Contextualizing individual differences in error monitoring: Links with impulsivity, negative affect, and conscientiousness

The error‐related negativity (ERN) is a neural measure of error processing that has been implicated as a neurobehavioral trait and has transdiagnostic links with psychopathology. Few studies, however, have contextualized this traitlike component with regard to dimensions of personality that, as inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychophysiology 2016-08, Vol.53 (8), p.1143-1153
Main Authors: Hill, Kaylin E., Samuel, Douglas B., Foti, Dan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Affect - physiology
Aged
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Electroencephalography
ERPs
Error processing
Evoked Potentials
Female
Humans
Impulsive Behavior - physiology
Impulsivity
Individual differences
Individuality
Male
Middle Aged
Personality
Personality Assessment
Psychopathology
Young Adult
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Summary:The error‐related negativity (ERN) is a neural measure of error processing that has been implicated as a neurobehavioral trait and has transdiagnostic links with psychopathology. Few studies, however, have contextualized this traitlike component with regard to dimensions of personality that, as intermediate constructs, may aid in contextualizing links with psychopathology. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the interrelationships between error monitoring and dimensions of personality within a large adult sample (N = 208). Building on previous research, we found that the ERN relates to a combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness. At low levels of conscientiousness, negative urgency (i.e., impulsivity in the context of negative affect) predicted an increased ERN; at high levels of conscientiousness, the effect of negative urgency was not significant. This relationship was driven specifically by the conscientiousness facets of competence, order, and deliberation. Links between personality measures and error positivity amplitude were weaker and nonsignificant. Post‐error slowing was also related to conscientiousness, as well as a different facet of impulsivity: lack of perseverance. These findings suggest that, in the general population, error processing is modulated by the joint combination of negative affect, impulsivity, and conscientiousness (i.e., the profile across traits), perhaps more so than any one dimension alone. This work may inform future research concerning aberrant error processing in clinical populations.
ISSN:0048-5772
1469-8986
1540-5958
DOI:10.1111/psyp.12671