiety disorder]]s, [[eating disorders]], schizophrenia and [[schizoaffective disorder]], [[dissociative identity disorder]], and [[hypochondriasis]]. Mood disorders tend to have a much larger association with neuroticism than most other disorders.<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/><ref name="Ormel" /> A [[DSM-5]] diagnosis distinguishes an episode (or "state") of depression from the habitual (or "trait") depressive symptoms someone can experience as part of neuroticism.<ref>{{cite journal |author= Riese| year = 2016 | title = Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater: Depressive traits are part and parcel of neuroticism | journal = NeuroImage | volume = 125| issue = | pages = 1103| url = http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.012| doi=10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.11.012| pmid = 26551260 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>
+Neuroticism has also been found to be associated with death. In 2007, Mroczek & Spiro found that among older men, upward trends in neuroticism over life as well as increased neuroticism overall both contributed to higher mortality rates.<ref name="McAdams" />
-===Personality disorders===
+===Mood disorders===
-[[Personality disorder]]s as listed in [[DSM-IV]] in general tend to be associated with elevated neuroticism.<ref name="Ormel" /><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Saulsman, L.M.  |author2=Page, A.C. |lastauthoramp=yes |title=The five-factor model and personality disorder empirical literature: A meta-analytic review|year=2004|journal=Clinical Psychology Review|volume=23|pages=1055–1085|doi=10.1016/j.cpr.2002.09.001|pmid=14729423|issue=8}}</ref> A [[meta-analysis]] found that [[Borderline personality disorder|borderline]], [[Paranoid personality disorder|paranoid]], [[Schizotypal personality disorder|schizotypal]], [[Avoidant personality disorder|avoidant]], and [[dependent personality disorder]]s were each associated with substantial levels of neuroticism ([[Correlation and dependence|correlations]] ranging from .28 to .49).{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} The remaining personality disorders had either modest positive or non-significant (in the case of [[Narcissistic personality disorder|narcissistic]] and [[Histrionic personality disorder|histrionic]]) associations with neuroticism.
+Disorders associated with elevated neuroticism include [[mood disorder]]s, such as depression and [[bipolar disorder]], [[anxiety disorder]]s, [[eating disorders]], schizophrenia and [[schizoaffective disorder]], [[dissociative identity disorder]], and [[hypochondriasis]]. Mood disorders tend to have a much larger association with neuroticism than most other disorders.<ref name="NeuroticismMA"/><ref name="Ormel2013b" /> The five big studies have described children and adolescents with high neuroticism as "anxious, vulnerable, tense, easily frightened, 'falling apart' under stress, guilt-prone, moody, low in frustration tolerance, and insecure in relationships with others," which includes both traits concerning the prevalence of negative emotions as well as the response to these negative emotions.<ref name="Caspi2011">{{cite book |last1= Caspi |first1= A.|last2= Shiner|first2= R.| date= 2011|title= Temperament and Personality, in Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (5th ed)|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/book/10.1002/9781444300895 |location= Malden|publisher=Blackwell Publishing Limited |page=182 |isbn= 9781444300895|doi= 10.1002/9781444300895}}</ref> Neuroticism in adults similarly were found to be associated with the frequency of self-reported problems.<ref name="Caspi2011" />
+These associations can vary with culture: for example, Adams found that among upper-middle-class American teenaged girls, neuroticism was associated in eating disorders and cutting, but among Ghanaian teenaged girls, higher neuroticism was associated with magical thinking and extreme fear of enemies.<ref name="McAdams" />
-==Neuropsychology==
-Neuroticism appears to be related to physiological differences in the brain. [[Hans Eysenck]] theorized that neuroticism is a function of activity in the [[limbic system]], and his research suggests that people who score highly on measures of neuroticism have a more reactive [[sympathetic nervous system]], and are more sensitive to environmental stimulation.<ref>{{Cite book
- | author = [[Hans Jürgen Eysenck]] and Michael W. Eysenck
- | year = 1985
