Neuroticism and the architecture of the self: exploring neuroticism as a moderator of the impact of ideal self-discrepancies on emotion.

Two studies examined the moderating role of neuroticism in discrepancy-emotion relations. In Study 1, neuroticism, self-discrepancies, and depression were measured. Multiple regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between neuroticism and ideal self-discrepancies such that the magnitude of ideal self-discrepancies was a stronger predictor of depression for people high in neuroticism than people low in neuroticism. Study 2 used an experimental paradigm to test the same hypothesis. Participants were randomly assigned to an ideal self-discrepancy salience condition or a control condition in which ideal self-discrepancies were not made salient. A significant interaction between self-discrepancy condition and neuroticism emerged such that the ideal self-discrepancy condition produced higher dejection-related affect relative to the control condition for people high in neuroticism compared to people low in neuroticism.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes