Personality Traits and Body Mass Index in Asian Populations

Research on personality and adiposity has focused primarily on Western samples; less is known about the personality correlates of BMI in Asian populations. We examined the association between personality and Body Mass Index (BMI) among community-dwelling Japanese adults (N=380), Chinese adolescents (N=5,882), and a meta-analysis inclusive of a published Korean sample (total N=10,304). In the new samples and meta-analysis, Extraversion and Agreeableness were associated with higher BMI among men. In contrast to what is often found in Western samples, Conscientiousness was mostly unrelated to adiposity. These findings link pro-social tendencies to overweight among Asian men; Conscientiousness may be less relevant for BMI in Eastern societies with a low prevalence of obesity and strong social norms for eating but not thinness.