More research has been devoted to the consequences of weight oscillation rather than its antecedents. Evidence from related literatures, however, implicates personality in such fluctuations. For example, individuals who are not able to maintain a significant weight loss tend to score lower on traits related to Conscientiousness and impulse control and higher on traits related to Neuroticism (for a review see Elfhag & Rössner, 2005). In addition, high Neuroticism and low Conscientiousness are both associated with disordered eating (Brannan & Petrie, 2008; Tasca et al., 2009), unhealthy attitudes toward eating (Podar, Hannus, & Allik, 1999; Provencher et al., 2008), and a physically inactive lifestyle (Hoyt et al., 2009; Rhodes & Smith, 2006), all of which contribute to weight instability. We are unaware, however, of any study that has directly examined how the FFM personality traits are associated with weight fluctuations over time.
