ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2026
Personality trait and state associations with cognitive functioning and variability in middle-aged and older adults.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesPersonality characteristics are recognized as early indicators of later cognitive functioning, yet existing studies have primarily focused on trait-level trends. How well these between-person differences uncover daily cognitive functioning processes remains unclear. Addressing this entails examining momentary personality states, which may accumulate over time to influence longer-term cognitive outcomes. Accordingly, this study investigates associations between personality traits and states and momentary cognitive functioning and variability.
methodsWe conducted a three-week ecological momentary assessment study of middle-aged and older adults (N = 183). We used Bayesian mixed-effects location scale models to capture contingencies between personality and momentary cognitive functioning/variability. Additionally, we used machine learning (elastic net regression) to identify profiles of personality state-cognition contingencies and individuals who exhibit stronger associations.
resultsAt the trait level, higher conscientiousness was associated with poorer working memory and processing speed. Higher openness was associated with better cognitive functioning and lower variability for episodic memory and processing speed. At the state level, conscientiousness was associated with better working memory performance, while neuroticism was associated with variable episodic memory functioning. Extraversion was associated with working and episodic memory functioning/variability. Finally, sociodemographic, health, and personality trait variables emerged as top predictors of individual differences in within-person associations. DISCUSSION: By investigating within-person associations between personality and cognitive ability, we demonstrate that trait-level associations do not necessarily generalize to state-level ones. Profiles of top predictors of individual differences in state-level associations may be promising targets for intervention, but interventions should be tailored with between- and within-person differences in mind.
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.