Unique Associations of Different Addictions with the Big-5 Personality Dimensions

Abstract Background: Addiction is an increasingly prevalent issue and one with dark consequences for both physical and mental health. As the number of addictions increases with new technological innovations and changing social environments make certain addictions more dangerous, it is important to investigate ways to influence the development and growth of such addictions. Personality has been shown to interact with addiction in a bidirectional fashion, however while there is a wealth of data connecting personality and addiction, these studies are vitally limited in a number of ways this study aims to rectify. Methods: This study examined the unique associations of ten different types of addictions (alcohol, smoking, drug, sex, social media, shopping, exercise, gambling, internet gaming, and internet use addictions) with the Big-5 personality dimensions of extraversion (E), emotional stability (ES), agreeableness (A), conscientiousness (C), and openness to experience (O), controlling for gender and age effects. Participants (N = 968; males = 64.3%) were adults from the general Australian community, with age ranging from 18 to 64 years (mean = 29.54 years; SD = 9.36 years). Results: The findings, based on multiple regression analyses, showed that the different types of addictions were associated with different groups of the personality dimensions. Most of the addictions were however associated with low E, A and C, and many were additionally associated with low A. The theoretical, clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed. Conclusions: In summary, the findings of the study showed that different addictions can be grouped together into general patterns of association different groups of the personality dimensions. There are several of these such patterns showing that different personality profiles are associated with different kinds of addictions.