#fivefactormodel — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #fivefactormodel, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: July 5, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Classic psychedelics linked to lasting increases in openness and drops in neuroticism
A recent systematic review published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests that using classic psychedelics is linked to lasting changes in personality traits, particularly an increase in openness and a decrease in neuroticism. The comprehensive analysis of nearly 50 recent studies provides evidence that substances like psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca might shape human character in enduring ways.
Psychologists often understand human personality through the Five-Factor Model. This framework organizes personality into five broad categories. These are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Openness reflects curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to embrace new ideas. Conscientiousness involves self-discipline, organization, and goal-oriented behavior. Extraversion captures a person’s sociability, assertiveness, and energy levels.
Agreeableness describes a tendency toward empathy, cooperation, and concern for others. Neuroticism refers to how people handle negative emotions, with higher levels indicating a vulnerability to anxiety, mood swings, or depression.
While personality tends to be stable over a person’s lifetime, evidence indicates that life experiences and biology can shift these enduring traits. Biology and environmental influences interact to constantly adjust how personality traits are expressed. In recent years, scientists have focused on how classic psychedelics might influence these psychological categories.
Classic psychedelics include substances like psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, and ayahuasca. These drugs primarily interact with serotonin receptors in the brain, which help regulate mood, cognition, and perception. A previous review from 2018 examined early evidence of personality shifts linked to these substances.
Since then, the field of psychedelic science has grown substantially. The authors of the current paper aimed to update that older literature review. Rafael Guimarães dos Santos, a professor in the department of neuroscience and behavior at the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School in Brazil, helped lead the new analysis.
“The impact of classic psychedelics (5-HT2A receptor agonists, LSD, DMT, psilocybin) on personality traits has been studied for decades, and it has been hypothesized that the mechanisms underlying these changes are linked to agonism at cortical serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors,” said dos Santos, who is also a member of the Phantastica Lab.
Agonism refers to a chemical binding to a receptor and activating it. In this case, the drugs activate specific serotonin receptors located in the outer layers of the brain. “For example, some studies have found increases in openness and decreases in neuroticism,” dos Santos added. “However, research results are contradictory.”
To resolve these contradictions, the researchers wanted to capture the recent surge in data. They were especially interested in studies looking at naturalistic drug use and microdosing. Naturalistic use refers to people taking psychedelics in real-world settings rather than in a laboratory. Microdosing involves taking very small, sub-hallucinogenic amounts of a drug on a regular schedule.
The scientists searched four major academic databases for articles published between January 2016 and early 2025. They screened over 6,000 scientific summaries to find research specifically looking at classic psychedelics and personality assessments. This process yielded 48 relevant studies.
The final collection included 14 experimental trials and 34 observational studies. Experimental trials take place in controlled laboratory or clinical settings, often using placebo comparisons to test specific drug doses. Observational studies track people who are already using these substances on their own.
Across the 48 papers, sample sizes varied widely. Some clinical trials featured fewer than 20 participants, while a few online surveys gathered data from thousands of recreational users. Most of the included studies relied on questionnaires based on the Five-Factor Model to measure personality traits, though some used alternative psychological frameworks.
When synthesizing the data, the researchers found a few consistent patterns. People who use psychedelics long-term share similar personality profiles, and the substances themselves appear to promote these shifts.
“The most consistent findings were, indeed, increases in Openness and reductions in Neuroticism, especially with psilocybin and ayahuasca,” dos Santos told PsyPost. “Changes in other traits, such as Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, were more variable. However, controlled studies are few, and limited by number of doses and difficult to compare to real-world scenarios of use.”
Observational data indicates that experienced users tend to score unusually high in openness and low in neuroticism. In some populations, such as groups that use ayahuasca in traditional religious ceremonies, individuals also exhibit higher levels of agreeableness and self-transcendence. Self-transcendence is a psychological concept related to feeling connected to the wider universe, spiritual acceptance, and a sense of unity with nature.
A person’s baseline personality tends to predict how they will react to a psychedelic drug. Participants with naturally high openness scores are more likely to have positive, deeply meaningful experiences during a psychedelic trip. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism or impulsivity are more prone to challenging, anxious, or frightening psychological reactions. This finding highlights how a person’s starting mindset can shape their response to powerful psychoactive compounds.
