Cognitive sources of evidence for neuroticism's link to punishment-reactivity processes

Theories of neuroticism emphasise its close potential link to punishment-reactivity processes, yet cognitive sources of evidence for this proposed processing basis are surprisingly scarce. The present two studies (N = 123) sought to rectify this important gap in the literature in terms of reactivity...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognition and emotion 2010-08, Vol.24 (5), p.741-759
Main Authors: Moeller, Sara K., Robinson, Michael D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affect
Affectivity. Emotion
Behavioural responses
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition
Cognition. Intelligence
Decision making
Decision making. Choice
Feedback
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Modelling
Neuroticism
Personality traits
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Punishment
Reactivity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Theories of neuroticism emphasise its close potential link to punishment-reactivity processes, yet cognitive sources of evidence for this proposed processing basis are surprisingly scarce. The present two studies (N = 123) sought to rectify this important gap in the literature in terms of reactivity to error feedback. Study 1 found that individuals high in neuroticism were faster to switch behavioural responses following errors, whereas an opposite pattern was found among individuals low in neuroticism. Study 2 extended this error-reactivity perspective to the realm of behavioural decision making. Individuals high in neuroticism switched their behavioural predictions following error feedback, whereas this tendency was non-significant among individuals low in neuroticism. Together, the studies present novel, but theory-informed, cognitive paradigms for assessing punishment-reactivity processes, confirm neuroticism's link to such processes, and do so in the realms of both reaction time (Study 1) and behavioural predictions (Study 2). The discussion focuses on the utility of modelling punishment-reactivity processes in cognitive terms and highlights relevant directions for future research.
ISSN:0269-9931
1464-0600
DOI:10.1080/02699930902978436