Michael Weinberg and Sharon Gil
Exposure to traumatic events can lead to PTSD and various types of emotional distress. Aside from the exposure itself, numerous factors are relevant for the development of emotional distress following a traumatic event. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between the six HEXACO personality traits and PTSD symptoms, stress, and negative affect following traumatic cues that can evoke emotional distress. Two hundred and forty-nine participants (N = 249) completed demographic and personality-trait questionnaires. An hour after filling out those questionnaires, the participants were asked to watch a 3-minute video clip of a series of terror attacks. After watching the video clip, the participants filled out PTSD-symptom, perceived-stress, and negative-affect questionnaires. Structural-equation-model (SEM) analyses showed that PTSD symptoms were positively associated with past trauma, negatively associated with honesty-humility, positively associated with emotionality, and negatively associated with extraversion. Stress was positively associated with emotionality, negatively associated with extraversion, and negatively associated with agreeableness. Negative affect was negatively associated with honesty-humility, positively associated with emotionality, negatively associated with extraversion, and negatively associated with agreeableness. In addition, positive relationships were found between PTSD symptoms and stress, PTSD symptoms and negative affect, and stress and negative affect. This study demonstrates the importance of HEXACO personality traits in coping with numerous aspects of emotional distress following trauma exposure. In addition, it also demonstrates the different positive effects of different personality traits on each type of emotional distress. Clinical and practical implications are discussed.