- | title = Personality and individual differences: A natural science approach
- | publisher = Plenum Press ([[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]])
- | series = Perspectives on individual differences
- | isbn = 0-306-41844-4
-}}</ref> [[Behavioral genetics]] researchers have found that a significant portion of the variability on measures of neuroticism can be attributed to genetic factors.<ref name="Viken1994">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Viken RJ, Rose RJ, Kaprio J, Koskenvuo M | title = A developmental genetic analysis of adult personality: extraversion and neuroticism from 18 to 59 years of age | journal =  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |date=April 1994 | pmid = 8189349 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.66.4.722 | volume = 66
- | pages = 722–30 | issue = 4}}</ref>
+===Personality disorders===
-A study with [[positron emission tomography]] has found that healthy subjects that score high on the NEO PI-R neuroticism dimension tend to have high [[altanserin]] binding in the frontolimbic region of the brain—an indication that these subjects tend to have more of the [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor]] in that location.<ref>{{Cite journal
+A 2004 meta-analysis attempted to analyze [[personality disorder]]s in light of the five-factor personality theory and failed to find meaningful disciminations; it did find that elevated neuroticism is correlated with many personality disorders.<ref name=Depue2011>{{cite journal|last1=Depue|first1=RA|last2=Fu|first2=Y|title=Neurogenetic and experiential processes underlying major personality traits: implications for modelling personality disorders.|journal=International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)|date=June 2011|volume=23|issue=3|pages=258–81|doi=10.3109/09540261.2011.599315|pmid=21923227}}</ref>
- |author1=Vibe G. Frøkjær |author2=Erik L. Mortensen |author3=Finn Årup Nielsen |author4=Steven Haugbøl |author5=Lars H. Pinborg |author6=Karen H. Adams |author7=Claus Svarer |author8=Steen G. Hasselbalch |author9=Søren Holm |author10=Olaf B. Paulson |author11=Gitte Moos Knudsen | title = Frontolimbic Serotonin 2A Receptor Binding in Healthy Subjects Is Associated with Personality Risk Factors for Affective Disorder
- | journal = [[Biological Psychiatry]]
- | year = 2007
- | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.07.009
- | volume = 63
- | pages = 569–76
- | pmid = 17884017
- | issue = 6
-}}</ref> Another study has found that healthy subjects with a high neuroticism score tend to have higher [[DASB]] binding in the [[thalamus]]; DASB is a [[Ligand (biochemistry)|ligand]] that binds to the [[serotonin transporter]] protein.<ref>{{Cite journal
- |author1=Akihiro Takano |author2=Ryosuke Arakawaa |author3=Mika Hayashia |author4=Hidehiko Takahashia |author5=Hiroshi Itoa |author6=Tetsuya Suhara | title = Relationship between neuroticism personality trait and serotonin transporter binding
- | journal = [[Biological Psychiatry]]
- | volume = 62
- | issue = 6
- |date=September 2007
- | pages = 588–592
- | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.11.007
- | pmid = 17336939
-}}</ref>
-Another [[neuroimaging]] study using [[magnetic resonance imaging]] to measure brain volume found that the brain volume was negatively correlated to NEO PI-R neuroticism when correcting for possible effects of intracranial volume, sex, and age.<ref>{{Cite journal
- |author1=Brian Knutsona |author2=Reza Momenan |author3=Robert R. Rawlings |author4=Grace W. Fong |author5=Daniel Hommer | title = Negative association of neuroticism with brain volume ratio in healthy humans
- | journal= [[Biological Psychiatry]]
- | volume = 50
- | issue = 9
- |date=November 2001
- | pages = 685–690
- | doi = 10.1016/S0006-3223(01)01220-3
- | pmid=11704075
-}}</ref>
-Other studies have associated neuroticism with genetic variations, e.g. with [[5-HTTLPR]]—a [[Polymorphism (biology)|polymorphism]] in the [[serotonin transporter]] gene.<ref>{{Cite journal
- | author = [[Klaus-Peter Lesch]], D. Bengel, A. Heils, S. Z. Sabol, B. D. Greenberg, S. Petri, J. Benjamin, C. R. Muller, D. H. Hamer, & Dennis L. Murphy
- | title = Association of anxiety-related traits with a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene regulatory region
- | journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]]
- | volume = 274
- | issue = 5292
- | pages = 1527–31
- |date=November 1996
- | pmid = 8929413
- | doi = 10.1126/science.274.5292.1527
