engleski

Testing some predictions from Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory – A cross-lagged model of personality and affectivity

Researchers have established a firm link between trait affectivity and personality with extraversion and neuroticism being the two personality traits that have been often explored in this context. The former has been found to be related to positive affect and the latter to negative affect. Several studies explored the causal relationship between personality and affectivity and there is evidence supporting both causal directions. Results show that mood manipulation can impact on scores on extraversion measures (Rusting & Larsen, 1996) ; also, individuals who were instructed to act more extroverted reported more positive affect (McNeil & Fleeson, 2006). Gray’s Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory provides a clear account of the causal link between the aforementioned constructs: individual differences in affectivity stem from different levels of sensitivity associated with several underlying neural systems (RST ; Gray & McNaughton, 2000). Individuals with highly sensitive behavioral inhibition system (BIS) tend to respond more strongly to signals of punishment which manifests itself as neuroticism at the behavioral level, which in turn predisposes one to experience more negative affect overall. Similar pattern is proposed for extraversion and positive affect relying on the behavioral activation system (BAS). To test the predictions we specified several structural models across two time points. One set of models included BAS, extraversion and trait positive affect, and another set included BIS, introversion and trait negative affect. For both sets of data, a baseline stability model was specified which included only paths between the same constructs across two time points. A directional model that included paths according to RST was tested against the baseline, and a complete cross-lagged model was then tested against the directional one. Our results show that adding paths in line with RST, significantly improves model fit for both sets of constructs, while adding the rest does not. However, the path coefficient estimates were weak or insignificant, indicating only limited support for the RST.

Personality; affectivity; reinforcement sensitivity; cross-lagged

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