Positive Schizotypy, Maladaptive Openness, and Openness Facets

Positive schizotypy includes magical beliefs and unusual perceptual experiences and is highly correlated with the cognitive-perceptual symptoms of schizotypal personality disorder. Increased openness to experience is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia, and it has been commonly thought that positive schizotypy might also be related to increased openness. However, much previous research has failed to identify a sizable association between positive schizotypy and openness. The current research examined whether associations between positive schizotypy and openness might be higher (a) when using measures that more effectively assess the maladaptively high end of openness and (b) for distinct aspects of openness. Participants (n = 672) completed two measures of openness, the Big Five Aspects Scale (BFAS) and Experiential Permeability Index (EPI). We found that associations between positive schizotypy and BFAS-Open were small. However, in item response theory analyses, there was evidence that one facet of the EPI Oddity subscale highly associated with BFAS-Open was more sensitive to the maladaptively high end of openness than BFAS-Open. Further, positive schizotypy was more strongly associated with this EPI facet than with BFAS-Open. In addition, positive schizotypy was especially associated with a second facet of the EPI Oddity subscale. Hence, our study provides further evidence that associations between positive schizotypy and openness increase when assessing the maladaptively high end of openness and that positive schizotypy is most highly associated with particular facets of openness.