Personality types and coping

In recent years, it has been well established that the basic personality factors of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness are associated with stress experience and coping. However, little is known about their combined effects. To address this question, we studied eight personality types — unique combinations of Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Conscientiousness — in a sample of 683 university students. Participants reported daily hassles, positive and negative emotions, and coping strategies. The eight types related differentially to these measures. Types combining low Neuroticism with high Conscientiousness featured the most favourable profile of stress and coping, whereas types combining high Neuroticism with low Conscientiousness showed high vulnerability to stress and poor coping. The effects of Extraversion were more ambiguous and appeared to depend on the specific combinations of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. The findings suggest that this typology represents a useful approach to addressing the question of how individuals with different combinations of personality traits experience and manage stress.