The Relationship Between Behavior Aspects of Executive Functions and Personality Traits in Healthy Young Adults

Small pieces make the big picture: the etiology of the relationship between executive functions and personality traits

BACKGROUND

This study primarily aimed to explore the etiology of the phenotypic relationships between personality traits and executive functions. We assessed common genetic and environmental sources of variance in these phenomena by examining different dimensions of the Five Factor Model (FFM) and executive function factors. An additional research question focused on whether specific facets within the FFM share a greater genetic overlap with executive functions compared to broader personality dimensions.

METHODS

The NEO-PI-R, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, the Trail Making Test, and verbal fluency tests were applied to a sample of 468 twins from the Serbian Twin Advanced Registry (153 monozygotic twin pairs).

RESULTS

Several facets from all domains had significant genetic associations with executive functions, with Ideas and Values showing the highest positive correlations, and Order and Vulnerability showing the highest negative genetic correlations. Most phenotypic associations between the two domains of individual differences were almost entirely explained by shared genetic influences.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the importance of examining personality traits at the facet level, as facet-level analysis provides more detailed insights into the relationship between personality and executive functions than broader personality dimensions. The results emphasize the role of shared genetic influences in shaping both personality and executive abilities, suggesting that future research should investigate the underlying neural mechanisms driving these associations.

Determining associations between Big Five personality traits and executive function in an undergraduate student sample

OBJECTIVE

The present study sought to determine the associations between executive functioning and Big Five personality traits in an undergraduate sample.

METHOD

Participants included 200 undergraduates (73% women), with a mean age of approximately 21 years. Participants completed the Big Five Inventory-44 and a psychological assessment battery, which included the Trail Making Test and the Semantic Fluency Test.

RESULTS

Results from multiple regression analyses suggested agreeableness was negatively associated with Semantic Fluency - Animals (β = -0.310, p < 0.001). Moreover, conscientiousness was positively associated with Trail Making Test B-A (β = 0.197, p = 0.016), but negatively associated with Trail Making Test A (β = -0.193, p = 0.017).

CONCLUSIONS

Overall results identified that executive function association with personality varies by construct. Given conscientiousness' differential associations within the executive function task performances, future research should examine the conscientious threshold that would result in psychological symptomatology associated with extreme lows and highs in conscientiousness.

Neurophysiological and Autonomic Correlates of Metacognitive Control of and Resistance to Distractors in Ecological Setting: A Pilot Study

In organisational contexts, professionals are required to decide dynamically and prioritise unexpected external inputs deriving from multiple sources. In the present study, we applied a multimethodological neuroscientific approach to investigate the ability to resist and control ecological distractors during decision-making and to explore whether a specific behavioural, neurophysiological (i.e., delta, theta, alpha and beta EEG band), or autonomic (i.e., heart rate-HR, and skin conductance response-SCR) pattern is correlated with specific personality profiles, collected with the 10-item Big Five Inventory. Twenty-four participants performed a novel Resistance to Ecological Distractors (RED) task aimed at exploring the ability to resist and control distractors and the level of coherence and awareness of behaviour (metacognition ability), while neurophysiological and autonomic measures were collected. The behavioural results highlighted that effectiveness in performance did not require self-control and metacognition behaviour and that being proficient in metacognition can have an impact on performance. Moreover, it was shown that the ability to resist ecological distractors is related to a specific autonomic profile (HR and SCR decrease) and that the neurophysiological and autonomic activations during task execution correlate with specific personality profiles. The agreeableness profile was negatively correlated with the EEG theta band and positively with the EEG beta band, the conscientiousness profile was negatively correlated with the EEG alpha band, and the extroversion profile was positively correlated with the EEG beta band. Taken together, these findings describe and disentangle the hidden relationship that lies beneath individuals' decision to inhibit or activate intentionally a specific behaviour, such as responding, or not, to an external stimulus, in ecological conditions.

The relationship of personality and executive functions in high-level soccer athletes: expertise-and gender-specific differences

Background

Psycho-cognitive factors such as personality and executive functions (EFs) are influential parameters when it comes to examining expertise in high-level soccer. Therefore, the profiles of those athletes are relevant both from a practical and scientific point of view. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and executive functions with age group as an influential factor in high-level male and female soccer players.

Methods

Personality traits and executive functions of 138 high-level male and female soccer athletes from the U17-Pros teams were assessed using the big-five paradigm. A series of linear regressions investigated contributions of personality on EF assessments and team, respectively.

Results

Linear regression models showed both negative and positive relationships between various personality traits, executive function performance and the influence of expertise and gender. Together, a maximum of 23% (R² = 6%-23%) of the variance between EFs with personality and various teams, demonstrating that many unaccounted-for variables remain at play.

Conclusion

The results of this study demonstrate the inconsistent relationship between personality traits and executive functions. The study calls for more replication studies to help strengthen the understanding of relationships between psycho-cognitive factors in high-level team sport athletes.