-}}</ref>
-However, not all studies find such an association.<ref>{{Cite journal
- |author1=A. F. Jorm |author2=A. S. Henderson |author3=P. A. Jacomb |author4=H. Christensen |author5=A. E. Korten |author6=B. Rodgers |author7=X. Tan |author8=S. Easteal | title = An association study of a functional polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene with personality and psychiatric symptoms
- | journal = [[Molecular Psychiatry]]
- | volume = 3
- | issue = 5
- | pages = 449–51
- |date=September 1998
- | pmid = 9774781
- | doi = 10.1038/sj.mp.4000424
-}}</ref>
-A [[genome-wide association study]] (GWA study) has associated [[single-nucleotide polymorphism]]s in the ''[[MDGA2]]'' gene with neuroticism,<ref>{{Cite journal
- | title = Genomewide Association Analysis Followed by a Replication Study Implicates a Novel Candidate Gene for Neuroticism
- | author = E. J. van den Oord, P. H. Kuo, A. M. Hartmann, B. T. Webb, H. J. Möller, J. M. Hettema, I. Giegling, J. Bukszár, D. Rujescu
- | journal = [[Archives of General Psychiatry]]
- | volume = 65
- | issue = 9
- | pages = 1062–1071
- |date=September 2008
- | pmid = 18762592
- | url = http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/65/9/1062
- | doi = 10.1001/archpsyc.65.9.1062
-}}</ref> however the [[effect size]]s were small.
-Another GWA study gave some evidence that the rs362584 polymorphism in the ''[[SNAP25]]'' gene was associated with neuroticism.<ref>{{Cite journal
- | author = A. Terracciano, S Sanna, M. Uda, B. Deiana, G. Usala, F. Busonero, A. Maschio, M. Scally, N. Patriciu, W.-M. Chen, M. A. Distel, E. P. Slagboom, D. I. Boomsma, S. Villafuerte, E. S. liwerska, M. Burmeister, N. Amin, A. C. J. W. Janssens, C. M. van Duijn, D. Schlessinger, G. R. Abecasis and P. T. Costa Jr
- | title = Genome-wide association scan for five major dimensions of personality
- | journal = [[Molecular Psychiatry]]
- |date=October 2008
- | doi = 10.1038/mp.2008.113
- | pmid = 18957941
- | volume = 15
- | issue = 6
- | pages = 647–56
- | pmc = 2874623
-}}</ref>
-A 2008 experiment investigated the neurophysiological responses to uncertainty (which individuals high in neuroticism find aversive) using an event-related potential framework. Participants received positive, negative and uncertain feedback on a task while the feedback-related negativity (FRN), an evoked potential that peaks approximately 250 ms after the receipt of feedback information, was measured. For all participants, it was found that a larger FRN occurred after negative feedback than after positive feedback. However, for participants high on neuroticism, uncertain feedback resulted in a larger neural response than did negative feedback.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Hirsh J. B. |author2=Inzlicht M. | year = 2008 | title = The devil you know: Neuroticism predicts neural response to uncertainty | url = | journal = Psychological Science | volume = 19 | issue = 10| pages = 962–967 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02183.x | pmid=19000202}}</ref>
+==Theories of causation==
-A 2009 study has found that higher neuroticism is associated with greater loss of brain volume with increasing age.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jackson|first=J.|date=2009|pages=2162–2171|issue=12|title=Exploring the relationship between personality and regional brain volume in healthy aging|volume=32|journal=Neurobiol Aging|issn=0197-4580|pmid=20036035|laysummary=http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/20503.aspx|last2=Balota|pmc=2891197 | first2=D.|last3=Head | first3=D.|doi=10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.12.009}}</ref>
-==Mental-noise hypothesis==
+===Mental-noise hypothesis===
 Studies have found that the mean [[reaction time]]s will not differ between individuals high in neuroticism and those low in neuroticism, but that, with individuals high in neuroticism, there is considerably more trial-to-trial variability in performance reflected in reaction time [[standard deviation]]s. In other words, on some trials neurotic individuals are faster than average, and on others they are slower than average. It has been suggested that this variability reflects noise in the individual's information processing systems or instability of basic cognitive operations (such as regulation processes), and further that this noise originates from two sources: mental preoccupations and reactivity processes.<ref>{{Cite journal
  |author1=Robinson, M.D  |author2=Tamir, M.
