Associations among the Big Five, emotional responses, and coping with acute stress

This study examined whether and how McCrae and Costa’s Big Five personality dimensions (N, E, O, A, and C) are associated with stress and coping processes, including cognitive appraisals, subjective reactions, use of coping strategies, and task performance. Participants were 97 male and female university undergraduates who completed an abbreviated version of the NEO-PI prior to preparing and presenting a speech to an audience. Immediately after their speeches, participants reported their emotional reactions and the coping strategies used during the task. Two independent coders rated participants’ speech task performances. Correlational analyses indicated reliable associations between the five personality dimensions and many of the study’s variables. Findings generally support previous research into the association between the Big Five and stress and coping, and provide new information about the association between the Big Five and both appraisal and performance variables.