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Five-Factor Model of Personality and Smoking: A Meta-Analysis

NCJ Number
215582
Journal
Journal of Drug Education Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: 2006 Pages: 47-58
Author(s)
John M. Malouff; Einar B. Thorsteinsson; Nicola S. Schutte
Date Published
2006
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study used a meta-analytical approach to examine the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of personality and smoking.
Abstract
Results indicated that smoking was related to the Five-Factor traits of low conscientiousness, low agreeableness, and high neuroticism. Smokers outside of the United States and Canada exhibited significantly higher extraversion than nonsmokers, although smokers in Canada and the United States were no more likely to be extroverted than nonsmokers in these countries. The findings lend support to both the Five-Factor Model of personality as a way of understanding important life conditions and to the trait element of Gilbert’s (1995) Situation-Trait-Adaptation-Response model of smoking. The findings have implications for smoking cessation treatment, suggesting that smokers who are neurotic, low in agreeableness, and low in conscientiousness may exhibit reduced cooperation with the intervention. The meta-analysis involved a search of the PsycINFO and Pubmed databases for research published from the beginning of the records to September 2005. A total of 9 studies were examined that involved 4,730 participants. Studies were coded by type of research design, number of smokers in the group, number of participants in the comparison group, and statistical results. The statistical meta-analysis utilized the “r” statistic for the effect size and the “Q” statistic for the homogeneity analysis. Future research should focus on the influence of culture in the relationship between personality traits and smoking. Tables, references