@@ Line 175: / Line 89: @@
 }}</ref>
+=== Evolutionary psychology ===
-<!-- ==Sex differences==
+{{See also|Evolutionary psychology}}
-The results of one study found that, on average, women score moderately higher than men on neuroticism. This study examined sex differences in the Big Five personality traits across 55 nations. It found that, across the 55 nations studied, the most pronounced difference was in neuroticism.<ref name="sex diffs">{{cite journal |last1=Schmitt |first1=David P. |last2=Realo |first2=A. |last3=Voracek |first3=M. |last4=Allik |first4=J. |date=2008 |title=Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in big five personality traits across 55 cultures. |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.94.1.168 |pmid=18179326 |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=168–182}}</ref> In 49 of the 55 nations studied, women scored higher in neuroticism than men, while there was no country in which men reported significantly higher neuroticism than women. In Botswana and Indonesia, men scored slightly higher than women. Sex differences in neuroticism within nations ranged from very small to large in magnitude in 17 countries and moderate in 29 countries.<ref name="sex diffs"/> Differences were small to negligible (less than |0.2| standard deviations) in Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Greece, Japan, Botswana and Indonesia. Large differences (about 0.8 standard deviations) were recorded in Israel and Morocco. African and Asian/South Asian world regions tended to have smaller sex differences in personality overall than did western world regions (Europe, and North and South America). Women tended to record similar levels of neuroticism across the regions covered in the study. The men's scores differed widely; men in the Western regions scored lower on neuroticism compared to men in African and Asian world regions. In countries with higher levels of human development, the men recorded significantly lower levels of neuroticism.
+The theory of [[evolution]] may also explain differences in personality.<ref name="Buss">{{cite journal | last1 = Buss | first1 = D.M. | year = 1991 | title = Evolutionary personality psychology | url = | journal = Annual Review of Psychology | volume = 42 | issue = | pages = 459–491 | doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.42.1.459}}</ref> For example, one of the [[evolutionary approaches to depression]] focuses on neuroticism and finds that heightened reactivity to negative outcomes may have had a survival benefit, and that furthermore a positive relationship has been found between neuroticism level and success in university with the precondition that the negative effects of neuroticism are also successfully coped with.<ref name="AllenBadcock2006">{{Cite journal | last1 = Allen | first1 = N. | last2 = Badcock | first2 = P. | doi = 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.007 | title = Darwinian models of depression: A review of evolutionary accounts of mood and mood disorders | journal = Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 5 | pages = 815–826 | year = 2006 | pmid =  16647176| pmc = }}</ref> Likewise, a heightened reactivity to positive events may have had reproductive advantages, selecting for heightened reactivity generally.<ref name=Ormel2013b/> Nettle contends that evolution selected for higher levels of neuroticism until the negative effects of neuroticism outweighed its benefits, resulting in selection for a certain optimal level of neuroticism. This type of selection will result in a [[normal distribution]] of neuroticism, so the extremities of the distribution will be individuals with excessive neuroticism or too low neuroticism for what is optimal, and the ones with excessive neuroticism would therefore be more vulnerable to the negative effects of depression, and Nettle gives this as the explanation for the existence of depression rather than hypothesizing, as others have, that depression itself has any evolutionary benefit.<ref name="AllenBadcock2006" />
--->
+=== Terror management theory ===
-==Geography==
+According to [[Terror Management Theory]] (TMT) neuroticism is primarily caused by insufficient anxiety buffers against unconscious death anxiety<ref name=":1" />. These buffers consist of
-{{Globalize/US|section|date=September 2012}}
+) Cultural worldviews that impart life with a sense of enduring meaning, such as social continuity beyond one's death, future legacy and afterlife beliefs, and
-Neuroticism, along with other personality traits, has been mapped across states in the United States. People in eastern states such as New York, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Mississippi tend to score high on neuroticism, whereas people in many western states, such as Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Oregon, and Arizona score lower on average.<ref>{{Cite journal
