Browsing by Subject "Personality"
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Item Open Access A Novel Experimental Method for Measuring Proactive and Reactive Responses to Threat and an Examination of Their Personality and Neural Correlates(2015) Gorka, AdamThe goal of this dissertation is to characterize goal directed proactive behavioral responses to threat as well as reactive responses to threat exposure, and to identify the neural and personality correlates of individual differences in these responses. Three specific studies are reported wherein participants completed a novel shock avoidance paradigm while concurrent measures of behavioral, muscular, and sympathetic autonomic activity were collected; self-report was used to measure mood and trait personality; and blood oxygen-level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) was used to measure individual differences in threat-related amygdala reactivity and intrinsic connectivity within the corticolimbic circuit.
Results from Study 1 demonstrate that during threat exposure, participants exhibit increased avoidance behavior, faster reaction times, and increased muscular and sympathetic activity. Moreover, results demonstrate that two broad patterns characterize individual differences in how participants respond during avoidance: 1) a generalized tendency to exhibit magnified threat responses across domains; and 2) a tendency to respond either with proactive behavioral responses or reactive autonomic responses. Heightened state anxiety during the shock avoidance paradigm, and increased trait anxiety were both associated with the generalized tendency to exhibit magnified threat responses. However, gender moderated the relationship between trait anxiety and generalized increases in threat responses during avoidance, such that only male participants exhibited a positive relationship between these two factors. Study 2 demonstrates that intrinsic connectivity between the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and centromedial region of the amygdala prospectively predicts whether participants will respond proactively or reactively during active avoidance. Finally, Study 3 provides evidence that responses to threat-related facial expressions within the centromedial region of the amygdala are associated with more reactive and less proactive responses during avoidance.
These results demonstrate that patterns observed in animal models of avoidance, specifically the competition between proactive and reactive responses to threat cues, extend to human participants. Moreover, our results suggest that while anxious mood during performance and heightened trait anxiety are associated with a generalized facilitation of threat responses across domains, measures of neural circuit function within the corticolimbic system predict whether individuals will exhibit increased proactive or reactive responses during active avoidance. In addition to facilitating the search for the neural processes underlying how the brain responds dynamically to threat, these results have the potential to aide researchers in characterizing the symptoms and neural processes underlying anxiety disorders.
Item Open Access Changes in neuroticism following trauma exposure.(J Pers, 2014-04) Ogle, Christin M; Rubin, David C; Siegler, Ilene CUsing longitudinal data, the present study examined change in midlife neuroticism following trauma exposure. Our primary analyses included 670 participants (M(age) = 60.55; 65.22% male, 99.70% Caucasian) who completed the NEO Personality Inventory at ages 42 and 50 and reported their lifetime exposure to traumatic events approximately 10 years later. No differences in pre- and post-trauma neuroticism scores were found among individuals who experienced all of their lifetime traumas in the interval between the personality assessments. Results were instead consistent with normative age-related declines in neuroticism throughout adulthood. Furthermore, longitudinal changes in neuroticism scores did not differ between individuals with and without histories of midlife trauma exposure. Examination of change in neuroticism following life-threatening traumas yielded a comparable pattern of results. Analysis of facet-level scores largely replicated findings from the domain scores. Overall, our findings suggest that neuroticism does not reliably change following exposure to traumatic events in middle adulthood. Supplemental analyses indicated that individuals exposed to life-threatening traumas in childhood or adolescence reported higher midlife neuroticism than individuals who experienced severe traumas in adulthood. Life-threatening traumatic events encountered early in life may have a more pronounced impact on adulthood personality than recent traumatic events.Item Open Access Cognitive and Interpersonal Features of Intellectual Humility.