N euroticism and Attitudes Toward Action in 19 Countries
Open accessAbstract
Although individuals scoring high on Neuroticism tend to avoid taking action when faced with challenges, Neuroticism is also characterized by impulsivity. To explore cognitive biases related to this costly behavior pattern, we tested whether individuals who rated themselves as higher in Neuroticism would evaluate the general concepts of action and inaction as, respectively, more negative and positive. We further investigated whether anxiety and depression would mediate and individualism-collectivism would moderate these relations in a large international sample. Participants (N = 3,827 college students; 69% female) from 19 countries completed surveys measuring Neuroticism, attitudes toward action and inaction, depression, anxiety, and individualism-collectivism. Hierarchical linear models tested the above predictions. Neuroticism negatively correlated with attitudes toward action and positively correlated with attitudes toward inaction. Furthermore, anxiety was primarily responsible for emotionally unstable individuals' less positive attitudes toward action, and individuals who endorsed more collectivistic than individualistic beliefs showed a stronger negative association between Neuroticism and attitudes toward action. Researchers and practitioners interested in understanding and remediating the negative consequences of Neuroticism should pay greater attention to attitudes toward action and inaction, particularly focusing on their links with anxiety and individualism-collectivism.
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NNE is linked with multiple forms of maladaptive coping, including inaction, avoidance, and impulsivity.
“NNE is linked with multiple forms of maladaptive coping, including inaction, avoidance, and impulsivity (42, 44–46).”
From Pilot outcomes and exploration of treatment mechanisms using a culturally adapted version of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders to improve mental health symptoms, alcohol misuse, functional outcomes, and sleep quality in emergency responders (2025) · cites this paper as [46]
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- Authors
- Ireland, M. E., Hepler, J., Li, H., & Albarracín, D.
- Affiliations
- Texas Tech University (US)
- University of Nevada, Reno (US)
- Battelle (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ireland, Molly E.
- Venue
- Journal of Personality
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-06-05
- Volume
- 83
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 243-250
- ISSN
- 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-6494
- PMC
- PMC5783537
- OpenAlex
- W2131425867
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 1.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH094241, K02MH075616)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Keywords
- neuroticism, impulsivity, anxiety, depression, individualism-collectivism, cognitive biases, cross-cultural personality
- MeSH terms
- Neuroticism, Adolescent, Americas, Anxiety Disorders, Asia, Attitude, Europe, Female, Humans, Male, Personality, Young Adult
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