A comprehensive examination of personality factor and facet associations with daily stress processes

Abstract

Although psychosocial stress is a putative mechanism for personality-health associations, research has been limited by a lack of comprehensive, fine-tuned assessment. In the current study, a large sample (n = 655) of young adults completed facet-level personality assessment followed by a 14-day experience sampling of stress exposure, emotional stress reactivity, pre-sleep arousal, and sleep. Multilevel model analyses confirmed that neuroticism, across facets, was the strongest predictor of daily stress. Facet-level analyses indicated that assertiveness, trust, and self-control were particularly relevant to daily stress. Personality moderated stress exposure associations with pre-sleep arousal (conscientiousness, aesthetic chill proneness) and restorative sleep (openness, aesthetic chill proneness). Findings confirm the significance of personality in daily stress. Future directions and implications for stress intervention are discussed.