(Personality & social psychology bulletin, 2017-06) Leary, Mark R; Diebels, Kate J; Davisson, Erin K; Jongman-Sereno, Katrina P; Isherwood, Jennifer C; Raimi, Kaitlin T; Deffler, Samantha A; Hoyle, Rick HFour studies examined intellectual humility-the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs might be wrong. Using a new Intellectual Humility (IH) Scale, Study 1 showed that intellectual humility was associated with variables related to openness, curiosity, tolerance of ambiguity, and low dogmatism. Study 2 revealed that participants high in intellectual humility were less certain that their beliefs about religion were correct and judged people less on the basis of their religious opinions. In Study 3, participants high in intellectual humility were less inclined to think that politicians who changed their attitudes were "flip-flopping," and Study 4 showed that people high in intellectual humility were more attuned to the strength of persuasive arguments than those who were low. In addition to extending our understanding of intellectual humility, this research demonstrates that the IH Scale is a valid measure of the degree to which people recognize that their beliefs are fallible.Item Open Access Cognitive structure: a comparison of two theories and measure of integrative complexity ...(1970) Cox, Gary B.This study was intended to assess the generality of a particular type of cognitive structure characteristic, that of integrative complexity. Pursuant of this, the theories of H. M. Schroder and O. J. Harvey were com- pared, and their respective measures administered to 440 students (Ss) of both sexes from three different southern schools. The theoretical analysis suggested that Schroder's theory is more truly structural in nature, and is more powerful in that it is more easily and obviously applicable to a broad range of cognitive domains. Harvey's position is much more firmly grounded on the content of the interpersonal domain. Both theories claim that the characteristic of cognitive structure which is most important in determining cognitive complexity is not differentiation, or an increase in the dimensionality, of the cognitive domain, but the subsequent integration of the differentiated components. Unfortunately, neither theorist is able to define integration so as to clearly distinguish it from a dimensional position. Here again, however, Schroder's theory seems to be the stronger, since it is at least explicit enough that the locus of difficulty can be precisely identified. Further, even if Schroder is un- able to define adequately the integration concept, his theorizing suggests the importance of the possibility of super- and sub-ordinate relationships among dimensions. Results of the testing were as follows: (a) As expected, the respective measures of cognitive integration were non-significantly correlated with each other, (b) Both measures of integration were significantly correlated with such measures of intelligence as vocabulary, abstract thinking, and SAT verbal and mathematical scores, (c) Sex differences in the scores may exist, although the pattern is not clear, (d) Other sample characteristics may affect the distribution of scores, e.g. large intelligence differences, socioeconomic differences, etc. On the other hand, Negroes are not ipso facto inferior to Caucasians, even when the latter enjoy a 100- point advantage on SAT averages. Nor are Southern whites inferior to Northern whites, at least when both are of superior intellectual ability. (e) Reliability, as estimated by coefficient alpha, is satisfactory for Harvey's measure and unsatisfactory for Schroder's, (f) The distribution of scores is such that for both measures complex Ss are rare, so pools of Ss must be tested in order to obtain adequate numbers of complex Ss. This is more a problem in attempting to apply Schroder than Harvey, largely because Schroder has often not bothered to study middle-range Ss, so their characteristics are unknown. Schroder's variable (especially) is essentially inapplicable to an unscreened group of subjects. Overall, Schroder's theory seems more promising than Harvey's. Suggestions were made for improving the reliability and distribution of scores. Additionally, a translation of Schroder's theory into dimensional terminology was attempted, and some important implications of his position for the dimensional orientation were discussed.Item Open Access Comfort Zone Orientation: Moving Beyond One’s Comfort Zone(2018-04-25) Kiknadze, NonaAlthough people often talk about behaviors or experiences being “out of their comfort zone,” no research has examined the relationship between people’s comfort zones and how they react to situations that fall outside them. Three studies examined comfort zones and the value that some people place on pushing themselves out of their comfort zones, termed comfort zone orientation (CZO). Study 1 showed that people are able to answer questions about their comfort zones and that comfort zones are related to the emotions that people expect to experience in threatening situations. Study 2 validated a measure of CZO, showing that correlations between CZO and personality measures were consistent with its conceptualization. Study 3 was a laboratory experiment that revealed that CZO related to participants’ responses to an actual anxiety-producing task and that participants who valued pushing themselves out of their comfort zone were more confident that they could make themselves perform a threatening task. This research extends our understanding of the psychological basis of comfort zones and demonstrates that the Comfort Zone Orientation Scale is a valid measure of the degree to which people value pushing themselves out of their comfort zone.Item Open Access Conservatives, liberals, and "the negative".