- | author = Peter J. Rentfrow, Samuel D. Gosling and Jeff Potter
- | title = A Theory of the Emergence, Persistence, and Expression of Geographic Variation in Psychological Characteristics
- | journal = Perspectives on Psychological Science
- | volume = 3
- | issue = 5
- | pages = 339–369
- | year = 2008
- | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121394239/abstract
- | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x
- | pmid=26158954
-}}</ref> People in states that are higher in neuroticism also tend to have higher rates of [[heart disease]] and lower [[life expectancy]].<ref>{{Cite news
- | url = https://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html?mod=yhoofront
- | title = The United States of Mind. Researchers Identify Regional Personality Traits Across America
- | author = Stephanie Simon
- | work = [[WSJ.com]]
- | date = 2008-09-23
-}} Original research article:
-{{Cite journal
- | author = Peter J. Rentfrow, Samuel D. Gosling and Jeff Potter
- | title = A Theory of the Emergence, Persistence, and Expression of Geographic Variation in Psychological Characteristics
- | journal = Perspectives on Psychological Science
- | volume = 3
- | issue = 5
- | pages = 339–369
- | year = 2008
- | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121394239/abstract
- | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2008.00084.x
- | pmid=26158954
-}}</ref>
+) A sense of personal value or [[self-esteem]] in the context of this cultural worldview or enduring meaning.
-== Evolutionary psychology ==
-{{See also|Evolutionary psychology}}
-The theory of [[evolution]] may also explain differences in personality.<ref name="Buss">{{cite journal | last1 = Buss | first1 = D.M. | year = 1991 | title = Evolutionary personality psychology | url = | journal = Annual Review of Psychology | volume = 42 | issue = | pages = 459–491 | doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.42.1.459}}</ref> For example, one of the [[evolutionary approaches to depression]] focuses on neuroticism.<ref name="AllenBadcock2006">{{Cite journal | last1 = Allen | first1 = N. | last2 = Badcock | first2 = P. | doi = 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.007 | title = Darwinian models of depression: A review of evolutionary accounts of mood and mood disorders | journal = Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 5 | pages = 815–826 | year = 2006 | pmid =  16647176| pmc = }}</ref> A moderate amount of neuroticism may provide benefits, such as increased drive and productivity, due to greater sensitivity to negative outcomes.<ref name="Buss" /> However, too much may reduce [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] by producing, for example, recurring depressions. Thus, evolution will select for an optimal amount and most people will have neuroticism near this optimum. However, because neuroticism likely has a [[normal distribution]] in the population, a minority will be highly neurotic.<ref name="AllenBadcock2006" />
+While TMT agrees with standard Evolutionary Psychology accounts that the roots of neuroticism in Homo Sapiens or its ancestors are likely in adaptive sensitivities to negative outcomes, it posits that once Homo Sapiens achieved a higher level of self-awareness, neuroticism increased enormously, becoming largely a [[spandrel]], a non-adaptive byproduct of our adaptive intelligence, which resulted in a crippling awareness of death that threatened to undermine other adaptive functions. This overblown anxiety thus needed to be buffered via intelligently creative, but largely fictitious and arbitrary notions of cultural meaning and personal value. Since highly religious or supernatural conceptions of the world provide "cosmic" personal significance and literal immortality, they are deemed to offer the most efficient buffers against death anxiety and neuroticism. Thus, historically, the shift to more materialistic and secular cultures - starting in the [[neolithic]], and culminating in the [[industrial revolution]], is deemed to have increased neuroticism.<ref name=":1">Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289309102_Thirty_Years_of_Terror_Management_Theory</ref>
-== Terror Management Theory ==
-According to [[Terror Management Theory]] (TMT) neuroticism is primarily caused by insufficient anxiety buffers against unconscious death anxiety. These buffers consist of
+===Genetic and environmental factors===
-) Cultural worldviews that impart life with a sense of enduring meaning, such as social continuity beyond one's death, future legacy and afterlife beliefs, and
