This investigation of the five-factor model of personality as a correlate of mass media use was designed to validate key links in a basic model of the uses and gratifications paradigm. Survey data collected from 219 university students who kept diaries of time spent using the mass media and participating in nonmediated communication activities were submitted to canonical correlation analysis. Minutes devoted to TV viewing, radio listening, pleasure reading, and movie attendance were correlated with the five personality traits of the NEO-PI—neuroticism, extroversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The strongest relationships for mass media use were between openness and pleasure reading, extroversion and negative pleasure reading, and openness and negative TV viewing. Individuals who scored higher on extroversion and agreeableness exhibited a preference for nonmediated activities, especially conversation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Anderson, D. R.
, Collins, P. A., Schmitt, K. L., & Jacobvitz, R. S. (1996). Stressful life events and television viewing. Communication Research, 23, 243-260.
2.
Anderson, K. J.
, & Revelle, W. (1995). Personality processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 295-328.
3.
Argyle, M.
, & Lu, L. (1990). The happiness of extraverts. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 1011-1017.
4.
Armstrong, C. B.
, & Rubin, A. M. (1989). Talk radio as interpersonal communication. Journal of Communication, 39(2), 84-94.
5.
Atkin, C.
(1973). Instrumental utilities and information seeking. In P. Clarke (Ed.), New models for mass communication research (pp. 205-239). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
6.
Austin, B. A.
(1985). Loneliness and use of six media among college students. Psychological Reports, 56, 323-327.
7.
Ball-Rokeach, S. J.
, & DeFleur, M. L. (1976). A dependency model of massmedia effects. Communication Research, 3, 3-21.
8.
Blumler, J. G.
(1985). The social character of media gratifications. In K. E. Rosengren, L. A. Wenner, & P. Palmgreen (Eds.), Media gratifications research: Current perspectives (pp. 41-59). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
9.
Canary, D. J.
, & Spitzberg, B. H. (1993). Loneliness and media gratifications. Communication Research, 20, 800-821.
10.
Cattell, R. B.
, Ebger, H. W., & Tatsuoka, M. M. (1970). Handbook for the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire. Champaign, IL: Institute of Personality and Ability Testing.
11.
Clancy, S. M.
, & Dollinger, S. J. (1993). Identity, self, and personality: Identity status and the five-factor model of personality. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 3, 227-245.
12.
Conway, J. C.
, & Rubin, A. M. (1991). Psychological predictors of television viewing motivation. Communication Research, 18, 443-464.
13.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1988). From catalog to classification: Murray's needs and the five-factor model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 258-265.
14.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1989). NEO-PI / FFI manual supplement. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
15.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1992a). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 653-665.
16.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & McCrae, R. R. (1992b). The NEO PI-R professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
17.
Costa, P. T., Jr.
, & Widiger, T. A. (1994). Introduction. In P. T. Costa, Jr., & T. A. Widiger, Personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality (pp. 1-10). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
18.
Daly, J. A.
(1987). Personality and interpersonal communication: Issues and directions. In J. C. McCroskey & J. A. Daly (Eds.), Personality and interpersonal communication (pp. 13-41). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
19.
Daoussis, L.
, & McKelvie, S. J. (1986). Musical preferences and the effects of music on a reading comprehension test for extraverts and introverts. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62, 283-289.
20.
Digman, J. M.
(1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417-440.
21.
Dollinger, S. J.
, Orf, L. A., & Robinson, A. E. (1991). Personality and campus controversies: Preferred boundaries as a function of openness to experience. Journal of Psychology, 125, 399-406.
22.
Donohew, L.
, Finn, S., & Christ, W. G. (1988). “The nature of news” revisited: The roles of affect, schemas, and cognition. In L. Donohew, H. E. Sypher, & E. Tory Higgins (Eds.), Communication, social cognition, and affect, (pp. 195-218). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
23.
Donohew, L.
, Palmgreen, P., & Rayburn, J. D., II. (1987). Social and psychological origins of media use: A lifestyle analysis. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 31, 255-278.
24.
Eysenck, H. J.
(1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield: Charles C Thomas.
25.
Eysenck, H. J.
(1991). Dimensions of personality: 16, 5, or 3?—Criteria for a taxonomic paradigm. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 773-790.
26.
Finn, S.
(1992). Television addiction? An evaluation of four competing mediause models. Journalism Quarterly, 69, 422-435.
27.
Finn, S.
, & Gorr, M. B. (1988). Social isolation and social support as correlates of television viewing motivations. Communication Research, 15, 135-158.
28.
Francis, L. J.
, & Pearson, P. R. (1993). The personality characteristics of student churchgoers. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, 373-380.
29.
Furnham, A.
, Gunter B., & Peterson, E. (1994). Television distraction and the performance of introverts and extraverts. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 8, 705-711.
30.
Harpur, T. J.
, Hart, S. D., & Hare, R. D. (1994). Personality of the psychopath. In P. T. Costa, Jr., & T. A. Widiger (Eds.), Personality disorders and the five-factor model of personality (pp. 149-173). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
31.
Hayes, T. L.
, Roehm, H. A., & Castellano, J. P. (1994). Personality correlates of success in total quality manufacturing. Journal of Business and Psychology, 8, 397-411.
32.
Herzog, H.
