Personality characteristics are independently associated with prospective memory in the laboratory, and in daily Life, among older adults

• Published in: Journal of research in personality 2018-10, Vol.76, p.32-37
• Main Authors: McCabe, Kerry A., Woods, Steven Paul, Weinborn, Michael, Sohrabi, Hamid, Rainey-Smith, Stephanie, Brown, Belinda M., Gardener, Samantha L., Taddei, Kevin, Martins, Ralph N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ageing; Big Five personality; Declarative memory; Memory for intentions
• ISSN: 0092-6566; 1095-7251
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2018.06.006

•Prospective memory (PM) can decline with age, influencing health behaviours.•Little is known about the relationship between PM and personality in older adults.•This study aimed to examine the relationship between personality and PM.•We found that:Greater of neuroticism predicted poorer objectively measured PM in the laboratory.Lower openness predicted poorer objectively measured PM in the laboratory.Greater conscientiousness predicted fewer PM complaints in everyday life. Prospective memory (PM) can deteriorate with age and adversely influence health behaviours. Research suggests that personality is related to PM in healthy young adults, but we know little about the role of personality in the PM amongst older adults. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 152) completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 and PM measures. After adjusting for demographics and general cognition, higher neuroticism and lower levels of openness were independently associated with lower objectively-measured time- and event-based PM. Lower conscientiousness was the only personality predictor of self-reported everyday PM failures. Findings indicate that personality plays a role in PM functioning in the laboratory and daily life.