Personality, time-of-day preference, and eating behavior: The mediational role of morning-eveningness. (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Walker, Ryan J.; Christopher, Andrew N.; Wieth, Mareike B.; Buchanan, Joshua
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 77(2015)
• Page Start: 13
• Page End: 17
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Big Five personality traits -- Time-of-day preference -- Eating behavior -- Chronotype -- Dietary habits -- Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire -- Morningness–eveningness -- Five-factor model; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Highlights: Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion predicted healthy eating behavior. Neuroticism predicted unhealthy eating behavior. Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion predicted morningness. Neuroticism predicted eveningness. Morning-eveningness mediated the relation between personality and eating behavior. Abstract: Although prior research has established that eating behaviors are related to both the Big Five personality traits and time-of-day preference, no research has directly examined if time-of-day preference mediates personality differences in eating behavior. We directly tested this model by assessing participants' ( N = 279) Big Five personality traits, time-of-day preference, and three-factors of eating (i.e., restrained eating, uncontrolled eating, and emotional eating) using validated questionnaires. Mediation analyses revealed that time-of-day preference partially mediated the relationship between the personality factors (conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion) and eating behavior, primarily uncontrolled eating. These results indicate that time-of-day preference, in part, accounts for personality differences in eating behavior. This emphasizes the need to assess time-of-day preference when examining the relationship between personality and health-related behaviors.