Age, the Big Five, and time-of-day preference: A mediational model

• Older participants expressed a morning preference.
• Conscientious and agreeable participants expressed a morning preference.
• Open, neurotic, and extraverted participants expressed an evening preference.
• Conscientiousness attenuated the association between age and time of day preference.

This research examined the extent to which the Big Five personality factors mediated the relationship between age and time-of-day preference. A sample of 491 Americans (Mage = 32 yrs) completed the 240-item NEO-PI-R, the 19-item Horne and Östberg’s (1976) Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ), and provided demographic information. As demonstrated in previous research, correlations revealed that older people expressed a stronger morning preference. More importantly, using bootstrapping procedures, it was found that the Big Five factor of conscientiousness attenuated the relationship between age and time-of-day preference. These findings indicate that conscientiousness plays a significant role in the relationship between age and time-of-day preference.