(1944). What do we really know about daytime serial listeners? In P. F. Lazarsfeld & F. N. Stanton (Eds.), Radio research 1942-43 (pp. 3-33). New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce.
33.
Himmelweit, H.
, & Swift, B. (1976). Continuities and discontinuities in media usage and taste: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social Issues, 32(4), 133-156.
34.
Jackson, D. N.
(1984). Personality Research Form manual. Port Huron, MI: Research Psychologists Press.
35.
Jones, E. J.
(1985). Major developments in social psychology during the past five decades. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 47-107). New York: Random House.
36.
Katz, E.
, Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 19-32). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
37.
Katz, E.
, & Foulkes, D. (1962). On the use of mass media as escape: Clarification of a concept. Public Opinion Quarterly, 26, 377-388.
38.
Katz, E.
, Gurevitch, M., & Haas, H. (1973). On the use of the mass media for important things. American Sociological Review, 38, 164-181.
39.
Kubey, R.
, & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Television and the quality of life. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
40.
Latane, B.
(1989). Social psychology and how to revitalize it. In M. R. Leary (Ed.), The state of social psychology: Issues, themes, and controversies (pp. 1-12). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
41.
McGuire, W. J.
(1974). Psychological motives and communication gratifications. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (Eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratifications research (pp. 167-196). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
42.
McIlwraith, R.
, Jacobvitz, R. S., Kubey, R., & Alexander, A. (1991). Television addiction: Theories and data behind the ubiquitous metaphor. American Behavioral Scientist, 35, 104-121.
43.
Nell, V.
(1988). Lost in a book: The psychology of reading for pleasure. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
44.
Newhagen, J. E.
, & Rafaeli, S. (1996). Why communication research researchers should study the Internet: A dialogue. Journal of Communication, 46, 4-13.
45.
Palmgreen, P.
, Cook, P. L., Harvill, J. G., & Helm, D. M. (1988). The motivational framework of moviegoing: Uses and avoidances of theatrical films. In B. A. Austin (Ed.), Current research in film: Audiences, economics, and law (Vol. 4). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
46.
Pearlin, L. I.
(1959). Social and personal stress and escape television viewing. Public Opinion Quarterly, 23, 255-259.
47.
Perloff, R. M.
, Quarles, R. C., & Drutz, M. (1983). Loneliness, depression, and the uses of television. Journalism Quarterly, 60(2), 352-356.
48.
Perse, E. M.
, & Rubin, A. M. (1990). Chronic loneliness and television use. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 34, 37-53.
49.
Piedmont, R. L.
, & Weinstein, H. P. (1994). Predicting supervisor ratings of job performance using the NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Psychology, 128, 255-265.
50.
Radway, J.
(1984). Reading the romance: Women, patriarchy, and popular literature. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
51.
Robinson, J. P.
(1977). How Americans use time. New York: Praeger.
52.
Robinson, J. P.
(1988). Time-diary evidence about the social psychology of everyday life. In J. E. McGrath (Ed.), The social psychology of time (pp. 134-148). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
53.
Rubin, A. M.
(1984). Ritualized and instrumental television viewing. Journal of Communication, 34(3), 67-77.
54.
Rubin, A. M.
, Perse, E. M., & Powell, R. A. (1985). Loneliness, parasocial interaction, and local television news viewing. Human Communication Research, 12, 155-180.
55.
Rubin, A. M.
, & Rubin, R. B. (1985). Interface of personal and mediated communication: A research agenda. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 2, 36-53.
56.
Rubin, A. M.
, & Rubin, R. B. (1989). Social and psychological antecedents of VCR use. In M. R. Levy (Ed.), The VCR age: Home video and mass communication (pp. 92-111). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
57.
Rubin, A. M.
, & Windahl, S. (1986). The uses and dependency model of mass communication. Critical Studies in Mass Communication, 3, 184-199.
58.
Singer, J. L.
(1980). The power and limitations of television: A cognitive-affective analysis. In P. Tannenbaum (Ed.), The entertainment functions of television (pp. 31-65). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
59.
Stephenson, W.
(1967). The play theory of mass communication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
60.
Tucker, R. K.
, & Chase, L. J. (1980). Canonical correlation. In P. R. Monge & J. N. Cappella (Eds.), Multivariate techniques in human communication research (pp. 205-228). New York: Academic Press.
61.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. (1988). Computer assisted panel study (CAPS) [Computer file]. Chapel Hill: Institute for Research in Social Science [Producer and Distributor]. Modules (NEO, DIARY1-8, TIMEREP1-8, BACKG2).
62.
Weaver, D.
, Wilhoit, G. C., & DeBock, H. (1980). Personal needs and media use in the Netherlands and the United States. Gazette, 26, 171-194.
63.
Weaver, J. B.
(1991). Exploring the links between personality and media preferences. Personality and Individual Differences, 12, 1293-1299.
64.
Weaver, J. B.
, Walker, J. R., McCord, L. L., & Bellamy, R. V. (1996). Exploring the links between personality and television remote control device use. Personality and Individual Differences, 20, 483-489.
65.
Zillmann, D.
, & Bryant, J. (1985). Affect, mood, and emotion as determinants of selective exposure. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Selective exposure to communication (pp. 157-190). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
66.
Zillmann, D.
, & Bryant, J. (1994). Entertainment as media effect. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 437-461). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
