Can the Big Five explain the criterion validity of Sense of Coherence for mental health, life satisfaction, and personal distress?

• Incremental validity of Sense of Coherence (SOC) beyond the Big Five is questionable.
• Big Five explain 40% of variance in SOC scores.
• SOC and Big Five predict mental health, life-satisfaction, and personal distress.
• SOC has substantial incremental validity beyond the Big Five.
• SOC and (reversed) neuroticism are not identical.

ObjectiveSeveral studies have demonstrated a strong overlap in variance between the salutogenic construct Sense of Coherence (SOC) and the Big Five personality traits, yet the unique contributions of these overlapping constructs remain debated. Specifically, the statistical association between SOC and neuroticism has been taken as evidence for SOC representing a fundamental personality trait in disguise. The present research explored the incremental validity when predicting crucial psychological outcomes: mental health, satisfaction with life, and psychological distress.MethodParticipants (N = 1842; 1574 female, 268 male, age 15–77 years), who completed an online survey, answered health-relevant questionnaires (SCL-K-9, SWLS, IRI-PD).ResultsMultiple regression analysis showed that the Big Five can explain 40% of the observed variance in SOC. However, when using all variables as predictors of mental health, satisfaction with life, and personal distress, SOC showed substantial incremental validity over the Big Five traits.ConclusionDespite overlapping variance, the importance of salutogenesis beyond the Five Factor Model can be demonstrated specifically for health outcomes. Differences in criterion validity and incremental validity of SOC imply that SOC cannot be equated with reversed neuroticism.