+A 2013 review found that "Neuroticism is the product of the interplay between genetic and environmental influences. Heritability estimates typically range from 40% to 60%."<ref name=Ormel2013a/> The effect size of these genetic differences remain largely the same throughout development, but the hunt for any specific genes that control neuroticism levels has "turned out to be difficult and hardly successful so far."<ref name=Ormel2013a/> On the other hand, with regards to environmental influences, adversities during development such as "emotional neglect and sexual abuse" were found to be positively associated with neuroticism.<ref name=Ormel2013a/> However, "sustained change in neuroticism and mental health are rather rare or have only small effects."<ref name=Ormel2013a/>
+In children and adolescents, psychologists speak of [[temperament]]al [[negative affectivity]] that, during adolescence, develops into the neuroticism personality domain.<ref name="McAdams">{{cite journal |author1=McAdams, D.P. |author2=Olson, B.D. | year = 2010 | title = Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course| journal = Annual Review of Psychology |volume=61|pages=517–42|url= http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507|doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100507 | pmid=19534589}}</ref> Mean neuroticism levels change throughout the lifespan as a function of personality maturation and social roles,<ref>{{Cite journal |author= Roberts, B.W., Walton, K.E., Viechtbauer, W. | title = Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits Across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies | journal = Psychological Bulletin |date= 2006 | volume = 132 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–25 | doi = 10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.1 | pmid = 16435954 }}</ref><ref name="McCrae, Costa, and Ostendorf">{{cite journal|author=McCrae, R.R.| displayauthors=etal|title=Age Differences in Personality Across the Adult Life Span: Parallels in Five Cultures|journal=Developmental Psychology|year=1999|volume=35|issue=2|pages=466–477|doi=10.1037/0012-1649.35.2.466|pmid=10082017}}</ref> but also the [[Gene expression|expression]] of new [[gene]]s.<ref name="Briley2014">{{cite journal|author= Briley, D. A., Tucker-Drob, E. M.|year=2014|title= Genetic and environmental continuity in personality development: A meta-analysis|journal= Psychological Bulletin|volume=140|issue=5|pages=1303–31|doi=10.1037/a0037091|pmid=24956122|pmc=4152379}}</ref> Neuroticism in particular was found to decrease as a result of maturity by decreasing through age 40 and then leveling off.<ref name="McAdams" /> Generally speaking, the influence of environments on neuroticism increases over the lifespan,<ref name="Briley2014"/> although people probably select and evoke experiences based on their neuroticism levels.<ref name="Caspi2011"/>
-) A sense of personal value or [[self-esteem]] in the context of this cultural worldview or enduring meaning.
+The emergent field of "imaging genetics," which investigates the role of genetic variation in the structure and function of the brain, has studied certain genes suggested to be related to neuroticism, and the one studied so far concerning this topic has been the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region gene known as 5-HTTLPR, which is transcribed into a serotonin transporter that removes serotonin.<ref name="Ormel2013b" /> It has been found that compared to the long (l) variant of 5-HTTLPR, the short (s) variant has reduced promoter activity, and the first study on this subject has shown that the presence of the s-variant 5-HTTLPR has been found to result in higher amygdala activity from seeing angry or fearful faces while doing a non-emotional task, with further studies confirming that the s-variant 5-HTTLPR result greater amygdala activity in response to negative sitmuli, but there have also been null findings.<ref name="Ormel2013b" /> A meta-analysis of 14 studies have shown that this gene has a moderate effect size and accounts for 10% of the phenotypic difference. However, the relationship between brain activity and genetics may not be completely straightforward due to other factors, with suggestions made that cognitive control and stress may moderate the effect of the gene. There are two models that have been proposed to explain the type of association between the 5-HTTLPR gene and amygdala activity: "phasic activation" model proposes that the gene controls amygdala activity levels in response to stress, whereas the "tonic activation" model on the other hand proposes that the gene controls baseline amygdala activity. Another gene that has been suggested for further study to be related to neuroticism is the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene.<ref name="Ormel2013b" />
+The anxiety and maladaptive stress responses that are aspects of neuroticism have been the subject of intensive study.  Dysregulation of [[hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis]] and [[glucocorticoid]] system, and influence of different versions of the [[serotonin transporter]] and [[5-HT1A receptor]] genes may influence the development of neuroticism in combination with environmental effects like the quality of upbringing.<ref name=Ormel2013b/><ref name=Depue2011/>
