Exploring the autonomic correlates of personality

- Elucidating the biological basis of personality is an ongoing endeavor.
- Heart rate variability can link individual differences to physiological processes.
- We found that parasympathetic dominance covaries with some personality scores.
- Autonomic balance likewise correlates with certain Big Five personality factors.
- Contemporary models of neurovisceral integration can explain these findings.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality and resting heart rate variability (HRV) indices. Healthy volunteers (n = 106) completed a 240-item Big Five personality inventory, the state/Trait Anxiety inventory, and a ten minute electrocardiographic recording. Time and frequency domain estimates of HRV were derived from the cardiac time series and related to the Big Five dimensions of personality, to personality types extracted from a cluster analysis, and to Trait Anxiety. Frequency domain measures of HRV (HRV-HF, LF/HF) were associated with specific dimensions of personality, but significance was not noted for the time domain measure (STD-RR). Furthermore, distressed personality types exhibited significantly greater autonomic imbalance (LF/HF) than other personality types. However, significance was not noted for the time domain measure (STD-RR). These results can be explained with reference to a contemporary model of neurovisceral integration.