Persistence (psychology)

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Persistence(PS) is a key personality trait identified by psychiatrist C. Robert Cloninger in his Psychobiological Model of Personality. [1] It describes an individual's propensity to remain motivated, resilient and goal-driven in the face of challenges and difficulties they may encounter whilst carrying out tasks and working towards goals. More precisely, persistence refers to “perseverance in spite of fatigue or frustration”. [2] According to Cloninger, this perseverance demonstrates a psychological determination that is foundational in aiding an individual's long-term success in achieving goals.

Contents

Background

C. Robert Cloninger outlined his model of personality by distinguishing between what he described as temperament and character traits. Temperament refers to genetically based differences in a range of behavioural and emotional characteristics which emerge early in an individual’s life. [3] Initially, the model comprised three temperament dimensions: Novelty seeking(NS), harm avoidance(HM) and reward dependence (RD). [2] However, upon the application of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire(TPQ), the first tool designed to measure these three dimensions, Cloninger determined that the existing subscale for Reward Dependence, 'persistence', was significantly distinct from each of these dimensions. [4] Hence, persistence is now considered one of the four individually inherited temperament traits. [5]

This model was further adjusted to include three supplementary dimensions of character, which are experience-acquired traits that develop over a lifetime: cooperativeness (CO), self-transcendence(SF), and self-directedness(SD). [5] Together with the four temperament dimensions, these character traits form Cloninger's 7-factor model of personality.

The Genetic and Biological Underpinnings

This psychobiological model argues that personality is formed through interactions between genetic predispositions that emerge during early life, neurobiological processes and environmental influences (i.e., learning and social influences). [1] Research with twin and family studies supports this claim, finding that persistence, like the other temperament traits, is moderately heritable. [6] For example, twin analyses indicate that approximately 23% of the genetic variance found in TPQ results was specific to persistence. However, this was only the case for women. Whilst PS was also a distinct temperament dimension in men, it could not be concluded that there was a genetic component to this trait. [6]

The original three temperament traits have each been intensively studied and subsequently associated with specific neurotransmitter activity, including dopaminergic, serotonergic and noradrenergic systems, [7] whilst there is comparatively limited evidence for the specific neurobiological systems implicated in PS. Despite this, Cloninger hypothesised that persistence is nonetheless shaped by our neurobiology. [8] [9] In particular, it is thought to be associated with the dopaminergic neurotransmitter system, which plays a crucial role in drive, goal-oriented behaviour, and reward processing, all key elements to persistence. However, sufficient empirical support for this theory is yet to be provided. [10] [11]

Measurement

Persistence is measured with the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). This is a widely utilised assessment tool designed by Cloninger to assess and measure the seven dimensions of personality as previously outlined in his psychobiological personality model. [12] The TCI incorporates neurobiological and environmental components in an attempt to provide an extensive understanding of individual differences in personality and their potential causes. The revised version(TCI-R) contains 240 items and a Likert scale rating system for each statement to measure the traits more precisely[13].

The traits each have subscales. Persistence is assessed using a 35-item scale measuring elements such as perseverance and resolution towards achieving goals and committing to tasks. [13]

The subscales of PS in TCI-R consist of 4 behaviour archetypes associated with the trait: [14]

1. Eagerness of effort (PS1)

Measures attitudes towards putting effort into tasks, particularly when a reward is anticipated.

2. Work hardened (PS2).

Indicates an individual's willingness to expend persisting effort in their tasks or goals.

3. Ambitious (PS3)

Assesses how motivated, goal-focused, aspiring and determined an individual is.

4. Perfectionist (PS4)

Refers to an individual's propensity to set unreasonably high standards and be overly self-critical.

Interpreting Persistence subscale scores

Scores on the PS subscales provide researchers with a more thorough understanding of an individual's approach to tasks and challenges. Those scoring highly in persistence are understood to remain hardworking, overachieving and committed to their goals in the face of challenges, whilst the inverse can be said for those with low levels of PS. [15]

The following describes the characteristics that individuals who score highly in each of the four subscales are likely to display: [16]

(PS1) Increased efforts in the expectation of rewards and voluntarily taking on new tasks and setting challenges.

(PS2) A strong work ethic and invest a lot of time into succeeding in their endeavours.

(PS3) High standards for themselves, discipline and relentlessness in reaching their goals.

(PS4) diligence in achieving flawlessness in their projects and meticulous attention to detail.