(Behav Brain Sci, 2014-06) Charney, EvanThe authors connect conservatism with aversion to negativity via the tendentious use of the language of threats to characterize conservatism, but not liberalism. Their reliance upon an objective conception of the negative ignores the fact that much of the disagreement between liberals and conservatives is over whether or not one and the same state of affairs is negative or positive.Item Open Access Five-Factor Model personality profiles of drug users.(BMC psychiatry, 2008-04-11) Terracciano, Antonio; Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Crum, Rosa M; Bienvenu, O Joseph; Costa, Paul TBackground
Personality traits are considered risk factors for drug use, and, in turn, the psychoactive substances impact individuals' traits. Furthermore, there is increasing interest in developing treatment approaches that match an individual's personality profile. To advance our knowledge of the role of individual differences in drug use, the present study compares the personality profile of tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin users and non-users using the wide spectrum Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality in a diverse community sample.Method
Participants (N = 1,102; mean age = 57) were part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (ECA) program in Baltimore, MD, USA. The sample was drawn from a community with a wide range of socio-economic conditions. Personality traits were assessed with the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), and psychoactive substance use was assessed with systematic interview.Results
Compared to never smokers, current cigarette smokers score lower on Conscientiousness and higher on Neuroticism. Similar, but more extreme, is the profile of cocaine/heroin users, which score very high on Neuroticism, especially Vulnerability, and very low on Conscientiousness, particularly Competence, Achievement-Striving, and Deliberation. By contrast, marijuana users score high on Openness to Experience, average on Neuroticism, but low on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness.Conclusion
In addition to confirming high levels of negative affect and impulsive traits, this study highlights the links between drug use and low Conscientiousness. These links provide insight into the etiology of drug use and have implications for public health interventions.Item Open Access Harmonization of Neuroticism and Extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium: an application of Item Response Theory.(Behavior genetics, 2014-07) van den Berg, Stéphanie M; de Moor, Marleen HM; McGue, Matt; Pettersson, Erik; Terracciano, Antonio; Verweij, Karin JH; Amin, Najaf; Derringer, Jaime; Esko, Tõnu; van Grootheest, Gerard; Hansell, Narelle K; Huffman, Jennifer; Konte, Bettina; Lahti, Jari; Luciano, Michelle; Matteson, Lindsay K; Viktorin, Alexander; Wouda, Jasper; Agrawal, Arpana; Allik, Jüri; Bierut, Laura; Broms, Ulla; Campbell, Harry; Smith, George Davey; Eriksson, Johan G; Ferrucci, Luigi; Franke, Barbera; Fox, Jean-Paul; de Geus, Eco JC; Giegling, Ina; Gow, Alan J; Grucza, Richard; Hartmann, Annette M; Heath, Andrew C; Heikkilä, Kauko; Iacono, William G; Janzing, Joost; Jokela, Markus; Kiemeney, Lambertus; Lehtimäki, Terho; Madden, Pamela AF; Magnusson, Patrik KE; Northstone, Kate; Nutile, Teresa; Ouwens, Klaasjan G; Palotie, Aarno; Pattie, Alison; Pesonen, Anu-Katriina; Polasek, Ozren; Pulkkinen, Lea; Pulkki-Råback, Laura; Raitakari, Olli T; Realo, Anu; Rose, Richard J; Ruggiero, Daniela; Seppälä, Ilkka; Slutske, Wendy S; Smyth, David C; Sorice, Rossella; Starr, John M; Sutin, Angelina R; Tanaka, Toshiko; Verhagen, Josine; Vermeulen, Sita; Vuoksimaa, Eero; Widen, Elisabeth; Willemsen, Gonneke; Wright, Margaret J; Zgaga, Lina; Rujescu, Dan; Metspalu, Andres; Wilson, James F; Ciullo, Marina; Hayward, Caroline; Rudan, Igor; Deary, Ian J; Räikkönen, Katri; Arias Vasquez, Alejandro; Costa, Paul T; Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa; van Duijn, Cornelia M; Penninx, Brenda WJH; Krueger, Robert F; Evans, David M; Kaprio, Jaakko; Pedersen, Nancy L; Martin, Nicholas G; Boomsma, Dorret IMega- or meta-analytic studies (e.g. genome-wide association studies) are increasingly used in behavior genetics. An issue in such studies is that phenotypes are often measured by different instruments across study cohorts, requiring harmonization of measures so that more powerful fixed effect meta-analyses can be employed. Within the Genetics of Personality Consortium, we demonstrate for two clinically relevant personality traits, Neuroticism and Extraversion, how Item-Response Theory (IRT) can be applied to map item data from different inventories to the same underlying constructs. Personality item data were analyzed in >160,000 individuals from 23 cohorts across Europe, USA and Australia in which Neuroticism and Extraversion were assessed by nine different personality inventories. Results