The relationship between dissociation and personality

The present study investigated the relationship between the five-factor model of personality and dissociation in a large sample of university students. Participants were administered a battery of self-report measures that assessed personality, dissociation and childhood trauma and/or abuse. Significant correlations were found between the dimensions of the five-factor model of personality and dissociation. Cluster analytic techniques were also used to identify personality subtypes among participants scoring above average on the dissociation measure. Three reliable subtypes were identified with one subtype having a profile resembling personality profiles found in samples determined to have psychopathology. Differences among the subtypes were found in the levels of remembered childhood sexual abuse and amnestic dissociative experiences. Possible implications of these results for understanding the relationship between personality, dissociation, and dissociative pathology were discussed.