However, It is important to note that there has been slightly mixed empirical support for Cloninger’s model and his TCI-R as a measure of his personality dimensions. [17]

Relationship of Persistence to other personality models

Persistence (as measured using the TCI-R) has been related to various dimensions within other psychological personality models:

A study comparing the Temperament and Character Inventory to the Five-Factor Model of personality found that persistence is substantially positively associated with facets of conscientiousness, [18] a trait describing how disciplined, organised and responsible(or norm-abiding) an individual is. Those high in PS were also likely to display high levels of conscientiousness, with particular emphasis on the elements of perfectionism and diligence.

Research also found that persistence is positively correlated with the Activity scale, a component within the sensation-seeking dimension of Zuckerman's Alternative Five Personality model.[18] The activity scale in the Zuckerman Personality Questionnaire(ZKPQ) measures an individual's tendency to relentlessly pursue mentally and physically stimulating or challenging tasks, behaviours which are associated with Persistence. [18]

Additionally, studies indicated that PS is negatively correlated with psychoticism(P) in Eysenck's model. [19] This dimension describes an individual's tendency to behave in irresponsible, aggressive, impulsive, and norm-violating manners, traits which are not present in those who display high levels of persistence. [19]

Improving persistence

Research into Cloninger's model of personality lends insight into the individual differences in persistence and an understanding of its implications across various daily contexts. For example, studies using the TCI identified persistence as an adaptive trait that assists individuals in achieving success in their education, employment, and general well-being. [20] These findings have, therefore, been applied to the clinical field, providing a foundation for the development of psychiatric techniques designed to increase persistent tendencies such as motivation, perseverance and discipline, which some individuals may have difficulty with.

Researchers investigated two types of action for improving persistence:

[1] "logic-of-consequence," where you try to become more aware of the expected positive outcomes of persevering to motivate yourself to persist. These interventions can encourage individuals to think in terms of the benefits/rewards of being persistent in their tasks and goals. For example, they may tell themselves: 'If I try harder, I will get good grades'. Studies have found that they can have beneficial effects on academic achievement among students with poor performance. [21]

[2] "logic-of-appropriateness", in which you see persevering as coherent with your self-image as a persistent person. Here, an individual considers what behaviours are appropriate given their identity or how a goal-oriented person would behave, leaning into the identity of a persistent/motivated/diligent person to encourage it within themselves. Studies investigating role-playing interventions provided evidence that this technique enhances effort and discipline. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Conscientiousness is the personality trait of being responsible, careful, or diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well, and to take obligations to others seriously. Conscientious people tend to be efficient and organized as opposed to easy-going and disorderly. They tend to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement; they display planned rather than spontaneous behavior; and they are generally dependable. Conscientiousness manifests in characteristic behaviors such as being neat, systematic, careful, thorough, and deliberate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Five personality traits</span> Personality model consisting of five broad dimensions

In trait theory, the Big Five personality traits are a group of five characteristics used to study personality:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agreeableness</span> Personality trait

Agreeableness is a personality trait referring to individuals that are perceived as kind, sympathetic, cooperative, warm, honest, and considerate. In personality psychology, agreeableness is one of the five major dimensions of personality structure, reflecting individual differences in cooperation and social harmony.

Openness to experience is one of the domains which are used to describe human personality in the Five Factor Model. Openness involves six facets, or dimensions: active imagination (fantasy), aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety (adventurousness), intellectual curiosity, and challenging authority. A great deal of psychometric research has demonstrated that these facets or qualities are significantly correlated. Thus, openness can be viewed as a global personality trait consisting of a set of specific traits, habits, and tendencies that cluster together.

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is an inventory for personality traits devised by Cloninger et al. It is closely related to and an outgrowth of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ), and it has also been related to the dimensions of personality in Zuckerman's alternative five and Eysenck's models and those of the five factor model.

Harm avoidance (HA) is a personality trait characterized by excessive worrying; pessimism; shyness; and being fearful, doubtful, and easily fatigued. In MRI studies HA was correlated with reduced grey matter volume in the orbito-frontal, occipital and parietal regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. Robert Cloninger</span> American psychiatrist and geneticist

Claude Robert Cloninger is an American psychiatrist and geneticist noted for his research on the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual foundation of both mental health and mental illness. He previously held the Wallace Renard Professorship of Psychiatry, and served as professor of psychology and genetics, as well as director of the Sansone Family Center for Well-Being at Washington University in St. Louis. Cloninger is a member of the evolutionary, neuroscience, and statistical genetics programs of the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Washington University, and is recognized as an expert clinician in the treatment of general psychopathology, substance dependence, and personality disorders. Dr. Cloninger is currently professor emeritus.

Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) is a personality test. It was devised by C. Robert Cloninger. A newer version of the questionnaire is called Temperament and Character Inventory.

In psychology, novelty seeking (NS) is a personality trait associated with exploratory activity in response to novel stimulation, impulsive decision making, extravagance in approach to reward cues, quick loss of temper, and avoidance of frustration. That is, novelty seeking refers to the tendency to pursue new experiences with intense emotional sensations. It is a multifaceted behavioral construct that includes thrill seeking, novelty preference, risk taking, harm avoidance, and reward dependence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reward dependence</span>

Reward dependence (RD) is characterized as a tendency to respond markedly to signals of reward, particularly to verbal signals of social approval, social support, and sentiment. When reward dependence levels deviate from normal we see the rise of several personality and addictive disorders.

Sensation seeking is a personality trait defined by the search for experiences and feelings, that are "varied, novel, rich and intense", and by the readiness to "take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experiences." Risk is not an essential part of the trait, as many activities associated with it are not risky. However, risk may be ignored, tolerated, or minimized and may even be considered to add to the excitement of the activity. The concept was developed by Marvin Zuckerman of the University of Delaware. In order to assess this trait he created a personality test called the Sensation Seeking Scale. This test assesses individual differences in terms of sensory stimulation preferences. So there are people who prefer a strong stimulation and display a behavior that manifests a greater desire for sensations and there are those who prefer a low sensory stimulation. The scale is a questionnaire designed to measure how much stimulation a person requires and the extent to which they enjoy the excitement. Zuckerman hypothesized that people who are high sensation seekers require a lot of stimulation to reach their Optimal Level of Arousal. When the stimulation or sensory input is not met, the person finds the experience unpleasant.

Self-transcendence is a personality trait that involves the expansion or evaporation of personal boundaries. This may potentially include spiritual experiences such as considering oneself an integral part of the universe. Several psychologists, including Viktor Frankl, Abraham Maslow, and Pamela G. Reed have made contributions to the theory of self-transcendence.

Self-directedness is a personality trait held by someone with characteristic self-determination, that is, the ability to regulate and adapt behavior to the demands of a situation in order to achieve personally chosen goals and values.

Cooperativeness is a personality trait that concerns how much a person is generally agreeable in their relations with other people as opposed to aggressively self-centered and hostile.

The alternative five factor model of personality is based on the claim that the structure of human personality traits is best explained by five broad factors called impulsive sensation seeking (ImpSS), neuroticism–anxiety (N-Anx), aggression–hostility (Agg-Host), sociability (Sy), and activity (Act). The model was developed by Marvin Zuckerman and colleagues as a rival to the well-known five factor model of personality traits and is based on the assumption that "basic" personality traits are those with a strong biological-evolutionary basis. One of the salient differences between these two models is that the alternative five model lacks any equivalent to the dimension called openness to experience in the five factor model.

The biological basis of personality is a collection of brain systems and mechanisms that underlie human personality. Human neurobiology, especially as it relates to complex traits and behaviors, is not well understood, but research into the neuroanatomical and functional underpinnings of personality are an active field of research. Animal models of behavior, molecular biology, and brain imaging techniques have provided some insight into human personality, especially trait theories.

Activity-specific approach in temperament research is the theory related to a structure of temperament, i.e. how temperament traits can be classified and organized. This approach suggests:

Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ) is a test to measure 12 biologically and neurochemically based individual differences.

Functional Ensemble of Temperament (FET) is a neurochemical model suggesting specific functional roles of main neurotransmitter systems in the regulation of behaviour.

Personality neuroscience uses neuroscientific methods to study the neurobiological mechanisms underlying individual differences in stable psychological attributes. Specifically, personality neuroscience aims to investigate the relationships between inter-individual variation in brain structures as well as functions and behavioral measures of persistent psychological traits, broadly defined as "predispositions and average tendencies to be in particular states", including but are not limited to personality traits, sociobehavioral tendencies, and psychopathological risk factors. Personality neuroscience is considered as an interdisciplinary field integrating research questions and methodologies from social psychology, personality psychology, and neuroscience. It is closely related to other interdisciplinary fields, such as social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience.

