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Running head: NEUROTICISM AND CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
Neuroticism and
Conscientiousness During an Impossible Task
Kellyrose Wright
St. Bonaventure University
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the
performance between Neuroticism and Conscientiousness on an impossible task.
Past studies have discovered a negative relationship between Neuroticism and
Conscientiousness, as well as a positive relationship between Conscientiousness
and motivation. This study will test the hypothesis that there is a negative
relationship between Neuroticism and motivation. A 2 (conscientiousness) x 2 (neuroticism)
factorial was designed. A main effect for conscientiousness was predicted: high
conscientious should spend more time trying to solve the impossible task. A
main effect for neuroticism was also predicted: those high in neuroticism would
spend less time on the impossible task. Additionally, an interaction was
predicted showing that time spent on the impossible task would depend on level
of neuroticism and level of conscientiousness. The
predicted main effects and interaction were obtained. .
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Neuroticism and Conscientiousness During an
Impossible Task
Neuroticism
is one of the Big Five personality traits. The Big Five are five factors
of trait personality which appear the most often, and which encompass
other related,
smaller traits. The dimension of
Neuroticism “Measures individuals according to
their emotional stability and personal adjustment” (Costa & McCrae; in
Burger, 184).
Individuals with high Neuroticism scores tend to have wildly varying
mood swings and
frequently experience emotional distress. Individuals with low Neuroticism scores
are
usually well adjusted and calm, and do not demonst
reactions than people with high Neuroticism scores do.
Conscientiousness is also
one of the Big Five Personality Traits. This dimension
refers to how self-disciplined and controlled individuals are (Costa &
McCrae; in Burger,
187).
Individuals with high Conscientiousness scores and usually
organized, determined,
and plan things in order to achieve success. Individuals on the low end of
Conscientiousness are not dependable, easily distracted from tasks, and
careless. The
characteristics which define Conscientiousness often apply to work
situations, and many
researchers refer to this dimension as ‘Will to Achieve’
(book 187).
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Conscientiousness
has been shown to be closely related to motivation, which is an important
variable in determining performance on many types of tasks. Motivation has been
defined as the choice of a) expending effort, b) the level of effort expended,
and c) persisting at that level of effort (Chamorro-Premuzic
& Furnham, 2003). Therefore, conscientiousness
and general performance are related through the factor of motivation. It has been demonstrated
that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness are inversely related to each other. In
regards to Self-Handicapping as measured by the Self-Handicapping Scale, it was
found to be positively related to Neuroticism and negatively related to
Conscientiousness. There is a negative relationship between Neuroticism and
Conscientiousness, which is mediated by the construct of self-handicapping
(Ross et al,2002). Self-Handicapping is defined as “A tendency for an
individual to create obstacles to successful achievement in performance or
competitive situations in order to protect or enhance one’s self-esteem” (Ross
et al,2002). It had already been discovered that there was a positive
correlation between Self-Handicapping and negative affect, which is very
similar to Neuroticism. This study investigated the relationship between
Self-Handicapping and two of the domain scales of the Five Factor Model of
Personality, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Ross stated that many
investigators had previously reported a negative relationship between these two
domains. It was hypothesized that Self-Handicapping would cause this negative
relationship to be mediated. In order for a mediational
effect to be demonst
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significant correlation, and the mediator must be related
to these variables as well as reducing the significance of their relationship
when it is controlled. These were all fulfilled in Ross’ study, as
Self-Handicapping not only reduced the correlation between Neuroticism and
Conscientiousness, but changed the correlation to a positive one. Because the
hypothesis was validated, it is true that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness are
significantly negatively correlated, because that is one of the necessary parts
of proving mediation. Costa and McCrae, the creators of
the NEO-PI, have performed many tests comparing the five factors to each other,
and have reported the relationships between these factors. In Table 5 of their assessment,
“Internal Consistency and Factor Structure of NEO-PI-R Scales, the data demonst
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factor most consistently associated with academic performance is
Conscientiousness. High Conscientiousness scores predict better academic
performance (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003). This study was one of the first to consider
that personality, not just intelligence, is a good predictor of academic
success. In fact, it was claimed that “Personality factors on their own are
powerful enough to explain a mode
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success. The personality factor which is most indicative of academic success
is Conscientiousness. Therefore, I
hypothesize that there will be a main effect of Conscientiousness on time spent
trying to solve an impossible task.
Neuroticism is the
personality factor which is most negatively correlated with academic success.
It has even been proposed that Conscientiousness may add to academic
performance beyond an individual’s intellectual ability (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003). In
this study by Chamorro-Premuzic et al, it was found
that the subtraits of Conscientiousness which were
most positively correlated with academic performance were dutifulness and
achievement striving. Additionally, the subtraits of
Neuroticism most negatively correlated with academic performance were anxiety
and impulsiveness. In groups of both successful and
unsuccessful boys, the need for achievement and expressed motivation of a
fantasy nature was associated with Neuroticism. However, when real-life
examples were used, the need for achievement dropped. This drop was positively
correlated with Neuroticism (Finlayson, 2002). The idea behind this study was
that measures of success in school are related to: 1)The
need for achievement, and 2)Neuroticism, which
was conceptualized as “Reflecting the general level of arousal or drive
which a subject has”. In the Finlayson study, two groups of students were
divides into two groups as being either ’successful’ or ’unsuccessful’
academically. These decisions were made based on the past academic performance
of the students. Expressed motivation was then measured in each group by
administering two questionnaire measurements of expressed motivation- one of
fantasy achievement and one representing
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reality achievement. It was hypothesized that the unsuccessful group of
students would express more motivation towards fantasy achievement and the
successful group would express more motivation towards reality achievement. The
reason for this hypothesis was that the unsuccessful students had higher
Neuroticism scores than the successful students, and that Neuroticism is
related to a loss of reality and an increased belief in fantasy (Finlayson, 2002). Therefore, I
predict that there will be a main effect of Neuroticism on Conscientiousness. Conscientiousness has been shown to be strongly related to achievement
and motivation (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2003). Neuroticism has been shown to be negatively
related to achievement. It has also been demonst
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main effect of both Neuroticism and Conscientiousness on time spent trying
to solve an impossible task; as well as an interaction between Neuroticism and
Conscientiousness.
