Relations Between Dysphonia and Personality: An Approximation From Gray' Theories

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• Dysphonia, encompassing functional and congenital voice disorders, affects a significant population.
• Gray's theory of personality provides a framework for understanding behavioral inhibition and activation systems.
• The relationship between specific personality traits and voice disorders requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between personality traits, as defined by Gray's theory, and the presence of dysphonia.
• To compare personality profiles of patients with voice disorders to those of vocally healthy individuals.
• To explore the influence of personality on objective and subjective voice quality measures.

Main Methods:

• Personality traits were assessed in 141 patients with dysphonia and 99 controls.
• Objective voice quality was measured using the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI).
• Voice Handicap was evaluated using the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10), supplemented by perceptual analysis from a listening jury.

Main Results:

• Patients with dysphonia demonstrated significantly higher levels of Introversion and Neuroticism compared to controls.
• A greater tendency to activate the behavioral inhibition system was observed in the patient group.
• These personality differences were found to correlate with objective voice quality measures.

Conclusions:

• Personality traits, specifically Introversion and Neuroticism, are significantly associated with dysphonia.
• The behavioral inhibition system may play a role in the development or manifestation of voice disorders.
• Findings align with existing literature, underscoring the interplay between psychological factors and vocal health.