The review provides evidence that taking psychedelics under controlled conditions can cause lasting personality changes. In clinical trials involving psilocybin, which is the active compound in “magic mushrooms,” participants consistently showed reductions in neuroticism and increases in openness. These psychological shifts often remained stable for months after the drug was administered. In some clinical studies, patients treated with psilocybin also showed modest increases in extraversion.
Similar long-term effects were noted in controlled trials testing LSD. Healthy volunteers and patients who received LSD in experimental settings showed sustained drops in neuroticism. Following the LSD sessions, these individuals also displayed increased extraversion and conscientiousness when evaluated up to a year later.
The findings regarding ayahuasca were a bit more mixed in the experimental settings. While observational studies heavily linked ayahuasca use to higher openness and lower neuroticism, controlled clinical trials did not always replicate these exact results. One controlled trial found increased openness after ayahuasca administration, but other trials found no significant changes in personality traits. The scientists suggest that variations in the chemical makeup of different ayahuasca brews might contribute to these inconsistent results.
The review also looked at the practice of microdosing psychedelics, which was predominantly studied through observational surveys. The authors found that people who routinely microdose report modest reductions in neuroticism and higher levels of absorption. Absorption is a trait that describes how easily a person becomes fully engaged in sensory or imaginative experiences. Changes in other traits like extraversion or conscientiousness were less consistent across the microdosing literature.
While the collected data points toward psychedelics shaping personality, the authors note a few potential misinterpretations and limitations. Because a large portion of the review relies on observational studies, scientists cannot definitively prove cause and effect in those specific cases.
“Data is difficult to interpret, because there are several study designs, and maybe some people already have different personality traits at baseline that could already be related to hallucinogen use,” dos Santos said. “(For example, people with baseline high traits of openness to experience or neuroticism could be more inclined to take psychedelics.)”
Observational surveys often rely on self-reported data, which can be influenced by personal biases and expectations. If a person expects a drug to make them more empathetic or open-minded, they might rate themselves higher on those traits after taking it. Experimental trials offer more rigorous evidence to counteract this issue. However, laboratory trials often feature small sample sizes and highly selected participant pools, making it difficult to generalize the findings to the broader public.
Future research would benefit from combining controlled experimental procedures with long-term naturalistic tracking. The authors suggest using longer follow-up periods to see if personality shifts truly endure over many years. They also recommend utilizing more diverse personality questionnaires to capture individual differences that the standard models might miss.
Expanding these research methods will help scientists better understand exactly how psychedelics alter human character, which can provide a more accurate guide for clinical applications. To build on this systematic review, the research team is actively expanding their focus. “We are now exploring these variables in clinical populations, since most studies are in healthy volunteers,” dos Santos said.
The study, “Classic psychedelics and personality: An updated systematic review,” was authored by Anna Beatriz Vicentini, Caio César de Paula, José Augusto Silva Reis, José Carlos Bouso, Jaime E. C. Hallak, and Rafael G. dos Santos.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsychedelicsAndPersonality #OpennessIncrease #NeuroticismReduction #PsilocybinEffects #LSDImpact #AyahuascaResearch #FiveFactorModel #PsychedelicScience #MicrodosingInsights #PersonalityChangeStudies
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DATE: July 5, 2026 at 06:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Classic psychedelics linked to lasting increases in openness and drops in neuroticism
A recent systematic review published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests that using classic psychedelics is linked to lasting changes in personality traits, particularly an increase in openness and a decrease in neuroticism. The comprehensive analysis of nearly 50 recent studies provides evidence that substances like psilocybin, LSD, and ayahuasca might shape human character in enduring ways.
Psychologists often understand human personality through the Five-Factor Model. This framework organizes personality into five broad categories. These are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Openness reflects curiosity, imagination, and a willingness to embrace new ideas. Conscientiousness involves self-discipline, organization, and goal-oriented behavior. Extraversion captures a person’s sociability, assertiveness, and energy levels.
Agreeableness describes a tendency toward empathy, cooperation, and concern for others. Neuroticism refers to how people handle negative emotions, with higher levels indicating a vulnerability to anxiety, mood swings, or depression.
While personality tends to be stable over a person’s lifetime, evidence indicates that life experiences and biology can shift these enduring traits. Biology and environmental influences interact to constantly adjust how personality traits are expressed. In recent years, scientists have focused on how classic psychedelics might influence these psychological categories.
Classic psychedelics include substances like psilocybin, LSD, mescaline, and ayahuasca. These drugs primarily interact with serotonin receptors in the brain, which help regulate mood, cognition, and perception. A previous review from 2018 examined early evidence of personality shifts linked to these substances.