References

  1. 1 2 Gillespie, N.A., Cloninger, C.Robert., Heath, A.C. and Martin, N.G. (2003). The genetic and environmental relationship between Cloninger’s dimensions of temperament and character. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(8), pp.1931–1946. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(03)00042-4.
  2. 1 2 Cloninger, C.R., Svrakic, D.M. and Przybeck, T.R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of general psychiatry, [online] 50(12), pp.975–90. doi:https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820240059008.
  3. ↑ Strelau, J. (2020). Temperament. Encyclopaedia of Personality and Individual Differences, pp.5388–5407. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_446.
  4. ↑ Christodoulou, Christopher; Rosen, Jeffrey J. (1995). "Persistence: An Independent Factor of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire". Psychological Reports. 76 (3_suppl): 1307–1314. doi:10.2466/pr0.1995.76.3c.1307. ISSN   0033-2941.
  5. 1 2 Cloninger, C. Robert (1994-01-01). "Temperament and personality". Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 4 (2): 266–273. doi:10.1016/0959-4388(94)90083-3. ISSN   0959-4388. PMID   8038587.
  6. 1 2 Stallings, Michael C.; Hewitt, John K.; Cloninger, C. Robert; Heath, Andrew C.; Eaves, Lindon J. (1996). "Genetic and environmental structure of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire: Three or four temperament dimensions?". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 70 (1): 127–140. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.1.127. ISSN   0022-3514. PMID   8558406.
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  9. ↑ Whittle, Sarah; Allen, Nicholas B.; Lubman, Dan I.; Yücel, Murat (2006). "The neurobiological basis of temperament: Towards a better understanding of psychopathology". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 30 (4): 511–525. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.09.003. PMID   16289282.
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  11. ↑ Nyman, Emma S.; Loukola, Anu; Varilo, Teppo; Ekelund, Jesper; Veijola, Juha; Joukamaa, Matti; Taanila, Anja; Pouta, Anneli; Miettunen, Jouko; Freimer, Nelson; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Peltonen, Leena (2009-09-05). "Impact of the dopamine receptor gene family on temperament traits in a population-based birth cohort". American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics. 150B (6): 854–865. doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.30908. ISSN   1552-4841. PMID   19105202.
  12. ↑ Garcia, Danilo; Lester, Nigel; Cloninger, Kevin M.; Robert Cloninger, C. (2017), "Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)", in Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Shackelford, Todd K. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–3, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_91-1, ISBN   978-3-319-28099-8
  13. ↑ Farmer, Richard F.; Goldberg, Lewis R. (2008). "A psychometric evaluation of the revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and the TCI-140". Psychological Assessment. 20 (3): 281–291. doi:10.1037/a0012934. ISSN   1939-134X. PMC   2810834 . PMID   18778164.
  14. ↑ Cloninger, C. Robert (1993-12-01). "A Psychobiological Model of Temperament and Character". Archives of General Psychiatry. 50 (12): 975–990. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1993.01820240059008. ISSN   0003-990X. PMID   8250684.
  15. ↑ Cloninger, C. Robert; Zohar, Ada H.; Hirschmann, Schmuel; Dahan, Dana (2012). "The psychological costs and benefits of being highly persistent: Personality profiles distinguish mood disorders from anxiety disorders". Journal of Affective Disorders. 136 (3): 758–766. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2011.09.046. PMID   22036800.
  16. ↑ Garcia, Danilo; Moradi, Saleh (2011-10-07). "Adolescents' Temperament and Character: A Longitudinal Study on Happiness". Journal of Happiness Studies. 13 (5): 931–946. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9300-8. ISSN   1389-4978.
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  18. 1 2 De Fruyt, F; Van De Wiele, L; Van Heeringen, C (2000). "Cloninger's Psychobiological Model of Temperament and Character and the Five-Factor Model of Personality". Personality and Individual Differences. 29 (3): 441–452. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00204-4.
  19. 1 2 Zuckerman, Marvin; Cloninger, C. Robert (1996). "Relationships between Cloninger's, Zuckerman's, and Eysenck's dimensions of personality". Personality and Individual Differences. 21 (2): 283–285. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(96)00042-6. ISSN   0191-8869. PMC   4486314 . PMID   26146428.
  20. ↑ Moreira, Paulo A. S.; Inman, Richard A.; Cloninger, C. Robert (2023-02-27). "Disentangling the personality pathways to well-being". Scientific Reports. 13 (1): 3353. Bibcode:2023NatSR..13.3353M. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-29642-5. ISSN   2045-2322. PMC   9969391 . PMID   36849800.
  21. 1 2 Tabor, Ellen B. (2016). "Handbook of Self-Regulation: Research, Theory, and ApplicationsEdited by Roy R. Baumeister, Ph.D., and Kathleen D. Vohs, Ph.D., New York, Guilford Press, 2004, 574 pages, $70". Psychiatric Services. 57 (4): 585–586. doi:10.1176/ps.2006.57.4.585a. ISSN   1075-2730 – via The Guilford Press.
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