Big Five Personality Factors Differentially Related to Positive and Negative Affect Intensity of Autobiographical...

Although the relationship between personality and aspects of emotional experience have been investigated from a variety of different perspectives, little research has been conducted on personality traits and the affect intensity of autobiographical memories (AMs). To fill this gap, the present study examined the association of the Big Five personality traits with the positive and negative affect intensity of positive and negative AMs using multilevel multiple regression. Participants (N = 1275; 18-53 years) completed the short form of the Big Five Inventory (BFI-K) and reported AMs of three positive and three negative events. Next, participants rated the negative and positive affect intensity of each event separately on a 7-point Likert scale. Neuroticism was associated with less positive and more negative affect intensity of both positive and negative AMs. Extraversion showed the opposite pattern with respect to positive AMs, and agreeableness with respect to negative AMs and the negative affect intensity of positive AMs. Openness was associated with a higher positive affect intensity of positive AMs and conscientiousness with a higher positive affect intensity of negative AMs. Results are discussed in relation to previous empirical evidence and theoretical considerations of the associations. The present study extends previous research by demonstrating that all Big Five traits relate to the affect intensity of individuals' AMs.