Influence of Personality Traits on Post-Traumatic Cognitions of Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is a common form of trauma that is associated with psychological distress for many people who experience it. One factor that influences the degree to which sexual assault survivors exhibit distress is the cognitions they form related to the assault in its aftermath. The more times the assault happens, the more disruptive are the post-traumatic cognitions, although both the frequency of sexual assault and nature of post-traumatic cognitions differ by gender. Another factor that may influence post-traumatic cognitions is personality, which emerging research suggests has an influence on post-traumatic response in general and post-traumatic cognitions in particular. However, there is little research on the influence of personality on post-traumatic cognitions related to sexual assault specifically. In this study, we examine the association between personality traits (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness) and post-traumatic cognitions of sexual assault in a sample of sexual assault survivors recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 303) using a Bayesian approach to multiple regression. Results suggest that although the influence of traits varied depending on the post-traumatic cognition under analysis and the sex of the sexual assault survivor, Neuroticism was the primary predictor of post-traumatic cognitions over and above sexual assault frequency, although this applied more for men than for women. Study findings clarify previous research on the role of personality traits in post-traumatic response and suggest directions for future research and clinical intervention.