Although fear-learning research has tended to focus on typical responses, there is substantial individual variation in response to threat. Here, we investigated how personality is related to variability in associative fear learning. We used multilevel growth curve modeling to examine the unique and interactive effects of Stress Reaction (SR) and Harmavoidance (HA; Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire scales) and their corresponding higher-order factors on differential fear conditioning (n = 225) and extinction (n = 109; 24–48 hr later). Fear was indexed by fear potentiation of the eyeblink startle reflex. Our findings demonstrated weaker discrimination between threat and safety with high levels of SR. Subsequently, both retention of differential fear acquisition and extinction were weaker with high levels of SR and HA, thereby indicating maladaptive fear learning, whereas they were stronger with low levels of SR and high levels of HA, which suggests efficient fear learning. These findings illustrate how specific personality traits may operate to confer vulnerability or resilience for anxiety disorders.
BagiellaE.SloanR. P.HeitjanD. F. (2000). Mixed-effects models in psychophysiology. Psychophysiology, 37, 13–20.
2.
BerkhofJ.SnijdersT. A. (2001). Variance component testing in multilevel models. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 26, 133–152.
3.
BiesanzJ. C.Deeb-SossaN.PapadakisA. A.BollenK. A.CurranP. J. (2004). The role of coding time in estimating and interpreting growth curve models. Psychological Methods, 9, 30–52.
4.
BlackwellE.Mendes de LeonC. F.MillerG. E. (2006). Applying mixed regression models to the analysis of repeated-measures data in psychosomatic medicine. Psychosomatic Medicine, 68, 870–878.
5.
BlieseP. D.PloyhartR. E. (2002). Growth modeling using random coefficient models: Model building, testing, and illustrations. Organizational Research Methods, 5, 362–387.
6.
BosM. G.BeckersT.KindtM. (2012). The effects of noradrenergic blockade on extinction in humans. Biological Psychology, 89, 598–605.
7.
BradleyM. M.LangP. J.CuthbertB. N. (1993). Emotion, novelty, and the startle reflex: Habituation in humans. Behavioral Neuroscience, 107, 970–980.
8.
CaspiA.MoffittT. E. (2006). Gene-environment interactions in psychiatry: Joining forces with neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 7, 583–590.
9.
CohenJ. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
10.
CraskeM. G.WatersA. M.Lindsey BergmanR.NaliboffB.LippO. V.NegoroH.OrnitzE. M. (2008). Is aversive learning a marker of risk for anxiety disorders in children?Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46, 954–967.
11.
CronbachL. J. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12, 671–684.
12.
CummingG. (2014). The new statistics: Why and how. Psychological Science, 25, 7–29. doi:10.1177/0956797613504966
13.
DavisM. (2006). Neural systems involved in fear and anxiety measured with fear-potentiated startle. American Psychologist, 61, 741–756.
14.
DavisM.FallsW. A.GewirtzJ. (2000). Neural systems involved in fear inhibition: Extinction and conditioned inhibition. In MyslobodskyM. S.WeinerI. (Eds.), Contemporary issues in modeling psychopathology (pp. 113–141). New York, NY: Springer.
15.
DepueR. A.LenzenwegerM. F. (2001). A neurobehavioral dimensional model. In LiveslyW. J. (Ed.), Handbook of personality disorders: Theory, research, and treatment (pp. 136–176). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
16.
EigenhuisA.KamphuisJ. H.NoordhofA. (2013). Development and validation of the Dutch brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ-BF-NL). Assessment, 20, 565–575.
17.
EysenckH. J. (1965). Extraversion and the acquisition of eyeblink and GSR conditioned responses. Psychological Bulletin, 63, 258–270.
18.
EysenckH. J. (1979). The conditioning theory of neurosis: Criticisms considered. Behavioral & Brain Sciences, 2, 188–199.
19.