Since then, the field of psychedelic science has grown substantially. The authors of the current paper aimed to update that older literature review. Rafael Guimarães dos Santos, a professor in the department of neuroscience and behavior at the University of São Paulo’s Ribeirão Preto Medical School in Brazil, helped lead the new analysis.
“The impact of classic psychedelics (5-HT2A receptor agonists, LSD, DMT, psilocybin) on personality traits has been studied for decades, and it has been hypothesized that the mechanisms underlying these changes are linked to agonism at cortical serotonergic 5-HT2A receptors,” said dos Santos, who is also a member of the Phantastica Lab.
Agonism refers to a chemical binding to a receptor and activating it. In this case, the drugs activate specific serotonin receptors located in the outer layers of the brain. “For example, some studies have found increases in openness and decreases in neuroticism,” dos Santos added. “However, research results are contradictory.”
To resolve these contradictions, the researchers wanted to capture the recent surge in data. They were especially interested in studies looking at naturalistic drug use and microdosing. Naturalistic use refers to people taking psychedelics in real-world settings rather than in a laboratory. Microdosing involves taking very small, sub-hallucinogenic amounts of a drug on a regular schedule.
The scientists searched four major academic databases for articles published between January 2016 and early 2025. They screened over 6,000 scientific summaries to find research specifically looking at classic psychedelics and personality assessments. This process yielded 48 relevant studies.
The final collection included 14 experimental trials and 34 observational studies. Experimental trials take place in controlled laboratory or clinical settings, often using placebo comparisons to test specific drug doses. Observational studies track people who are already using these substances on their own.
Across the 48 papers, sample sizes varied widely. Some clinical trials featured fewer than 20 participants, while a few online surveys gathered data from thousands of recreational users. Most of the included studies relied on questionnaires based on the Five-Factor Model to measure personality traits, though some used alternative psychological frameworks.
When synthesizing the data, the researchers found a few consistent patterns. People who use psychedelics long-term share similar personality profiles, and the substances themselves appear to promote these shifts.
“The most consistent findings were, indeed, increases in Openness and reductions in Neuroticism, especially with psilocybin and ayahuasca,” dos Santos told PsyPost. “Changes in other traits, such as Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, were more variable. However, controlled studies are few, and limited by number of doses and difficult to compare to real-world scenarios of use.”
Observational data indicates that experienced users tend to score unusually high in openness and low in neuroticism. In some populations, such as groups that use ayahuasca in traditional religious ceremonies, individuals also exhibit higher levels of agreeableness and self-transcendence. Self-transcendence is a psychological concept related to feeling connected to the wider universe, spiritual acceptance, and a sense of unity with nature.
A person’s baseline personality tends to predict how they will react to a psychedelic drug. Participants with naturally high openness scores are more likely to have positive, deeply meaningful experiences during a psychedelic trip. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism or impulsivity are more prone to challenging, anxious, or frightening psychological reactions. This finding highlights how a person’s starting mindset can shape their response to powerful psychoactive compounds.
The review provides evidence that taking psychedelics under controlled conditions can cause lasting personality changes. In clinical trials involving psilocybin, which is the active compound in “magic mushrooms,” participants consistently showed reductions in neuroticism and increases in openness. These psychological shifts often remained stable for months after the drug was administered. In some clinical studies, patients treated with psilocybin also showed modest increases in extraversion.
Similar long-term effects were noted in controlled trials testing LSD. Healthy volunteers and patients who received LSD in experimental settings showed sustained drops in neuroticism. Following the LSD sessions, these individuals also displayed increased extraversion and conscientiousness when evaluated up to a year later.
The findings regarding ayahuasca were a bit more mixed in the experimental settings. While observational studies heavily linked ayahuasca use to higher openness and lower neuroticism, controlled clinical trials did not always replicate these exact results. One controlled trial found increased openness after ayahuasca administration, but other trials found no significant changes in personality traits. The scientists suggest that variations in the chemical makeup of different ayahuasca brews might contribute to these inconsistent results.
The review also looked at the practice of microdosing psychedelics, which was predominantly studied through observational surveys. The authors found that people who routinely microdose report modest reductions in neuroticism and higher levels of absorption. Absorption is a trait that describes how easily a person becomes fully engaged in sensory or imaginative experiences. Changes in other traits like extraversion or conscientiousness were less consistent across the microdosing literature.
