Traits, States, and encoding speed: support for a top-down view of neuroticism/state relations

Recent theories suggest that trait neuroticism gains its pernicious power particularly among individuals less capable of making distinctions concerning present reality. Four studies, involving 272 undergraduates, sought to provide some basic, assessment-related support for such theories in the context of individual differences in choice reaction time, which reflect abilities to make distinctions at encoding. Studies 1-3 focused on somatic symptoms, whereas Study 4 focused on neurotic behaviors and negative affect. As predicted, neuroticism consistently interacted with categorization speed in predicting these dependent measures. Specifically, neuroticism/outcome relations were robust among individuals slow to make distinctions at encoding; by contrast, neuroticism did not predict the dependent measures among individuals fast to make distinctions. Such data reinforce suggestions that neuroticism is particularly pernicious among individuals less capable of making distinctions at encoding.