Kristen Wilkinson Yonkers

Major: Psychology

Honors in Psychology

Supervisor: Dr. Ruth Hurst

EXAMINATION OF PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF DELAY DISCOUNTING BY USE OF THE NEO-PI-R: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

The current study examined a range of normal personality in a non-clinical sample of college undergraduates, and its correlates with impulsivity as assessed behaviorally by the delay discounting task. Normal personality was assessed via the five factor model, using the revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Since previous research with clinical populations found positive correlations between self reported impulsivity and the domains of neuroticism and extroversion, and a negative correlation between impulsivity and conscientiousness, the same trends were hypothesized to occur. However, researchers must remember that the delay discounting task defines behavior as choosing a smaller, immediate reward opposed to a larger, delayed reward. This definition differs from that of self report measures, which may focus on urges, cravings and regret. Results deviating from the previous findings may provide support for Whiteside & Lynam’s (2001) theory that impulsivity is actually an umbrella term, encompassing a wide variety of behaviors not necessarily correlated. Due to a systematic error in survey entry, the domains of conscientiousness and openness to experience were unable to be analyzed. However, no significant relationships were found between any of the three remaining domains (neuroticism, extroversion and agreeableness) and the degree to which rewards were discounted. Upon facet level analyses, significant relationships were found between depression (from the neuroticism facet), gregariousness and activity (both from the extroversion facet). Since research has shown all three of these facets to correlate significantly with clinical and non-clinical depression, future researchers may wish to further investigate this relationship. Ultimately, this exploratory research suggests that greater impulsivity as measured by the delay discounting task may be related to aspects of depression.