While the collected data points toward psychedelics shaping personality, the authors note a few potential misinterpretations and limitations. Because a large portion of the review relies on observational studies, scientists cannot definitively prove cause and effect in those specific cases.
“Data is difficult to interpret, because there are several study designs, and maybe some people already have different personality traits at baseline that could already be related to hallucinogen use,” dos Santos said. “(For example, people with baseline high traits of openness to experience or neuroticism could be more inclined to take psychedelics.)”
Observational surveys often rely on self-reported data, which can be influenced by personal biases and expectations. If a person expects a drug to make them more empathetic or open-minded, they might rate themselves higher on those traits after taking it. Experimental trials offer more rigorous evidence to counteract this issue. However, laboratory trials often feature small sample sizes and highly selected participant pools, making it difficult to generalize the findings to the broader public.
Future research would benefit from combining controlled experimental procedures with long-term naturalistic tracking. The authors suggest using longer follow-up periods to see if personality shifts truly endure over many years. They also recommend utilizing more diverse personality questionnaires to capture individual differences that the standard models might miss.
Expanding these research methods will help scientists better understand exactly how psychedelics alter human character, which can provide a more accurate guide for clinical applications. To build on this systematic review, the research team is actively expanding their focus. “We are now exploring these variables in clinical populations, since most studies are in healthy volunteers,” dos Santos said.
The study, “Classic psychedelics and personality: An updated systematic review,” was authored by Anna Beatriz Vicentini, Caio César de Paula, José Augusto Silva Reis, José Carlos Bouso, Jaime E. C. Hallak, and Rafael G. dos Santos.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #PsychedelicsAndPersonality #OpennessIncrease #NeuroticismReduction #PsilocybinEffects #LSDImpact #AyahuascaResearch #FiveFactorModel #PsychedelicScience #MicrodosingInsights #PersonalityChangeStudies
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DATE: June 14, 2026 at 08:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Highly conscientious people might hesitate to use generative AI models
A person’s underlying personality traits influence how often they use conversational artificial intelligence, largely depending on whether they feel the tool elevates their social status and how confident they are at operating it. Researchers recently mapped how individual psychological dispositions associate with the early adoption of text-based machine learning tools. The study was published in The Journal of Psychology.
Psychological frameworks often sort human behavior into five broad categories, known collectively as the Five Factor Model. This system breaks personality down into extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These traits act as a psychological baseline for human interaction. They shape how a person engages with their environment, navigates unexpected challenges, and adopts new habits throughout their lifetime.
When new digital tools emerge, behavioral researchers often look to these personality profiles to understand who will adopt the technology first. Extraversion reflects sociability and a desire to engage with the outside world. Openness involves a high capacity for curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to try novel experiences. Conscientiousness describes people who are highly organized, disciplined, and focused on practical achievements.
The Five Factor Model also includes agreeableness and neuroticism, though researchers often study these two traits separately in the context of technology. Highly agreeable individuals prioritize group harmony and typically wait for a program to become mainstream before trying it. People with high levels of neuroticism tend to overestimate the risks associated with new systems, making them hesitant to adopt unfamiliar software.
Because artificial intelligence chatbots are still relatively unpredictable, researchers focused strictly on the traits most associated with early technological adoption. Extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness generally reflect novelty-seeking behaviors, forward-thinking mentalities, and goal-directed actions. These active characteristics typically align with the profile of an early technology user attempting to gain an advantage in their daily work.
To analyze technology adoption accurately, researchers pair these internal personality traits with external behavioral frameworks. One common framework is the Technology Acceptance Model. This model evaluates how outside environmental pressures and internal technological beliefs convince a person to integrate a specific software into their routine.
Two important factors in this acceptance model are social image and computer self-efficacy. Social image refers to an individual’s personal belief that using a new technology will make them look better or more distinguished to their peers. Computer self-efficacy describes the level of confidence an individual possesses regarding their own capacity to operate the program effectively without needing outside help.
Artificial intelligence chat programs represent a newly popular category of digital utility. Because programs like ChatGPT only became publicly available in late 2022, empirical data about the people who actively use them remains scarce. Tingjun Deng and Dake Wang, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, designed a project to discover how intrinsic personality differences and extrinsic social perceptions associate with user habits.
In March 2023, Deng, Wang, and their colleagues surveyed 784 participants across China. The researchers limited the pool to individuals who had already tried ChatGPT at least once in their lives. The participant group consisted primarily of university students and young working professionals from eastern coastal cities.
