The five-factor personality structure of dissociative experiences

Abstract

The relationship between dissociative experiences and the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of Personality was investigated in a sample of 858 college undergraduates. The NEO-PI-R [Costa Jr., P.T., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). The revised NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI-R and NEO five-factor inventory (NEO-FFI)) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.] was used to examine the factor structure of dissociative experiences as measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale [Bernstein, E. M., & Putnam, F.W. (1986). DES; Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. J Nervous Mental Disease, 174, 727–735.] As hypothesized, the Neuroticism domain accounted for the greatest proportion of variance in the DES. Contrary to our hypotheses, neither the Openness to Experience domain nor the facet of Fantasy were significantly related to scores on the DES, after partialling out the variance associated with the other FFM domains. Exploratory factor analysis of the NEO-PI-R facet scores and the DES subscales resulted in a six-factor solution that replicated the FFM and included a dissociative experiences factor that was independent of FFM space.

Introduction

The present study examined the relationship between dissociative experiences and Five-Factor Model (FFM) personality traits in a sample of undergraduate university students. Previous research investigating personality characteristics and dissociative experiences in non-clinical samples reported significant positive relationships of dissociation with Neuroticism and Openness to Experience (De Silva and Ward, 1993, Ruiz et al., 1999, Watson et al., 2000). The present study examined the relationship of these constructs and the extent to which dissociation can be understood in terms of the FFM. Improved understanding of the personality characteristics associated with dissociation may facilitate our understanding of the etiology of such experiences.

Dissociation involves disruptions and alterations in consciousness and memory as well as aberrant perceptions of time and the environment (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Dissociative experiences include an inability to recall important life events, the experience of waking to an unfamiliar place or situation, feeling disconnected from reality, feeling completely absorbed in an activity, and a sense of detachment from one's self and others (Ray, June, Turaj, & Lundy, 1992). These experiences are conceptualized as existing on a continuum ranging from relatively common, everyday occurrences (e.g. losing track of time) to more pathological forms of dissociation (e.g. loss of identity). Mild dissociative experiences tend to be relatively common in the general population, occur equally as often in males and females, and tend to decline with age (Ross, Joshie, & Currie, 1991). Dissociative experiences are often precipitated by stress or trauma, although it is hypothesized that there may be an underlying vulnerability or diathesis for experiencing dissociation (Kihlstrom, Glisky, & Angiulo, 1994). In addition to being symptomatic of dissociative disorders, such experiences are also associated with depression, anxiety, somatoform, and borderline personality disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

The FFM or Big Five Model of personality provides a useful structure for examining the personality dimensions underlying dissociation. The FFM is a model of normal personality, not psychopathology. However, many forms of psychopathology appear to map onto the FFM—often as extreme variants of personality traits. As the history and structure of the FFM is described in detail elsewhere (e.g. Costa and Widiger, 1994a, Digman, 1990, Digman, 1994), only a brief overview of the factors will be presented. The exact labels and composition of the five factors have varied among researchers. As operationalized by Costa and McCrae (1992), the FFM factors include Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Furthermore, they indicated that each FFM domain can be understood in terms of six, lower-order facets. Costa and McCrae (1992) developed the NEO-PI-R questionnaire to assess these domains and facets.

According to Costa and McCrae (1992), Neuroticism contrasts psychological distress with emotional stability. High scores are associated with emotional maladjustment, while low scores are associated with being calm and even-tempered. Extraversion involves sociability and excitement seeking. High scorers tend to be gregarious and energetic, while low scorers tend to be asocial and independent. These two factors map closely onto Eysenck and Eysenck's (1975) constructs of Neuroticism and Extraversion. Elevated scores on Openness to Experience are associated with imagination, curiosity, and introspection, while low scores are associated with conventionality and limited emotional range. Agreeableness taps the nature of interpersonal relationships. High scores tap altruism, trust, and cooperation, while low scores are associated with skepticism, competitiveness, and callousness. Conscientiousness measures self-control and planfulness. High scores are associated with competence, order, achievement striving, and (in the extreme) compulsiveness. Low scores on Conscientiousness are associated with irresponsibility, disorganization, and hedonism.

Elevated scores on the FFM personality domains of Neuroticism and Openness to Experience seem to share a common link with the occurrence of dissociative experiences. As noted previously, dissociative experiences are often precipitated by stress and are associated with depression and anxiety — which tend to be subsumed under the domain of Neuroticism. Significant correlations have been reported between scores on the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES; Bernstein and Putnam, 1986, Bernstein et al., 1993) and the Neuroticism domain of the NEO-PI-R (Ruiz et al., 1999, Watson et al., 2000) and the Neuroticism factor of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (DeSilva & Ward, 1993). McCrae and Costa (1997) suggested that high scorers on measures of Openness to Experience are characterized by dissociative tendencies, as well as unusual cognitive and perceptual experiences, consistent with the findings of Ruiz et al., 1999, Watson et al., 2000. It should be noted that Ruiz et al. (1999) reported modest zero-order correlations between all of the FFM domains and scores on the DES. They reported that scores on the DES were positively associated with Neuroticism (r=0.27) and Openness to Experience (r=0.20), and inversely with Extraversion (r=−0.11), Agreeableness (r=−0.18), and Conscientiousness (r=−0.18). However, they cautioned that these relationships should be interpreted tentatively given the relatively small magnitude of the correlations and the large sample size (n=719). Furthermore, the authors used the abbreviated NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), which precluded the examination of the relationship between dissociative experiences and facets of the FFM domains.

The present study investigates the relationship between the FFM, as measured by the NEO-PI-R, and dissociative experiences, as measured by the DES, in a sample of college undergraduates. College students provide an appropriate sample because they demonstrate a wide range of personality characteristics and because they have been used extensively in studies of dissociative experiences. The study expands upon previous published investigations of the FFM and the DES (e.g. Ruiz et al., 1999) because it includes the use of the NEO-PI-R facet scores. The inclusion of the facet scores in the present study provides a more comprehensive description of personality and allows the opportunity to examine the relationships between dissociative experiences and specific aspects of the FFM domains. Costa and McCrae (1992) encouraged the use of the facet scores because they provide a multidimensional approach for measuring the five domains and allow for a better understanding of the specific relationships between FFM domains and other measures of personality and psychopathology.

It is hypothesized that scores on the DES will show the strongest relationships with Neuroticism and Openness to Experience, although there may also be modest inverse relationships with the remaining FFM domains. Specifically, it is hypothesized that dissociative experiences will be associated with the Fantasy facet of Openness to Experience, based upon clinical and empirical reports that dissociation is associated with fantasy proneness (e.g. Merckelbach et al., 1999, Rauschenberger and Lynn, 1995). Given the ubiquitous relationship between neuroticism and dissociation, hypotheses regarding the relationship between DES scores and scores on specific Neuroticism facets are not offered.

The present study also explores whether dissociative experiences can be understood in terms of traditional personality constructs. Specifically, the study examines whether dissociative experiences can be understood as extreme manifestations of common personality traits or whether they fall outside of the realm of FFM personality functioning. While dissociative experiences are not necessarily considered to be “personality pathology,” the tendency to dissociate appears to be continuously distributed and associated with a number of established personality constructs and disorders. Therefore, it may be that pathological and nonpathological dissociation represent a facet or component of Neuroticism or Openness to Experience. On the other hand, Costa and McCrae (1992) suggested that disturbances in cognition, consistent with those seen in dissociation, may actually represent a sixth domain that falls outside of the FFM.