Individual differences in personality traits and anxiety about aging

The present study examined the relations between the Big Five Personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and anxiety about aging. The NEO-Five Factor Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1989, 1992) and the Anxiety about Aging Scale (Lasher & Faulkender, 1993) were completed by 144 undergraduate students at a large Midwestern university. As expected, a positive relation between neuroticism and overall anxiety about aging was observed. Anxiety about aging was inversely related to agreeableness, conscientiousness, and extraversion and unrelated to openness to experience. Additionally, the Big Five Personality traits were differentially related to the four dimensions of anxiety about aging (anxiety about changes in physical appearance, fear of old people, psychological concerns, and anxiety about agerelated losses). These results support the notion that anxiety about aging is related to individual differences in personality traits and suggest that certain aspects of anxiety about aging may be relatively stable and resistant to change.