showed that harmonization was very successful for most personality inventories and moderately successful for some. Neuroticism and Extraversion inventories were largely measurement invariant across cohorts, in particular when comparing cohorts from countries where the same language is spoken. The IRT-based scores for Neuroticism and Extraversion were heritable (48 and 49 %, respectively, based on a meta-analysis of six twin cohorts, total N = 29,496 and 29,501 twin pairs, respectively) with a significant part of the heritability due to non-additive genetic factors. For Extraversion, these genetic factors qualitatively differ across sexes. We showed that our IRT method can lead to a large increase in sample size and therefore statistical power. The IRT approach may be applied to any mega- or meta-analytic study in which item-based behavioral measures need to be harmonized.Item Open Access Identifying Adolescent Patients at Risk for Sexually Transmitted Infections: Development of a Brief Sexual Health Screening Survey.(Clinical pediatrics, 2015-08) Victor, Elizabeth C; Chung, Richard; Thompson, Robert JThis study examined the association between survey responses to health behaviors, personality/psychosocial factors, and self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to create a brief survey to identify youth at risk for contracting STIs. Participants included 200 racially diverse 14- to 18-year-old patients from a pediatric primary care clinic. Two sexual behavior variables and one peer norm variable were used to differentiate subgroups of individuals at risk of contracting a STI based on reported history of STIs using probability (decision tree) analyses. These items, as well as sexual orientation and having ever had oral sex, were used to create a brief sexual health screening (BSHS) survey. Each point increase in total BSHS score was associated with exponential growth in the percentage of sexually active adolescents reporting STIs. Findings suggest that the BSHS could serve as a useful tool for clinicians to quickly and accurately detect sexual risk among adolescent patients.Item Open Access Liberal bias and the five-factor model.(Behav Brain Sci, 2015) Charney, EvanDuarte et al. draw attention to the "embedding of liberal values and methods" in social psychological research. They note how these biases are often invisible to the researchers themselves. The authors themselves fall prey to these "invisible biases" by utilizing the five-factor model of personality and the trait of openness to experience as one possible explanation for the under-representation of political conservatives in social psychology. I show that the manner in which the trait of openness to experience is conceptualized and measured is a particularly blatant example of the very liberal bias the authors decry.Item Open Access Predicting behavior : an examination of the utilities of trait and interaction approaches to locus of control(1975) Kravitz, Frederick MarkINTRODUCTION: Speculations about the nature of personality can be found throughout recorded time. There have been numerous and often contradictory attempts to describe man's personality, character, and temperament. The scientific study of personality has only slowly emerged from these purely speculative roots.. Part of this lag can be attributed to the extreme subjectivity inherent in man's analysis of self. William James noted that "the history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments" (James, 1907, p.6). This observation seems especially relevant to personology in light of the multitude of personality theories expounded. The term 'personality' comes from the Latin word “persona”. The Romans used persona to refer to the masks worn in the theatre. Later the term came to include the wearers of the mask as well. The wearers of a given mask were expected to exhibit a consistent pattern of behaviors and attitudes. Beginning in Roman times, the term has taken on diverse meanings, both denotative and connotative (Burnham, 1968). The scientific study of man was last to emerge in the history of science. "The heavenly bodies, the objects remotest from man, were the first objects of scientific interest. Speculation advanced slowly through the realm of the inorganic until in the 9th century detailed observations about animals paved the way for detailed and systematic observations of men" (Peters, 1962, p.38). The scientific study of personality is thus a young science, still struggling to extricate itself from its speculative roots. The trend in personological works has been towards greater complexity, a gradual movement away from varying common sense notions and sophistic speculations to more parsimonious, observationally-related hypotheses. The modern study of personality clearly reflects Peter's view of scientific progress in general. "We tend to think of science as a ' body of knowledge ' which began to be accumulated when man hit upon 'scientific method. ' This is a superstition. It is more in keeping with the history of thought to describe science as the myths about the world which have not yet been found to be wrong . . . Science consists in conscious attempts to refute other people ' s stories and