The role of neuroticism in daily stress and coping.

Abstract

The authors examined the influence of neuroticism (N) on the occurrence of different types of daily events, primary and secondary appraisals of those events, use of specific coping strategies, and end-of-day negative mood. College students completed questionnaires at the end of every day for 14 consecutive days. When reporting their most stressful event of each day, high-N individuals, compared with low-N individuals, reported more interpersonal stressors and had more negative primary and secondary appraisals and reacted with more distress in response to increasingly negative primary and secondary appraisals. Compared with low-N individuals, high-N individuals used less-adaptive coping strategies (e.g., hostile reaction) and reacted with more distress in response to some types of coping strategies. The appraisal findings, in particular, help to explain the chronic negative affectivity associated with neuroticism.

Social personality traits in chimpanzees: temporal stability and structure of behaviourally assessed personality traits in three captive populations

“…In contrast, anxiety is encompassed by an independent construct, namely neuroticism, in the Five-Factor Model of human personality. Neuroticism includes the proneness to long-term anxiety and an easily triggered short-term stress response (Gunthert et al 1999;Muris et al 2004). The current study seems to support similar independence in chimpanzees (cf.…”

A systematic review of cognitive failures in daily life: Healthy populations

“…For example, those personalities that have been linked to greater cognitive failures without necessarily exhibiting deficits of ability, such as schizotypal, anxious, or neurotic types, are known to be more reactive to both interpersonal and environmental stress (Collip et al, 2013;Gunthert, Cohen, & Armeli, 1999). It may be that such individuals experience problems whilst dealing with the time-pressures and hassles of daily responsibilities, but not when asked to perform in the relative calm of the laboratory.…”

Network dynamics in the long term period after divorce

“…Self-disclosure Terhell et al: Network change after divorce 721 was also found to be positively correlated with the degree to which persons thought that they could confide in network relations or turn to for help (Stokes, 1985). As emotionally unstable personalities seem to report more interpersonal stressors (Gunthert, Cohen, & Armeli, 1999), emotional stability seems to be a personal condition that reduces stressful interactions with network members and the need for network support. We assume that divorcees with personal capacities, such as extraversion, emotional stability, self-esteem, and emotional expressiveness, experience less difficulty in the mobilization and development of personal network relationships after divorce.…”