[SPSP 2025] Personality Traits and Self-Continuity: Lower Neuroticism is Associated with Greater Connectedness with Past and Future Selves

Abstract

Self-continuity, the perceived connectedness with past and future selves, has been linked to lower neuroticism (Sedikides et al., 2023). However, little is known about its associations with other five-factor traits and differential effects for past versus future self-continuity. Three adult lifespan datasets, collected in 2020 (n=491), 2022 (n=163), and 2023 (n=477), assessed self-continuity 0.5/1/5/10 years into the past/future and measured personality traits with the BFI-10. Linear regressions examined traits as predictors of average past and future self-continuity across temporal distances. In all three datasets, lower neuroticism was consistently associated with higher past and future self-continuity. Other traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness) showed no significant association. Effects persisted after controlling for demographics, except in the 2020 dataset, where the association between future self-continuity and neuroticism was no longer significant. Findings expand our understanding of the associations between five-factor personality traits and perceptions of self-continuity over time.

Date
Feb 20, 2025 11:40 PM — Feb 22, 2025 5:00 AM
Location
Denver, CO