ArticleBrain, behavior, and immunity2013
Big 5 personality traits and interleukin-6: evidence for "healthy Neuroticism" in a US population sample.
Article in Brain, behavior, and immunity, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 75 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
75 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Personality nuances and inflammation: A coordinated analysis of six samples.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Five-factor model personality traits and inflammatory markers: new data and a meta-analysis.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2014Pooled it
- Smoking behavior and nicotine dependence: the predictive role of personality traits.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Serum TNF-Alpha and IL-10 Predict Reduced Sensitivity to Fear- and Anxiety-Related Traits in Healthy Older Dogs: Preliminary Evidence for Immune-Personality Signatures in Later Life.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Neuroticism is associated with future disease and mortality risks.Chinese medical journal · 2025Article
- Eating Disorder Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis: Relationships Between Neuroticism, Body Dissatisfaction, and Self-Esteem.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Loneliness Links Adverse Childhood Experiences to Mortality Risk Across 26 Years.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Association between healthy neuroticism and eating behavior as revealed by the NKI Rockland Sample.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The association of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism on BMI and health behaviours: exploring the impact of Healthy Neuroticism.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Behavioral adjustment moderates the effect of neuroticism on brain volume relative to intracranial volume.Journal of personality · 2024Article
- ΔJournal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Personality and aging-related immune phenotype.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2023Article
- Fight the Fire: Association of Cytokine Genomic Markers and Suicidal Behavior May Pave the Way for Future Therapies.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Review
- Who Has Active Lifestyles? Sociodemographic and Personality Correlates of Activity Diversity in Two Samples of Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
- Why is subjective stress severity a stronger predictor of health than stressor exposure? A preregistered two-study test of two hypotheses.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2023Article
- Network analysis of the associations between personality traits, cognitive functioning, and inflammatory markers in elderly individuals without dementia.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Article
- Interplay between personality traits and learning strategies: the missing link.Advances in physiology education · 2022Article
- Locus coeruleus catecholamines link neuroticism and vulnerability to tau pathology in aging.NeuroImage · 2022Article
- The role of neuroticism and conscientious facets in academic motivation.Brain and behavior · 2022Article
- Not Just How Much, But How Many: Overall and Domain-Specific Activity Variety and Cognitive Functioning in Adulthood.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
15 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The current study investigated if the Big 5 personality traits predicted interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in a national sample over the course of 5years. In addition, interactions among the Big 5 were tested to provide a more accurate understanding of how personality traits may influence an inflammatory biomarker. Data included 1054 participants in the Midlife Development in the U.S. (MIDUS) biomarkers subproject. The Big 5 personality traits were assessed in 2005-2006 as part of the main MIDUS survey. Medication use, comorbid conditions, smoking behavior, alcohol use, body mass index, and serum levels of IL-6 were assessed in 2005-2009 as part of the biomarkers subproject. Linear regression analyses examined personality associations with IL-6. A significant Conscientiousness*Neuroticism interaction revealed that those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism had lower circulating IL-6 levels than people with all other configurations of Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Adjustment for health behaviors diminished the magnitude of this association but did not eliminate it, suggesting that lower comorbid conditions and obesity may partly explain the lower inflammation of those high in both Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Our findings suggest, consistent with prior speculation, that average to higher levels of Neuroticism can in some cases be associated with health benefits - in this case when it is accompanied by high Conscientiousness. Using personality to identify those at risk may lead to greater personalization in the prevention and remediation of chronic inflammation.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.