Although past research has shown that neuroticism and extraversion predict stress appraisals, how these traits affect appraisals is not known. In the present study, mood and two processing biases were predicted to mediate between personality and appraisals. Participants (N = 236) completed measures of personality, mood, appraisals for five hypothetical stressors, and whether they relied (when making appraisals) on the positive or negative features of those events. Three months later, participants also made appraisals of a recent stressful event. As predicted, the negative and positive processing biases mediated between neuroticism, extraversion, and appraisals of the hypothetical events and mediated between neuroticism and appraisals of the real-life stressor. Indirect effects also were found from positive mood to appraisals. Because appraisals affect stress responses, these findings have wide implications for adaptational outcomes.
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