Can personality factors predict intelligence?

The present study investigated the relationship between personality traits and psychometric intelligence. A total of 4859 participants completed the Critical Reasoning Test Battery (GRT2) and the Fifteen Factor Questionnaire (15FQ). Of the second-order personality factors, Conscientiousness, Extraversion and Neuroticism were significant predictors of general intelligence (g). Regressing personality and demographic factors on g indicated that they accounted for 13% of its variance. The investigation of personality predictors of specific mental abilities (numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning) revealed that although some variables can be used to predict scores on all three abilities (e.g. Conscientiousness, Extraversion), other variables can be used to predict only specific abilities (e.g. Openness, Neuroticism). Regressing personality and demographic factors on specific abilities indicated that they accounted for 9–17% of the variance in intelligence scores.