TY - JOUR
T1 - Personality traits in people with synaesthesia
T2 - Do synaesthetes have an atypical personality profile?
AU - Banissy, Michael
AU - Holle, Henning
AU - Cassell, Josephine
AU - Annett, Lucy
AU - Tsakanikos, Elias
AU - Walsh, Vincent
AU - Spiller, Mary Jane
AU - Ward, Jamie
PY - 2013/5
Y1 - 2013/5
N2 - People with synaesthesia not only have – by definition – unusual experiences(e.g., numbers triggering colour), they also have a different cognitive profile (e.g., in terms of their memory and perceptual abilities) and a bias towards certain interests and activities (e.g., towards the arts). However, virtually nothing is known about whether synaesthetes have an atypical personality profile. In this study, a standard measure of personality was administered (Big Five Inventory) along with two questionnaire measures of empathy. Synaesthetes, relative to demographically matched controls, reported higher levels of ‘Openness to Experience’ which is known to be related to imagination and artistic tendencies. They also reported higher levels of ‘Fantasizing’ on one of the empathy measures, which is conceptually related to Openness, although their self reported empathy did not differ in other respects. In addition, synaesthetes reported lower levels of Agreeableness which we did not predict in advance.
AB - People with synaesthesia not only have – by definition – unusual experiences(e.g., numbers triggering colour), they also have a different cognitive profile (e.g., in terms of their memory and perceptual abilities) and a bias towards certain interests and activities (e.g., towards the arts). However, virtually nothing is known about whether synaesthetes have an atypical personality profile. In this study, a standard measure of personality was administered (Big Five Inventory) along with two questionnaire measures of empathy. Synaesthetes, relative to demographically matched controls, reported higher levels of ‘Openness to Experience’ which is known to be related to imagination and artistic tendencies. They also reported higher levels of ‘Fantasizing’ on one of the empathy measures, which is conceptually related to Openness, although their self reported empathy did not differ in other respects. In addition, synaesthetes reported lower levels of Agreeableness which we did not predict in advance.
KW - synaesthesia
KW - Personality
KW - Empathy
KW - Art
KW - Imagination
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.018
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2012.12.018
M3 - Article
SN - 0191-8869
VL - 54
SP - 828
EP - 831
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
IS - 7
ER -