21 Personality traits in ADHD

Author: Ulrich Brennecke
Review: Dipl.-Psych. Waldemar Zdero

With regard to the Big 5 personality traits according to the Five Factor Model (1), ADHD is associated with increased neuroticism, which is characterized by emotional reactivity.
Conscientiousness, which can be seen as functional perfectionism, on the other hand, is greatly reduced in ADHD.
Extraversion, which includes approach tendencies, is also reduced in ADHD.
Agreeableness, which is influenced by bottom-up control processes, is also reduced in ADHD, especially in hyperactivity, impulsivity, and oppositional defiant behavior.
Openness to experience, which reflects the willingness to accept new experiences, is slightly increased in ADHD, especially in attention and inhibition problems.

In addition to the Five Factor Model of the Big 5, there are other assessment instruments / personality inventories or tests that measure personality traits that correlate in part with those of the Big 5. Where this is the case, we have listed the correlating traits under the respective Big 5 trait and labeled them with the following numbers for the assessment instrument in question. We have also listed changes in these traits in ADHD. The results are largely congruent.

(1) Five-factor model
(2) Integrated Five-Factor Model
(3) DAPP-BQ
(4) Cloninger TCI
(5) ICD-11
(6) AMPD

• 21.1. Neuroticism (emotional reactivity)
• 21.2. Conscientiousness
• 21.3. Extraversion (approach tendencies)
• 21.4. Compatibility
• 21.5. Openness to experience

21.1. Neuroticism (emotional reactivity)¶

Neuroticism (emotional reactivity)¹

• Significantly increased in ADHD²³ , also in adolescents with ADHD⁴
  • Especially in the event of inattention⁵
• Neuroticism correlates with personality traits from other assessment instruments:
  • High negative emotionality (2) with ADHD⁶
    • Highly increased in case of inattention¹
    • Increased with hyperactivity¹
  • High negative affect (5, 6)
  • High emotional dysregulation (3)
  • High harm avoidance (4)
  • Low self-regulation (willpower) (4)

21.2. Conscientiousness¶

Conscientiousness (top-down control process)¹

• Greatly reduced in ADHD², also in adolescents with ADHD⁴
• Conscientiousness is described as an (intrinsically motivated) functional striving for perfection, while perfectionism describes an (extrinsically motivated) dysfunctional striving for perfection that correlates highly with neuroticism.
• Conscientiousness correlates with personality traits from other assessment instruments:
  • High Consentious Inhibition (2)
    • Consentious inhibition is reduced in ADHD⁶
    • Consentious inhibition very strongly reduced in ADHD-I¹⁵
    • Consentious inhibition greatly reduced in hyperactivity¹
  • High compulsiveness (3, 5)
  • High persistence (endurance, perseverance) (4)
  • Low disinhibition (disinhibition) (6)
  • Low novelty seeking (4)
• Conscientiousness correlates with executive functions, so that lower conscientiousness is associated with lower executive functions⁴

21.3. Extraversion (approach tendencies)¶

• Extraversion (approach tendencies)¹
  • Reduced with ADHD²
  • Extraversion correlates with personality traits from other assessment instruments:
    • High positive emotionality (2)
      • Positive emotionality slightly reduced in case of inattention¹
      • Positive emotionality slightly increased with hyperactivity¹
    • High reward dependence (4)
    • Low inhibitedness (3)
    • Low harm avoidance (4)
    • Low detachment (aloofness) (5, 6)

21.4. Compatibility¶

Agreeableness (bottom-up control process)¹

• Reduced in ADHD², also in adolescents with ADHD((Krieger, Amador-Campos, Guàrdia-Olmos (2020): Executive functions, Personality traits and ADHD symptoms in adolescents: A mediation analysis. PLoS One. 2020 May 6;15(5):e0232470. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232470. PMID: 32374779; PMCID: PMC7202790. n = 118)
  • Reduces inattention as well as hyperactivity¹
  • Reduces in particular at⁵
    • Hyperactivity/impulsivity
    • Oppositional defiant behavior
    • Adults with ADHD
• Agreeableness correlates with personality traits from other assessment instruments:
  • High Agreeable Inhibition (2)
    • Agreeable inhibition greatly reduced in hyperactivity¹
    • Agreeable inhibition significantly reduced in case of inattention¹
  • High willingness to cooperate (4)
  • Low hostility (6)
  • Low dissocial behavior (3, 5)

21.5. Openness to experience¶

Openness to experience

• Slightly increased with ADHD²
  • Not significantly increased; if so, more likely for inattention and more likely for children¹
  • Tends to increase with attention and inhibition problems²
  • Slightly reduced with increased delay discounting and atypical working memory / verbal fluency²
• Openness to experience correlates with personality traits of other assessment instruments:
  • High openness (2)
  • High psychoticism (6)
  • High self-transcendence (spirituality) (4)