Gender differences in the relationship between personality dimensions and relative body weight

Objective: The relationship between body mass index (BMI: k g/m(2)) and per sonality seems to differ for men and women, although these effects may be d riven by the extremes of the BMI distribution. It is unclear whether these associations exist for most individuals in the relatively normal range of B MI scores, excluding the thinnest and heaviest extremes in the population. We tested the association of BMI with neuroticism, extraversion, and psycho ticism. with a trimmed BMI sample. Research Methods and Procedures: Using a cross-sectional design, we tested the association of BMI with the aforementioned psychological variables in a British population-based sample. Participants were 7889 adult men and wome n (30 to 50 years old) selectively sampled from four counties in west Engla nd. Participants reported their height and weight and completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPQ). We tested the association of BMI with the EPQ subscales ;among individuals with BMI greater than or equal to 19.16 kg/m( 2) and less than or equal to 37.78 kg/m(2), i.e., the approximate 5th and 9 5th percentiles. Results: Despite elimination of extreme BMIs, different associations betwee n BMI and EPQ subscales emerged for men and women. Among women, increasing BMI was significantly associated with increased neuroticism and reduced ext raversion. Among men, increasing BMI was associated with increased extraver sion and psychoticism. In all cases, the magnitude of the association was v ery small. Discussion: Increasing BMI was associated with potentially poorer adjustmen t among women but better adjustment among men. These findings are consisten t with recent reports and, taken together, suggest that these patterns are not accounted for solely by the extremes of the BMI distribution.