in the production of better stories to supplant them. The history of science is the history of stories which have been shown to be false or only partially correct" (Peters, 1962, p. 37). Some of the earlier myths about the nature of personality have endured into the present. Later myths, the myth of the "purity" of the experimental 4 method and the myth of the "purity" of the correlational approach, have led to a paradigm crisis (Cronbach, 1957) which is still unresolved. However, from this crisis, a new perspective, an interactionist one, is emerging which promises to significantly alter our conceptualizations of personality. The present paper is a review of its antecedents, an examination of this new approach, and an experimental analysis of its potential utility.Item Open Access Predicting Leader Effectiveness: Personality Traits and Character Strengths(2007-05-07) O'Neil, Dennis PPersonality traits have been used extensively over the past forty years in assessing leadership potential, with varying degrees of success. A major limitation of this research has been the measures of personality. Another important limitation has been the availability of quantifiable measures of leader effectiveness. A third limitation is the lack of longitudinal studies. Because of these limitations, researchers have had difficulty determining the strength of personality traits as predictors of leadership effectiveness over time. Recent studies have used the Five Factor Model of personality to predict leadership effectiveness (e.g., Hogan, Curphy, & Hogan, 1994; Judge, Bono, Ilies, & Gerhardt, 2002; McCormack & Mellor, 2002); and researchers in positive psychology (e.g., Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) have suggested that character strength and virtues (i.e., courage, temperance, and transcendence) might also offer an approach useful in predicting leadership success. This research builds on these approaches and examined two trait-based instruments, the Big Five instrument (NEO-PI-R) and the Values in Action Inventory of Strength (VIA-IS) instrument as they relate to leader effectiveness. Using undergraduates at the United States Military Academy as participants, the research examines the relationship and efficacy of the NEO-PI-R and the VIA-IS in predicting leadership effectiveness over a two and a half year study. Regression analysis demonstrated that conscientiousness was the most significant predictor of leadership effectiveness. However, latent growth curve analysis suggests that there are three distinct patterns of leadership effectiveness. Using mixture modeling, these trajectories are best explained by the personality factors and virtue variables of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and temperance. The findings of this study have broad implications for emergent leader selection, leader development programs, and executive coaching in organizations.Item Open Access Speaking of Stress: Predictors and Consequences of Stress Mindset in College Students(2021-05) Levin, JanetteThis paper focuses on the relevance of stress mindsets to college students. Stress mindsets describe the intuitive beliefs that people hold about the nature of stress as either enhancing or debilitating. In two studies, we sampled distinct groups of current or recent college students (N = 1170) regarding their stress mindsets, perceived distress, well-being, academic performance, procrastination habits, descriptions of stress, and personality characteristics. Our five main goals were to: (1) replicate prior findings that stress mindsets predict perceived distress, well-being, and academic outcomes (GPA), (2) assess how stress mindsets relate to procrastination, (3) explore whether language can reveal students’ stress mindsets, (4) consider how Big 5 personality traits inform stress mindsets, and (5) test whether stress mindset predicts important outcomes even when controlling for the potential third variable of personality. Our results supported prior research in noting that an enhancing stress mindset was associated with lower perceived distress, higher well-being, and higher GPA. Study 1 also indicated that an enhancing stress mindset predicted lower procrastination. Enhancing stress mindsets were significantly associated with positive emotional language, negative emotional language, and words related to drive, achievement, and reward across studies. Stress mindset was also associated with personality; participants were more likely to hold an enhancing stress mindset when they were lower in openness, higher in conscientiousness, higher in extraversion, and lower in neuroticism. Finally, after controlling for relevant personality traits, stress mindset continued to be a significant unique predictor of perceived distress, well-being, and GPA, but not procrastination. Together, our findings underscore the relevance of stress mindset to important outcomes in college students, suggesting that language can provide a window into stress mindsets, and that personality may play a role in shaping one’s beliefs about the nature of stress.Item Open Access The genetic association between personality and major depression or bipolar disorder. A polygenic score analysis using genome-wide association data.