Participants answered a series of psychological and behavioral questions using a standardized five-point scale. The survey measured the respondents’ innate levels of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. It also asked them to rate their personal confidence in using the chatbot, their perception of how using the software affected their social standing, and their actual frequency of use.
Following data collection, the researchers used structural equation modeling to analyze the responses. This statistical technique allows researchers to test multiple relationships between different variables simultaneously. The goal was to see if personality traits directly influenced software usage, or if social prestige and technical self-reliance acted as stepping stones between personality and behavior.
The analysis revealed that extraversion was the only measured trait with a direct, positive association with general chatbot usage. Highly extraverted people reported logging into the application more often. Extraverted individuals tend to seek out social interactions, and they might treat interactions with a responsive language model as an extension of their natural conversational habits.
The other two traits, however, influenced usage primarily through indirect pathways. Direct associations between openness and usage frequency were not statistically significant. The same lack of a direct connection was true for the relationship between conscientiousness and general usage frequency.
The researchers suggested a few potential mechanisms for these missing direct links. Highly open individuals often value imaginative, highly original ideas in their daily pursuits. Because text-generation programs output aggregated responses based on preexisting data patterns, the generated text might sometimes feel too conventional to satisfy highly creative users.
A different friction point might exist for highly conscientious individuals. Conscientious people are cautious and methodical, often preferring tools that are entirely reliable and predictable. Early versions of text-generating programs occasionally produced factual errors, which might have prompted disciplined users to retreat back to familiar, proven search methods.
While openness and conscientiousness lacked a direct line to usage, they were still linked to the technology through indirect pathways. All three personality traits showed a strong positive association with social image. Extraverts, highly open individuals, and highly conscientious people all tended to believe that mastering an advanced digital tool would make them look tech-savvy and elevate their status among their immediate peers.
This elevated social image then acted as a behavioral bridge. When users felt the chatbot boosted their reputation, their confidence in using the tool grew. This increased computer self-efficacy was strongly linked to how often they eventually logged into the program to complete practical tasks.
The link between social prestige and technical confidence relies heavily on how groups communicate about new software. When peers advocate for a specific tool, that verbal encouragement acts as a powerful source of motivation. Hearing a friend or colleague praise a program can reduce a user’s initial anxiety and make the learning curve feel much less intimidating.
Seeing other people succeed also provides a form of vicarious experience. If an individual watches a peer use a chatbot to complete a task quickly, they are much more likely to believe they can achieve the exact same result. This environmental feedback loops back into their own self-evaluation, steadily increasing their overall technical confidence.
The researchers noted this process forms a sequential chain of associations. A user’s personality influences their desire to look good in front of others. That desire for social standing correlates with a willingness to practice and feel competent. Ultimately, that tested competence translates into consistent usage.
Some personality traits had distinct limitations in building technical confidence. Extraverts, for example, did not show a direct increase in computer self-efficacy. Since extraverted people normally rely on facial expressions, vocal tone, and physical gestures to communicate successfully, a strictly text-based interface might limit their natural confidence. Highly open people also did not show a direct boost in technical confidence, possibly because their strengths lie in creative exploration rather than mechanical software mastery.
Conscientious individuals, conversely, displayed a robust relationship with computer self-efficacy. Their structured approach to learning likely helped them understand the software’s advanced features quickly. Once these individuals felt entirely capable, their usage of the application increased at a steady rate.
Software developers and technology marketers often study these behavioral pathways to refine their products. By understanding how different personality types respond to a new interface, companies can adjust user training modules to reduce early anxiety and build technical confidence. Future public campaigns might focus heavily on the social prestige of mastering the tool to attract status-driven consumers.
The dataset carries some notable limitations that future studies will need to address. The survey relied entirely on a cross-sectional design, meaning the researchers observed behavior at a single point in time. Because of this structural setup, the researchers could only identify mathematical associations between variables rather than prove that one factor directly caused another.
Relying on self-reported data also introduces subjective bias. Participants might overestimate or underestimate how much time they actually spend chatting with the program on an average day. Future investigations could pair software tracking metrics with psychological profiles to gather completely objective usage statistics.
The participant pool was relatively narrow, focusing mostly on young respondents living in China who had already adopted the technology. Including a broader range of ages, geographic locations, and language groups will help determine if these behavioral trends hold true globally. Comparing active users directly against people who refuse to use the technology might also provide a deeper understanding of digital reluctance.