+Neuroimaging studies with [[fMRI]] have had mixed results, with some finding that increased activity in the amygdala and [[anterior cingulate cortex]], brain regions associated with arousal, is correlated with high neuroticism scores, as is activation of the associations have also been found with the [[medial prefrontal cortex]], [[insular cortex]], and [[hippocampus]], while other studies have found no correlations.<ref name=Ormel2013b/><ref name=Servaas2013>{{cite journal|last1=Servaas|first1=MN|last2=van der Velde|first2=J|last3=Costafreda|first3=SG|last4=Horton|first4=P|last5=Ormel|first5=J|last6=Riese|first6=H|last7=Aleman|first7=A|title=Neuroticism and the brain: a quantitative meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies investigating emotion processing.|journal=Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews|date=September 2013|volume=37|issue=8|pages=1518-29|doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.05.005|pmid=23685122}}</ref>  Further studies have been conducted trying to tighten experimental design by using genetics to add additional differentiation among participants, as well as [[twin study]] models.<ref name=Ormel2013b/>
+A related trait, behavioral inhibition, or "inhibition to the unfamiliar," has received attention as the trait concerning withdrawal or fear from unfamiliar situations, which is generally measured through observation of child behavior in response to, for example, encountering unfamiliar individuals. This trait in particular has been hypothesized to be related to amygdala function, but evidence so far has been mixed.<ref name="Caspi2011" />
+==Demographic and geographic patterns==
+A 2013 review found that groups associated with higher levels of neuroticism are young adults who are at high risk for [[mood disorders]] and women.<ref name=Ormel2013b>{{cite journal|last1=Ormel|first1=J|last2=Bastiaansen|first2=A|last3=Riese|first3=H|last4=Bos|first4=EH|last5=Servaas|first5=M|last6=Ellenbogen|first6=M|last7=Rosmalen|first7=JG|last8=Aleman|first8=A|title=The biological and psychological basis of neuroticism: current status and future directions.|journal=Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews|date=January 2013|volume=37|issue=1|pages=59-72|doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.09.004|pmid=23068306|quote=... two groups that have both been associated with elevated N scores – healthy women relative to men (Ellenbogen et al., 1996), and young adults at high risk for affective disorders (p62). }}
+Research in large samples has shown that levels of N are higher in women than men. This is a robust finding that is consistent across cultures (Costa et al., 2001). This is especially the case during the reproductive years, but is also visible in children and elderly (Jorm, 1987). ....Clearly, the issue of sex differences in N and the implications for understanding N’s neurobiological basis deserve more detailed and systematic investigation. (p65)}}</ref> <br>
+For gender, the same review found that "research in large samples has shown that levels of N (neuroticism) are higher in women than men. This is a robust finding that is consistent across cultures. This is especially the case during the reproductive years, but is also visible in children and elderly." It furthermore said that EEG responses showed clear differences between the genders in individuals with high N levels, but no functional MRI studies have yet been performed to investigate the differences in genders regarding N. However, there is a reason to suspect physiological differences to play a role because of previous studies that showed for example, a correlation between the size of the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and N in female teenagers, so "the issue of sex differences in N and the implications for understanding N’s neurobiological basis deserve more detailed and systematic investigation."<ref name=Ormel2013b/> A 2010 review found personality differences between genders to be between "small and moderate," the largest of those differences being in the traits of agreeableness and neuroticism.<ref name="Lippa2010">{{cite journal|last1=Lippa|first1=Richard A.|title=Gender Differences in Personality and Interests: When, Where, and Why?|journal=Social and Personality Psychology Compass|volume=4|issue=11|year=2010|pages=1098–1110|issn=17519004|doi=10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00320.x}}</ref> Many personality traits were found to have had larger personality differences between men and women in developed countries compared to less developed countries, and differences in three traits -- extraversion, neuroticism, and people-versus-thing orientation -- showed differences that remained consistent across different levels of economic development, which is also consistent with the "possible influence of biologic factors."<ref name="Lippa2010 /> Three cross-cultural studies have revealed higher levels of female neuroticism across almost all nations: 25 out of 26 in Costa et al.'s study, 53 out of 55 in Schmitt's study, and 52 out of 53 in Lippa's study.<ref name="Lippa2010 />
