The big five and cervical screening barriers: Evidence for the influence of conscientiousness, extraversion and openness

A female undergraduate sample (n = 257) was used to assess the influence of the big five personality factors on cervical screening barriers. Information on perceived barriers to the Pap test, perceived barriers to a novel screening method, HPV-DNA self-sampling, and personality (Big Five Inventory; John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991) was collected using questionnaires. Two hierarchical multiple linear regressions assessed the influence of personality on barriers beyond the variance explained by behavioral variables including (1) past sexual intercourse experience and (2) previous Pap test participation. As hypothesized, conscientiousness was inversely predictive of Pap test barriers, and openness was inversely predictive of self-sampling barriers. Additionally, conscientiousness was also inversely predictive of self-sampling barriers, and extraversion was inversely predictive of both Pap test barriers and self-sampling barriers. Our results support the hypothesis that conscientiousness is associated with health perceptions that are conducive to positive health behaviors such as cancer screening. The relationship between openness and extraversion and lowered screening barriers provides further direction for research investigating the relationship between these personality variables and health beliefs.