The study, “Associations Between Personality Traits and ChatGPT Usage: The Dual Mediating Roles of Social Image and Computer Self-Efficacy,” was authored by Tingjun Deng, Dake Wang, Jiaojiao Ma, Tian Wang, Benqian Li, Talib Hussain, Yongjie Yue, and Pengcheng Wang.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChatGPTUsage #FiveFactorModel #ExtraversionOpennessConscientiousness #TechAdoption #TechnologyAcceptanceModel #SocialImage #ComputerSelfEfficacy #AIChatbots #DigitalReluctance #TechMarketingInsights
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DATE: June 14, 2026 at 08:00PM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Highly conscientious people might hesitate to use generative AI models
A person’s underlying personality traits influence how often they use conversational artificial intelligence, largely depending on whether they feel the tool elevates their social status and how confident they are at operating it. Researchers recently mapped how individual psychological dispositions associate with the early adoption of text-based machine learning tools. The study was published in The Journal of Psychology.
Psychological frameworks often sort human behavior into five broad categories, known collectively as the Five Factor Model. This system breaks personality down into extraversion, openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism. These traits act as a psychological baseline for human interaction. They shape how a person engages with their environment, navigates unexpected challenges, and adopts new habits throughout their lifetime.
When new digital tools emerge, behavioral researchers often look to these personality profiles to understand who will adopt the technology first. Extraversion reflects sociability and a desire to engage with the outside world. Openness involves a high capacity for curiosity, creativity, and a willingness to try novel experiences. Conscientiousness describes people who are highly organized, disciplined, and focused on practical achievements.
The Five Factor Model also includes agreeableness and neuroticism, though researchers often study these two traits separately in the context of technology. Highly agreeable individuals prioritize group harmony and typically wait for a program to become mainstream before trying it. People with high levels of neuroticism tend to overestimate the risks associated with new systems, making them hesitant to adopt unfamiliar software.
Because artificial intelligence chatbots are still relatively unpredictable, researchers focused strictly on the traits most associated with early technological adoption. Extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness generally reflect novelty-seeking behaviors, forward-thinking mentalities, and goal-directed actions. These active characteristics typically align with the profile of an early technology user attempting to gain an advantage in their daily work.
To analyze technology adoption accurately, researchers pair these internal personality traits with external behavioral frameworks. One common framework is the Technology Acceptance Model. This model evaluates how outside environmental pressures and internal technological beliefs convince a person to integrate a specific software into their routine.
Two important factors in this acceptance model are social image and computer self-efficacy. Social image refers to an individual’s personal belief that using a new technology will make them look better or more distinguished to their peers. Computer self-efficacy describes the level of confidence an individual possesses regarding their own capacity to operate the program effectively without needing outside help.
Artificial intelligence chat programs represent a newly popular category of digital utility. Because programs like ChatGPT only became publicly available in late 2022, empirical data about the people who actively use them remains scarce. Tingjun Deng and Dake Wang, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, designed a project to discover how intrinsic personality differences and extrinsic social perceptions associate with user habits.
In March 2023, Deng, Wang, and their colleagues surveyed 784 participants across China. The researchers limited the pool to individuals who had already tried ChatGPT at least once in their lives. The participant group consisted primarily of university students and young working professionals from eastern coastal cities.
Participants answered a series of psychological and behavioral questions using a standardized five-point scale. The survey measured the respondents’ innate levels of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. It also asked them to rate their personal confidence in using the chatbot, their perception of how using the software affected their social standing, and their actual frequency of use.
Following data collection, the researchers used structural equation modeling to analyze the responses. This statistical technique allows researchers to test multiple relationships between different variables simultaneously. The goal was to see if personality traits directly influenced software usage, or if social prestige and technical self-reliance acted as stepping stones between personality and behavior.
The analysis revealed that extraversion was the only measured trait with a direct, positive association with general chatbot usage. Highly extraverted people reported logging into the application more often. Extraverted individuals tend to seek out social interactions, and they might treat interactions with a responsive language model as an extension of their natural conversational habits.
The other two traits, however, influenced usage primarily through indirect pathways. Direct associations between openness and usage frequency were not statistically significant. The same lack of a direct connection was true for the relationship between conscientiousness and general usage frequency.
The researchers suggested a few potential mechanisms for these missing direct links. Highly open individuals often value imaginative, highly original ideas in their daily pursuits. Because text-generation programs output aggregated responses based on preexisting data patterns, the generated text might sometimes feel too conventional to satisfy highly creative users.
A different friction point might exist for highly conscientious individuals. Conscientious people are cautious and methodical, often preferring tools that are entirely reliable and predictable. Early versions of text-generating programs occasionally produced factual errors, which might have prompted disciplined users to retreat back to familiar, proven search methods.
While openness and conscientiousness lacked a direct line to usage, they were still linked to the technology through indirect pathways. All three personality traits showed a strong positive association with social image. Extraverts, highly open individuals, and highly conscientious people all tended to believe that mastering an advanced digital tool would make them look tech-savvy and elevate their status among their immediate peers.
This elevated social image then acted as a behavioral bridge. When users felt the chatbot boosted their reputation, their confidence in using the tool grew. This increased computer self-efficacy was strongly linked to how often they eventually logged into the program to complete practical tasks.
The link between social prestige and technical confidence relies heavily on how groups communicate about new software. When peers advocate for a specific tool, that verbal encouragement acts as a powerful source of motivation. Hearing a friend or colleague praise a program can reduce a user’s initial anxiety and make the learning curve feel much less intimidating.
Seeing other people succeed also provides a form of vicarious experience. If an individual watches a peer use a chatbot to complete a task quickly, they are much more likely to believe they can achieve the exact same result. This environmental feedback loops back into their own self-evaluation, steadily increasing their overall technical confidence.
The researchers noted this process forms a sequential chain of associations. A user’s personality influences their desire to look good in front of others. That desire for social standing correlates with a willingness to practice and feel competent. Ultimately, that tested competence translates into consistent usage.
Some personality traits had distinct limitations in building technical confidence. Extraverts, for example, did not show a direct increase in computer self-efficacy. Since extraverted people normally rely on facial expressions, vocal tone, and physical gestures to communicate successfully, a strictly text-based interface might limit their natural confidence. Highly open people also did not show a direct boost in technical confidence, possibly because their strengths lie in creative exploration rather than mechanical software mastery.
Conscientious individuals, conversely, displayed a robust relationship with computer self-efficacy. Their structured approach to learning likely helped them understand the software’s advanced features quickly. Once these individuals felt entirely capable, their usage of the application increased at a steady rate.
Software developers and technology marketers often study these behavioral pathways to refine their products. By understanding how different personality types respond to a new interface, companies can adjust user training modules to reduce early anxiety and build technical confidence. Future public campaigns might focus heavily on the social prestige of mastering the tool to attract status-driven consumers.
The dataset carries some notable limitations that future studies will need to address. The survey relied entirely on a cross-sectional design, meaning the researchers observed behavior at a single point in time. Because of this structural setup, the researchers could only identify mathematical associations between variables rather than prove that one factor directly caused another.
Relying on self-reported data also introduces subjective bias. Participants might overestimate or underestimate how much time they actually spend chatting with the program on an average day. Future investigations could pair software tracking metrics with psychological profiles to gather completely objective usage statistics.
The participant pool was relatively narrow, focusing mostly on young respondents living in China who had already adopted the technology. Including a broader range of ages, geographic locations, and language groups will help determine if these behavioral trends hold true globally. Comparing active users directly against people who refuse to use the technology might also provide a deeper understanding of digital reluctance.
The study, “Associations Between Personality Traits and ChatGPT Usage: The Dual Mediating Roles of Social Image and Computer Self-Efficacy,” was authored by Tingjun Deng, Dake Wang, Jiaojiao Ma, Tian Wang, Benqian Li, Talib Hussain, Yongjie Yue, and Pengcheng Wang.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #ChatGPTUsage #FiveFactorModel #ExtraversionOpennessConscientiousness #TechAdoption #TechnologyAcceptanceModel #SocialImage #ComputerSelfEfficacy #AIChatbots #DigitalReluctance #TechMarketingInsights
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CW: uspol and personality type phrenology
slumming on reddit again; from a thread about “why is the prototypical female GOP politician in the limelight seemingly so trashy/stupid?”
#Conservatism #Conservatives #FiveFactorModel #TraitOpenness
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CW: uspol and personality type phrenology
slumming on reddit again; from a thread about “why is the prototypical female GOP politician in the limelight seemingly so trashy/stupid?”
#Conservatism #Conservatives #FiveFactorModel #TraitOpenness