Exploring the links between personality and immune function

Mengelkoch, Summer; Gassen, Jeffrey; Corrigan, Emily K.; Hill, Sarah E.

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.111179

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…The correlations between personality traits and immunometabolic markers remained even after adjusting for sex. Some previous studies have shown that personality and immunological markers correlate differently between sexes 14 , but this could not be shown in the current study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…The trait conscientiousness, on the other hand, has been linked to lower levels of IL-6 in blood 13 , 15 . Some studies have shown that patterns can differ between sexes 14 . Immunometabolic markers, such as the appetite-regulating hormone leptin, have also been shown to be correlated with traits of normal personality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Personality traits of anxiety, aggression, and low socialization have been shown to be related to the presence of a PD 10 .In line with the strong scientific support in favor of immunological underpinnings of major psychiatric disorders, there are findings on connections between immunological patterns and personality traits, although they are not as numerous. Neuroticism, as a trait of normal personality, has been shown to be associated with elevated pro-inflammatory markers, such as interleukin 6 (IL-6), in blood 11,12 , and the same has been suggested to apply for the trait extraversion 13,14 . The trait conscientiousness, on the other hand, has been linked to lower levels of IL-6 in blood 13,15 .…”

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confidence: 99%

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Correlations between personality traits, personality disorders, and immunometabolic markers

Spangenberg,

Ramklint,

Cunningham

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Evidence links immune system alterations to major psychiatric disorders. The few previous studies on personality traits or personality disorders (PDs) indicate that immunometabolic dysregulation may be prevalent in this population. This study aimed to investigate relationships between personality traits, PDs, and immunometabolic markers in peripheral blood. We hypothesized that neuroticism would be correlated with elevated leptin. Participants were recruited as young adults seeking care for general psychiatric disorders. They responded to a personality inventory and were assessed for PDs, and reevaluated again at a 12 years follow-up. Blood samples were collected at the follow-up and analyzed for 29 immunometabolic markers. A positive correlation was found between the personality trait neuroticism and leptin (ρ = 0.31, p = 0.02). An exploratory analysis also revealed a positive correlation between brain-derived neurotrophic factor (ρ = 0.36, p < 0.01) and neuroticism. These findings remained after adjusting for other variables in general linear models. There were no relationships between PDs and any immunometabolic markers. Results both confirm previous findings of correlations between the immunometabolic system and personality traits and suggest directions for future research.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Correlations between personality traits, personality disorders, and immunometabolic markers

Spangenberg,

Ramklint,

Cunningham

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…Additionally, items conveyed both specific (e.g., "I am quite cold-hearted") and general (e.g., "Gaining success is tough; it's all about survival of the fittest") conceptualisations of successful psychopathy. Additional items reflecting relevant aspects of the Big-5 (Goldberg, 1993) were also included because the five-factor model is still considered the gold standard of personality measurement (Mengelkoch et al, 2022) and has been suggested to be capable of identifying psychopathic personality traits; for example, through low agreeableness and low conscientiousness (Ross et al, 2004). Furthermore, items were written to relate to a range of themes within the successful psychopathy literature, including relevant aspects from the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) and the Triarchic Psychopathic Measures (TriPM; Patrick et al, 2009), such as fearlessness (e.g., "Dangerous situations excite me"), stress immunity (e.g., "When things don't go my way, I bounce back quickly"), social charm (e.g., "I have the ability to get people out of their shells"), and callousness (e.g., "I am rarely disturbed by the misfortunes of others").…”

Section: Item Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Development and Validation of the Successful Psychopathy Scale

Wallace¹,

Fido²,

Medvedev³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Successful psychopathy is characterized by core traits of callousness and interpersonal manipulation associated with clinical definitions of psychopathy, whilst largely being successful or adaptive in daily life. Despite rising interest in the field, the construct is still not well understood, partially due to competing theoretical models and the lack of a well-validated measurement. Using theoretical literature and expert opinion, we developed and validated the Successful Psychopathy Scale (SPS) for use within the general population. The pilot study (N = 208) developed an initial item pool which was subjected to Deductive Rational Strategy, reliability testing and an Exploratory factor analysis on 51-items which indicated a 5-facet structure. Study 1 (N = 403) developed on the pilot structure using an extended item pool based on researchers’ theoretical knowledge and expert ratings conducted in the pilot in an independent sample. The finalized structure of the SPS was 6-facets representing the key domains within successful psychopathy; core psychopathic traits, risk taking, confidence, stress immunity, social potency, and manipulation. Rasch analysis was used to verify the most suitable candidate items for a reliable and valid SPS measure its shorter form. The final 54-item long form and 30-item short form versions were satisfied expectations of unidimensionality with minor modifications resolved by creating super-items. The final versions of the SPS were correlated in expected directions with existing measures of psychopathic traits, professional skills, and success expectancy.

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“…Additionally, neuroticism is positively associated with perceptions of infectability and germ aversion ( Duncan et al, 2009 ), self-protection ( Neel et al, 2015 ), and disgust ( Oosterhoff et al, 2018 ). Personality also has bidirectional effects on immune function ( Mengelkoch et al, 2022 ), suggesting that there are important mechanistic linkages between personality and susceptibility to disease (e.g., extraverted men exhibit lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6, potentially making them more susceptible to diseases).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%