Relations Among Emotional Mood State Personality Dimensions and Social Desirability in Older Adults

Abstract

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that older adults report higher levels of positive affect (PA). Studies in the context of the five-factor model of personality have also noted the age-related changes in personality. However, the possible influence of personality on emotional state needs further investigation in older adulthood. This study examines relations among personality traits, social desirability, and positive/negative affectivity in conjunction with aging.

Materials and Method: A total of 123 volunteers (62 young and 61 older adults) was participated in the study. A cross-design was used with consecutive sampling. All participants had higher education. Participants completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule as a measure of emotional state. Thereafter, they rated the degree to which each item described themselves on the Five-Factor Personality Inventory, which measures personality dimensions and social desirability.

Results: Independent t-tests were conducted to compare young and older adults in terms of affectivity and personality. Findings revealed that older adults reported less negative affect (NA) compared with young adults. Older adults scored higher on agreeableness, conscientiousness, and social desirability, whereas young adults scored higher on extraversion and neuroticism. Based on correlational results, neuroticism was negatively correlated with extraversion, social desirability, and PA in older adults. Analyses of variance showed that conscientiousness, neuroticism, and social desirability impacted positive/negative affectivity.

Conclusion: The results indicated that neuroticism proved to be the most important factor on emotional well-being. Older adults low on neuroticism experienced less NA. Furthermore, conscientiousness and social desirability had strong effects on PA indicating that the age-related differences found in affectivity might not only be attributable to age-related changes in personality, but also partly attributable to age-related increases in social desirability.