Personality profiles assessed with the NEO-PI-R questionnaire can be conveniently summarized by five major dimensions (16). Neuroticism (N), the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression; Extraversion (E), the tendency to be sociable, warm, active, assertive, cheerful, and in search of stimulation; Openness to Experience (O), the tendency to be imaginative, creative, unconventional, emotionally and artistically sensitive; Agreeableness (A), the dimension of interpersonal relations, characterized by altruism, trust, modesty, and cooperativeness; and Conscientiousness (C), a tendency to be organized, strong-willed, persistent, reliable, and a follower of rules and ethical principles. Consistent with their biological basis, these five dimensions can be assessed in all cultures tested so far and the five-factor structure can be clearly replicated in most samples (17). Sex differences and maturational trends are other universal features of personality, with women everywhere generally scoring higher on Neuroticism and Agreeableness (18), and with younger people generally scoring higher on Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness, but lower on Agreeableness and Conscientiousness in most cultures (19). Furthermore, the five factors are predictors of important life outcomes (20, 21), including
