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Cited by 100Personality Traits and PsychologyNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesBehavioral Health and Interventions

Specifying Associations Between Conscientiousness and Executive Functioning: Mental Set Shifting, Not Prepotent Response Inhibition or Working Memory Updating

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Fleming, Kimberly A., Heintzelman, Samantha J., Bartholow, Bruce D.·2016·Journal of Personality
DOI 10.1111/jopy.12163PMC PMC4492903
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Abstract

Conscientiousness is characterized by self‐control, organization, and goal orientation and is positively related to a number of health and professional outcomes. Thus, it is commonly suggested that conscientiousness should be related to superior executive functioning (EF) abilities, especially prepotent response inhibition. However, little empirical support for this notion has emerged, perhaps due to oversimplified and underspecified modeling of EF. The current study sought to fill this gap by testing relations between conscientiousness and three facets of EF using a nested factors latent variable approach. Participants (N = 420; Mage = 22.5; 50% male; 91% Caucasian) completed a measure of conscientiousness and nine EF tasks designed to tap three related yet distinguishable facets of EF: working memory updating, mental set shifting, and prepotent response inhibition. Structural equation models showed that conscientiousness is positively associated with the EF facet of mental set shifting but not response inhibition or working memory updating. Despite the common notion that conscientiousness is associated with cognitive abilities related to rigid control over impulses (i.e., inhibition), the current results suggest the cognitive ability most associated with conscientiousness is characterized by flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing environmental contingencies and task demands.

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  • Psychometric latent variable studies show that unity and diversity of cognitive control is evident across samples and ages, although some studies suggest more unity (higher correlations between factors) in early childhood.

    “Since that initial study, this psychometric latent variable approach has been used in a large number of studies to show that unity and diversity of CC is evident across samples and ages (e.g., [34–41]), although there are some studies that suggest more unity (higher correlations between factors) in early childhood [35, 42–44].”

    From The role of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control and executive function (2022) · cites this paper as [37]

  • When a higher-order common factor is used to model the correlations among response inhibition, working memory updating, and mental set shifting, that common factor almost perfectly predicts the inhibition factor, but there is significant variance in the updating and shifting factors that is not related to the common factor.

    “When a higher-order common factor is used to model the correlations among response inhibition, working memory updating, and mental set shifting (see Fig. 3b), that common factor almost perfectly predicts the inhibition factor [37, 38, 157, 158], but there is significant variance in the updating and shifting factors that is not related to the common factor.”

    From The role of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control and executive function (2022) · cites this paper as [37]

  • When the correlated factors model is re-parameterized into a bifactor model, there are updating-specific and shifting-specific factors, but there is no evidence for a response inhibition-specific factor.

    “Similarly, when the correlated factors model is re-parameterized into a bifactor model (see Fig. 3c), there are updating-specific and shifting-specific factors, but there is no evidence for a response inhibition-specific factor [37, 38, 157].”

    From The role of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control and executive function (2022) · cites this paper as [37]

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Authors
Fleming, K. A., Heintzelman, S. J., & Bartholow, B. D.
Affiliations
University of Missouri (US)
Corresponding author
Fleming, Kimberly A.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2015-02-11
Volume
84
Issue
3
Pages
348-360
ISSN
  • 0022-3506 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-6494
DOI
10.1111/jopy.12163
PMC
PMC4492903
OpenAlex
W2097641074
Cited by
100
References
87
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 3
FWCI
10.33
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Journal of Personality (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (P60 AA011998, F31 AA022551)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
Keywords
conscientiousness, executive function, mental set shifting, prepotent response inhibition, working memory updating, cognitive flexibility, self-control, personality traits, latent variable models
MeSH terms
Self-Control, Adult, Conscience, Female, Humans, Inhibition, Psychological, Male, Memory, Short-Term, Personality, Young Adult, Executive Function

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