(Translational psychiatry, 2011-10-18) Middeldorp, CM; de Moor, MHM; McGrath, LM; Gordon, SD; Blackwood, DH; Costa, PT; Terracciano, A; Krueger, RF; de Geus, EJC; Nyholt, DR; Tanaka, T; Esko, T; Madden, PAF; Derringer, J; Amin, N; Willemsen, G; Hottenga, J-J; Distel, MA; Uda, M; Sanna, S; Spinhoven, P; Hartman, CA; Ripke, S; Sullivan, PF; Realo, A; Allik, J; Heath, AC; Pergadia, ML; Agrawal, A; Lin, P; Grucza, RA; Widen, E; Cousminer, DL; Eriksson, JG; Palotie, A; Barnett, JH; Lee, PH; Luciano, M; Tenesa, A; Davies, G; Lopez, LM; Hansell, NK; Medland, SE; Ferrucci, L; Schlessinger, D; Montgomery, GW; Wright, MJ; Aulchenko, YS; Janssens, ACJW; Oostra, BA; Metspalu, A; Abecasis, GR; Deary, IJ; Räikkönen, K; Bierut, LJ; Martin, NG; Wray, NR; van Duijn, CM; Smoller, JW; Penninx, BWJH; Boomsma, DIThe relationship between major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) remains controversial. Previous research has reported differences and similarities in risk factors for MDD and BD, such as predisposing personality traits. For example, high neuroticism is related to both disorders, whereas openness to experience is specific for BD. This study examined the genetic association between personality and MDD and BD by applying polygenic scores for neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness to both disorders. Polygenic scores reflect the weighted sum of multiple single-nucleotide polymorphism alleles associated with the trait for an individual and were based on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for personality traits including 13,835 subjects. Polygenic scores were tested for MDD in the combined Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN-MDD) and MDD2000+ samples (N=8921) and for BD in the combined Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder and Wellcome Trust Case-Control Consortium samples (N=6329) using logistic regression analyses. At the phenotypic level, personality dimensions were associated with MDD and BD. Polygenic neuroticism scores were significantly positively associated with MDD, whereas polygenic extraversion scores were significantly positively associated with BD. The explained variance of MDD and BD, ∼0.1%, was highly comparable to the variance explained by the polygenic personality scores in the corresponding personality traits themselves (between 0.1 and 0.4%). This indicates that the proportions of variance explained in mood disorders are at the upper limit of what could have been expected. This study suggests shared genetic risk factors for neuroticism and MDD on the one hand and for extraversion and BD on the other.Item Open Access The impact of anxiety-inducing distraction on cognitive performance: a combined brain imaging and personality investigation.(PLoS One, 2010-11-30) Denkova, Ekaterina; Wong, Gloria; Dolcos, Sanda; Sung, Keen; Wang, Lihong; Coupland, Nicholas; Dolcos, FlorinBACKGROUND: Previous investigations revealed that the impact of task-irrelevant emotional distraction on ongoing goal-oriented cognitive processing is linked to opposite patterns of activation in emotional and perceptual vs. cognitive control/executive brain regions. However, little is known about the role of individual variations in these responses. The present study investigated the effect of trait anxiety on the neural responses mediating the impact of transient anxiety-inducing task-irrelevant distraction on cognitive performance, and on the neural correlates of coping with such distraction. We investigated whether activity in the brain regions sensitive to emotional distraction would show dissociable patterns of co-variation with measures indexing individual variations in trait anxiety and cognitive performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Event-related fMRI data, recorded while healthy female participants performed a delayed-response working memory (WM) task with distraction, were investigated in conjunction with behavioural measures that assessed individual variations in both trait anxiety and WM performance. Consistent with increased sensitivity to emotional cues in high anxiety, specific perceptual areas (fusiform gyrus--FG) exhibited increased activity that was positively correlated with trait anxiety and negatively correlated with WM performance, whereas specific executive regions (right lateral prefrontal cortex--PFC) exhibited decreased activity that was negatively correlated with trait anxiety. The study also identified a role of the medial and left lateral PFC in coping with distraction, as opposed to reflecting a detrimental impact of emotional distraction. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide initial evidence concerning the neural mechanisms sensitive to individual variations in trait anxiety and WM performance, which dissociate the detrimental impact of emotion distraction and the engagement of mechanisms to cope with distracting emotions. Our study sheds light on the neural correlates of emotion-cognition interactions in normal behaviour, which has implications for understanding factors that may influence susceptibility to affective disorders, in general, and to anxiety disorders, in particular.