These seemingly inconsistent findings may be due, in part, to the use of different personality measures that emphasize different facets of the traits. For example, scales that tap into the more impulsive aspects of Neuroticism may be more strongly related to higher BMI, whereas scales that tap into the vulnerability aspects of this trait may be related to lower BMI. Similarly, individuals who score high on scales that emphasize the activity component of Extraversion may weigh less, whereas individuals who score high on scales that emphasize the positive emotionality components of Extraversion may weigh more. As such, it is necessary to have a detailed personality assessment that measures both the broad and narrow traits to be able to identify which aspects of personality traits are associated with abnormal weight.