Method
Participants This
study consisted of 40 male and female undergraduate students. The participants
must be at least 18 years of age, be able to read, and must not have
participated in the study Conscientiousness and Performance on an Impossible
Task (Vittore et al, 2003). Materials This
study required the use of the NEO-PI personality index, as well as a list of 10
unsolvable anagrams. The NEO Personality Index was proven to be reliable in a
study by Young and Schinka in which scores from the
Personality Assessment Inventory were compared to scores from the NEO-PI and
found to have significant consistency. The validity of the NEO-PI was demonst
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Procedure Participants will first be administered the
NEO-PI personality test and asked to
complete it fully. When they have finished, they will be given a sheet with the
unsolvable
anagrams on it. They will be told that they can leave whenever they choose, and
need not
finish or even do any of the anagrams. The time when they begin
attempting to solve the
anagrams will be recorded, as well as the time when they give up
attempting to solve the
anagrams and leave the study. The subjects will then be given a debriefing
statement
telling them the purpose of the study and explaining the variables and the
hypothesis.
Results.
Results were analyzed
by using an Analysis of Variance. A main effect of
Conscientiousness was found, with F(1,36)=115.676, p<.001. Individuals who were high
in Conscientiousness spent more time attempting to solve the impossible
task. There was
also a main effect of Neuroticism, with F(1,36)=111.258,
p<.001. Individuals who were
high in Neuroticism spent less time attempting to solve the impossible
task. Finally,
there was a significant interaction, with F(1,36)=17.187, p<.01.
See Table 1 on page 15,
as well as Figure 1 on page 17.
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Discussion
The study has
demonstrated that individuals who are high in Conscientiousness
spend more time attempting to solve an impossible task. Conversely,
individuals who are
high in Neuroticism spend less time attempting to solve an impossible task.
Individuals
who are high in Neuroticism and high in Conscientiousness perform the same
as
individuals who are low in Neuroticism and low in
Conscientiousness. This suggests that
the effect of Conscientiousness and the effect of Neuroticism are the
same.
There is also an
interaction between Conscientiousness and Neuroticism on time
spent trying to solve an impossible task. Therefore, the amount of time a
high
Conscientious person spends trying to solve the impossible task depends
on whether that
person is high or low in Neuroticism. The effect of each level of personality
type on time
spent trying to solve a task depends on which level of the other personality
type the
individual falls in.
It has been shown that
Conscientiousness is highly related to motivation and
achievement striving. Both of these traits are what lead
highly conscientiousness people
to spend more time attempting to solve an impossible task. Furthermore, since
Conscientiousness is negatively correlated to Neuroticism, people who
are high in
Neuroticism spend less time attempting to
solve the impossible task.
These results have
great implications for employers in deciding amongst
prospective employees. It is most beneficial for employers
to hire people who are high in
motivation and achievement striving. As this is the case, the results of my study
indicate
that employers would be better off hiring individuals who are high in
Conscientiousness
and low in Neuroticism, which counters the effects of Conscientiousness.
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References
Berger, C.R. (1973). Task
performance and attribution communication as determinants of interpersonal attraction. Speech Monographs
, 40, 280-286.
Burger, J.M. (2000). Personality.
Chamorro-Premuzic,
T. & Furnham, A. (2003). Personality predicts academic performance:
Evidence from two longitudinal university samples. Journal of Research in
Personality, 37, 319-336.
Chamorro-Premuzic, T.
& Furnham, A. (2003). Personality traits and
academic examination performance. European
Journal of Personality, 17(3), 237-250.
Costa, P.T. & McCrae,
R.R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R)
Professional Manual.
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Finlayson, D.S. (1972). Expressed
achievement motivation in relation to the achievement motive, neuroticism and
school success. British Journal of
Educational Psychology, 42(1),
65-70.
Ross, S.R.;
Quirk, S.W. et al. (2003). On the Usefulness of Measures of
Young, M.S. & Schinka, J.A. (2001). Research validity scales for the NEO-PI-R: Additional evidence for
reliability and validity. Journal of
Personality Assessment, 76(3), 412-420.
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Table 1
Analysis of Variance for Conscientiousness,
Neuroticism, and the Interaction between these two Variables
Source |
Sum-of-Squares |
df |
Mean-Square |
F-ratio |
P |
CON |
7262.963 |
1 |
7262.963 |
115.676 |
0.000 |
NEU |
6985.592 |
1 |
6985.592 |
111.258 |
0.000 |
CON*NEU |
1079.143 |
1 |
1079.143 |
17.187 |
0.000 |
Error |
2260.342 |
36 |
62.787 |
|
|
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Figure Caption
Figure
1. The effects of Neuroticism
and Conscientiousness During an Impossible Task
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