Neuroticism and cortisol: The importance of checking for sex differences

Existent research documents an unclear and contradictory pattern between cortisol and personality variables, especially neuroticism. Specifically, no effect, positive correlations and negative correlations have all been reported to exist between cortisol and neuroticism. The current study tested whether males and females have a fundamentally different relationship between HPA activation and neuroticism and if this might partially account for some of the discrepancy in findings. Saliva samples (n=183) for cortisol were collected three times across a 90min period. Neuroticism was measured via the NEO-FFI. For men, neuroticism was positively correlated with cortisol level (r=.29). For women it was negatively correlated. The negative correlation between neuroticism and cortisol level remained when oral contraceptive use was statistically controlled, and the statistical significance actually increased (partial r=-.20). This suggests a slight suppressor effect, explainable by prior research on correlates of oral contraceptive use. Overall, these findings may offer some explanation for the discrepant results that have been reported in the existing literature regarding neuroticism and cortisol measures.