Exploring Links between Neuroticism and Psychoticism Personality Traits, Attentional Biases to Threat and Friendship Quality in 9–11-year-olds

Pavlou, Katerina; Benson, Valerie; Hadwin, Julie A. · 2016 · Crossref

DOI: 10.5127/jep.055316

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Summary

This study investigates the relationships between personality traits (neuroticism and psychoticism), attentional biases to threat, and friendship quality in children aged 9–11 years. Motivated by theoretical frameworks linking temperament to social adjustment and psychopathology, the research aimed to determine if distinct attentional mechanisms underlie the social difficulties associated with these traits. Specifically, it tested whether neuroticism is linked to hypervigilance for threat and whether psychoticism is associated with selective attention to hostile cues, potentially mediating poor peer relationships. The researchers employed an eye-movement paradigm known as the Remote Distractor Paradigm (RDP) with 42 participants. Children were tasked with identifying a target shape while ignoring distractor faces (angry, happy, or neutral) presented in central, parafoveal, or peripheral vision. Personality traits were measured using the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory, attentional control via the Attentional Control Scale, and friendship quality using the Friendship Quality Scale. Eye-tracking data analyzed saccade latencies (time to initiate eye movement to the target) and directional errors (erroneous eye movements toward distractors). Statistical analyses included repeated measures ANOVAs, correlations, and mediation models to assess links between individual differences and attentional metrics. The results revealed distinct attentional profiles for the two personality traits. Neuroticism was associated with hypervigilance for threat, evidenced by significantly slower saccade latencies to the target when angry faces were present compared to happy or neutral faces. This delay was most pronounced in children with lower self-reported attentional control, particularly when disengaging from centrally presented angry faces. In contrast, psychoticism was linked to increased distractibility, manifested as higher rates of directional errors toward all face distractors, regardless of emotional expression. Furthermore, psychoticism traits correlated with lower friendship quality, specifically regarding companionship, help, security, and conflict. Mediation analysis indicated that the negative relationship between psychoticism and companionship was mediated by increased selective attention to threat (directional errors toward angry faces). These findings suggest that neuroticism and psychoticism involve different cognitive mechanisms affecting social development. Neuroticism-related hypervigilance interferes with task goals, a process exacerbated by poor attentional control, implying that interventions improving attentional regulation may benefit anxious children. Conversely, psychoticism is linked to a general difficulty in suppressing reflexive attention to distractors, with specific bias toward threat mediating poorer peer relationships. This highlights the potential for attention bias modification interventions to improve social outcomes for children with elevated psychoticism traits. The study underscores the importance of distinguishing between hypervigilance and selective attention in understanding developmental psychopathology and designing targeted translational interventions.

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• personality driving