FoaE. B.ZinbargR.RothbaumB. O. (1992). Uncontrollability and unpredictability in post-traumatic stress disorder: An animal model. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 218–238.
20.
FredriksonM.GeorgiadesA. (1992). Personality dimensions and classical conditioning of autonomic nervous system reactions. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 1013–1020.
GrayJ. A.McNaughtonN. (Eds.). (2000). The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
24.
GrillonC.AmeliR. (2001). Conditioned inhibition of fear-potentiated startle and skin conductance in humans. Psychophysiology, 38, 807–815.
25.
GrillonC.BaasJ. M.CornwellB.JohnsonL. (2006). Context conditioning and behavioral avoidance in a virtual reality environment: Effect of predictability. Biological Psychiatry, 60, 752–759.
26.
GrupeD. W.NitschkeJ. B. (2013). Uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety: An integrated neurobiological and psychological perspective. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14, 488–501.
27.
KindtM.SoeterM. (2013). Reconsolidation in a human fear conditioning study: A test of extinction as updating mechanism. Biological Psychology, 92, 43–60.
KindtM.SoeterM.VervlietB. (2009). Beyond extinction: Erasing human fear responses and preventing the return of fear. Nature Neuroscience, 12, 256–258.
30.
KosslynS. M.CacioppoJ. T.DavidsonR. J.HugdahlK.LovalloW. R.SpiegelD.RoseR. (2002). Bridging psychology and biology: The analysis of individuals in groups. American Psychologist, 57, 341–351.
31.
KramerM.PatrickC.KruegerR.GasperiM. (2012). Delineating physiologic defensive reactivity in the domain of self-report: Phenotypic and etiologic structure of dispositional fear. Psychological Medicine, 42, 1305–1320.
32.
KristjanssonS. D.KircherJ. C.WebbA. K. (2007). Multilevel models for repeated measures research designs in psychophysiology: An introduction to growth curve modeling. Psychophysiology, 44, 728–736.
33.
KrypotosA.EfftingM.ArnaudovaI.KindtM.BeckersT. (2013). Avoided by association: Acquisition, extinction, and renewal of avoidance tendencies toward conditioned fear stimuli. Clinical Psychological Science, 2, 336–343. doi:10.1177/2167702613503139
34.
LaBarK. S.GatenbyJ. C.GoreJ. C.LeDouxJ. E.PhelpsE. A. (1998). Human amygdala activation during conditioned fear acquisition and extinction: A mixed-trial fMRI study. Neuron, 20, 937–945.
35.
LibermanL. C.LippO. V.SpenceS. H.MarchS. (2006). Evidence for retarded extinction of aversive learning in anxious children. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1491–1502.
36.
LissekS.PowersA. S.McClureE. B.PhelpsE. A.WoldehawariatG.GrillonC.PineD. S. (2005). Classical fear conditioning in the anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 1391–1424.
37.
MaasC. J.HoxJ. J. (2005). Sufficient sample sizes for multilevel modeling. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 1, 86–92.
38.
MillerM. W. (2003). Personality and the etiology and expression of PTSD: A three-factor model perspective. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 373–393.
39.
MillerM. W.GreifJ. L.SmithA. A. (2003). Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire profiles of veterans with traumatic combat exposure: Externalizing and internalizing subtypes. Psychological Assessment, 15, 205–215.
40.
MillerM. W.KaloupekD. G.DillonA. L.KeaneT. M. (2004). Externalizing and internalizing subtypes of combat-related PTSD: A replication and extension using the PSY-5 scales. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 636–645.
41.
MinekaS.OehlbergK. (2008). The relevance of recent developments in classical conditioning to understanding the etiology and maintenance of anxiety disorders. Acta Psychologica, 127, 567–580.
42.
MorrisR. W.BoutonM. E. (2006). Effect of unconditioned stimulus magnitude on the emergence of conditioned responding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 32, 371–385.
43.
