Handgrip strength and the Big Five personality factors in men and women. (January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fink, Bernhard; Weege, Bettina; Pham, Michael N.; Shackelford, Todd K.
• Is Part Of: Personality and individual differences. Volume 88(2016)
• Page Start: 175
• Page End: 177
• Publication Date: 2016-01
• Subjects: Physical strength -- Handgrip -- Personality -- Big Five -- Males -- Females; Personality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Individuality -- Periodicals; Personality Development -- Periodicals; Personnalité -- Périodiques; Individualité -- Périodiques; 155.205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.013
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0191-8869

Abstract

Abstract: Physical strength correlates with facial and body morphology, body movement, and sexual behavior, especially in men. Thus, physical strength may signal male quality in the context of intersexual and intrasexual selection. We investigated relationships of handgrip strength (a measure of upper body muscularity) and personality (as assessed via the "Big Five" factors) in a sample of British men ( n = 75) and women ( n = 86), aged 18 to 42 years. Handgrip strength correlated negatively with neuroticism and positively with extraversion in men, and negatively with agreeableness in women. The relationship of handgrip strength and neuroticism in men remained after controlling for the influence of age and body mass index. We conclude that handgrip strength provides information about male neuroticism. We discuss our findings with reference to recent reports on male quality correlates of strength. Highlights: Handgrip strength is a reliable index of physical strength Handgrip strength and the big five personality traits were measured Correlations were controlled for the effect of age and body mass index Handgrip strength correlated with neuroticism in men but not in women Stronger men were found to score lower on neuroticism