-While TMT agrees with standard Evolutionary Psychology accounts that the roots of neuroticism in Homo Sapiens or its ancestors are likely in adaptive sensitivities to negative outcomes, it posits that once Homo Sapiens achieved a higher level of self-awareness, neuroticism increased enormously, becoming largely a [[spandrel]], a non-adaptive byproduct of our adaptive intelligence, which resulted in a crippling awareness of death that threatened to undermine other adaptive functions. This overblown anxiety thus needed to be buffered via intelligently creative, but largely fictitious and arbitrary notions of cultural meaning and personal value. Since highly religious or supernatural conceptions of the world provide "cosmic" personal significance and literal immortality, they are deemed to offer the most efficient buffers against death anxiety and neuroticism. Thus, historically, the shift to more materialistic and secular cultures - starting in the [[neolithic]], and culminating in the [[industrial revolution]], is deemed to have increased neuroticism.<ref>Thirty Years of Terror Management Theory Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289309102_Thirty_Years_of_Terror_Management_Theory</ref>
+Geographically, a 2016 review said that in the US, neuroticism is highest in the [[mid-Atlantic states]] and southwards and declines westward, while openness is highest in ethnically diverse regions of the mid-Atlantic, [[New England]], the West Coast, and cities. Likewise, in the UK neuroticism is lowest in urban areas.  Generally, geographical studies find correlations between low neuroticism and entrepreneurship and economic vitality, and correlations between high neuroticism and poor health outcomes. The review found that the causal relationship between regional cultural and economic conditions and psychological health was entirely unclear.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rentfrow|first1=Peter J.|last2=Jokela|first2=Markus|title=Geographical Psychology|journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science|date=December 2016|volume=25|issue=6|pages=393–398|doi=10.1177/0963721416658446}}</ref>
-== Core self-evaluations ==
-Neuroticism has been included as one of the four dimensions that comprise [[core self-evaluations]], one's fundamental appraisal of oneself, along with [[locus of control]], [[self-efficacy]], and [[self-esteem]].<ref name=Judge1997>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Locke E. A. |author3=Durham C. C. | year = 1997 | title = The dispositional causes of job satisfaction: A core evaluations approach | url = | journal = Research in Organizational Behavior | volume = 19 | issue = | pages = 151–188 }}</ref> The concept of core self-evaluations was first examined by Judge, Locke, and Durham (1997),<ref name="Judge1997"/> and since then evidence has been found to suggest these have the ability to predict several work outcomes, specifically, [[job satisfaction]] and [[job performance]].<ref name="Judge1997"/><ref name=BonoJudge2003>{{cite journal |author1=Bono J. E. |author2=Judge T. A. | year = 2003 | title = Core self-evaluations: A review of the trait and its role in job satisfaction and job performance | url = | journal = European Journal of Personality | volume = 17 | issue = Suppl 1| pages = S5–S18 | doi = 10.1002/per.48 }}</ref><ref name=dorman2006>{{cite journal |author1=Dormann C. |author2=Fay D. |author3=Zapf D. |author4=Frese M. | year = 2006 | title = A state-trait analysis of job satisfaction: On the effect of core self-evaluations | url = | journal = Applied Psychology: An International Review | volume = 55 | issue = 1| pages = 27–51 | doi=10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00227.x}}</ref><ref name=judge1998b>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Locke E. A. |author3=Durham C. C. |author4=Kluger A. N. | year = 1998 | title = Dispositional effects on job and life satisfaction: The role of core evaluations | url = | journal = Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 83 | issue = 1| pages = 17–34 | doi=10.1037/0021-9010.83.1.17 | pmid=9494439}}</ref><ref name=judge2001a>{{cite journal |author1=Judge T. A. |author2=Bono J. E. | year = 2001 | title = Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis | url = | journal = Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 86 | issue = 1| pages = 80–92 | doi=10.1037/0021-9010.86.1.80 | pmid=11302235}}</ref>
 ==See also==