Reactions to Tinnitus Based on Color Code Personality Type

Although studies of tinnitus and personality are prevalent in tinnitus research, studies of tinnitus-related distress across personality types using the Color Code Personality Assessment are lacking.

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relationship between personality type and the reaction to tinnitus using the Color Code Personality Assessment and the Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ).

We conducted an online survey involving 178 participants. The survey included the TRQ to evaluate tinnitus-related distress and the Color Code Personality Assessment to determine personality type.

The Color Code Personality Assessment results in one of four personality colors, red, blue, white, or yellow, and focuses on how to interact and communicate with different personality subtypes. The survey was posted to 11 different social media groups on Facebook and was open for 3 months. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the effect of personality type on the TRQ score. One-sample chi-square tests were conducted to determine if the number of respondents with tinnitus-related distress was greater than chance for each personality type.

The one-way ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for personality type. Follow-up tests comprising the Bonferroni test indicated that the TRQ scores for red personality types were significantly higher than those for white personality types. Analyses using one-sample chi-square tests for each personality type indicated significant results for respondents with blue or red personality types.

Reactions to tinnitus differed across personality types. Respondents with the red personality type reported higher tinnitus-related distress than that of respondents with the white personality type. Respondents with blue and red personality types were more likely to report bothersome tinnitus.

Although various tinnitus questionnaires that assess tinnitus distress and its effect on different areas of the patient's life are available, audiologists do not have a tool that allows insight regarding how to appropriately counsel and treat patients with tinnitus based on their reaction to it. Understanding the personality of patients and how personality will impact their reaction to tinnitus can guide the clinician's ability to provide effective counseling, thus adding to the clinician's skillset the ability to deliver customized treatment options to patients with tinnitus.