title: The effect of personality on daily life emotional processes.
abstract: Personality features are associated with individual differences in daily emotional life, such as negative and positive affectivity, affect variability and affect reactivity. The existing literature is somewhat mixed and inconclusive about the nature of these associations. The aim of this study was to shed light on what personality features represent in daily life by investigating the effect of the Five Factor traits on different daily emotional processes using an ecologically valid method. The Experience Sampling Method was used to collect repeated reports of daily affect and experiences from 104 healthy university students during one week of their normal lives. Personality traits of the Five Factor model were assessed using NEO Five Factor Inventory. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the effect of the personality traits on daily emotional processes. Neuroticism predicted higher negative and lower positive affect, higher affect variability, more negative subjective evaluations of daily incidents, and higher reactivity to stressors. Conscientiousness, by contrast, predicted lower average level, variability, and reactivity of negative affect. Agreeableness was associated with higher positive and lower negative affect, lower variability of sadness, and more positive subjective evaluations of daily incidents. Extraversion predicted higher positive affect and more positive subjective evaluations of daily activities. Openness had no effect on average level of affect, but predicted higher reactivity to daily stressors. The results show that the personality features independently predict different aspects of daily emotional processes. Neuroticism was associated with all of the processes. Identifying these processes can help us to better understand individual differences in daily emotional life.
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Komulainen
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland; Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meskanen
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lipsanen
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Helsinki, Finland; Folkhälsan Research Center, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jari Marko
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lahti
authors.affiliation: Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Jorvi Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Espoo, Finland; National Institute of Health and Welfare, Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Pekka
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jylhä
authors.affiliation: Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Melartin
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wichers
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland; Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isometsä
authors.affiliation: University of Helsinki, Department of Psychiatry, Helsinki, Finland; Vaasa Hospital District, Department of Psychiatry, Vaasa, Finland.
authors.forename: Jesper
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ekelund
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D003242:Conscience; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D000075384:Neuroticism; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012044:Regression Analysis; D055815:Young Adult