OttoM. W.LeyroT. M.ChristianK.DeveneyC. M.ReeseH.PollackM. H.OrrS. P. (2007). Prediction of “fear” acquisition in healthy control participants in a de novo fear-conditioning paradigm. Behavior Modification, 31, 32–51.
44.
PamirE.ChakrobortyN. K.StollhoffN.GehringK. B.AntemannV.MorgensternL.. . . NawrotM. P. (2011). Average group behavior does not represent individual behavior in classical conditioning of the honeybee. Learning & Memory, 18, 733–741.
45.
PatrickC. J.CurtinJ. J.TellegenA. (2002). Development and validation of a brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 14, 150–163.
46.
PinelesS. L.VogtD. S.OrrS. P. (2009). Personality and fear responses during conditioning: Beyond extraversion. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 48–53.
47.
PinheiroJ. C.BatesD. M. (2000). Linear mixed-effects models: Basic concepts and examples. New York, NY: Springer.
48.
PinheiroJ.BatesD.DebRoyS.SarkarD. (2011). R Development Core Team. 2010. nlme: linear and nonlinear mixed effects models. R package version 3.1-97. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna.
49.
PlominR.KosslynS. M. (2001). Genes, brain and cognition. Nature Neuroscience, 4, 1153–1154.
50.
RescorlaR. A.WagnerA. R. (1972). A theory of Pavlovian conditioning: Variations in the effectiveness of reinforcement and nonreinforcement. In BlackA. H.ProkasyW. F. (Eds.), Classical conditioning II: Current theory and research (pp. 64–99). New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
51.
RosenJ. B.SchulkinJ. (1998). From normal fear to pathological anxiety. Psychological Review, 105, 325–350.
52.
RoystonP.AltmanD. G.SauerbreiW. (2006). Dichotomizing continuous predictors in multiple regression: A bad idea. Statistics in Medicine, 25, 127–141.
53.
SandersonW. C.RapeeR. M.BarlowD. H. (1989). The influence of an illusion of control on panic attacks induced via inhalation of 5.5% carbon dioxide-enriched air. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 157–162.
54.
SchielzethH. (2010). Simple means to improve the interpretability of regression coefficients. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 1, 103–113.
55.
SeligmanM. E. P.BinikY. M. (1977). The safety signal hypothesis. In DavisH.HurwitzH. M. B. (Eds.), Operant-Pavlovian interactions (pp. 165–180). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
56.
SevensterD.BeckersT.KindtM. (2012a). Instructed extinction differentially affects the emotional and cognitive expression of associative fear memory. Psychophysiology, 49, 1426–1435.
57.
SevensterD.BeckersT.KindtM. (2012b). Retrieval per se is not sufficient to trigger reconsolidation of human fear memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 97, 338–345.
58.
SnijdersT. A. B.BoskerR. J. (1999). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to multilevel modeling. London, England: Sage.
59.
SoeterM.KindtM. (2010). Dissociating response systems: Erasing fear from memory. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 94, 30–41.
SoeterM.KindtM. (2011b). Noradrenergic enhancement of associative fear memory in humans. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 96, 263–271.
62.
SoeterM.KindtM. (2012). Stimulation of the noradrenergic system during memory formation impairs extinction learning but not the disruption of reconsolidation. Neuropsychopharmacology, 37, 1204–1215.
63.
TabachnickB. G.FidellL. S. (2000). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
64.
TellegenA.WallerN. G. (2008). Exploring personality through test construction: Development of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. In BoyleG. J.MatthewsG.SaklofskeD. H. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment (Vol. 2, pp. 261–292). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
65.
Torrents-RodasD.FullanaM. A.BonilloA.CaserasX.AndiónÓ.TorrubiaR. (2012). No effect of trait anxiety on differential fear conditioning or fear generalization. Biological Psychology, 92, 185–190.
66.
TwiskJ. W. R. (2006). Applied multilevel analysis: A practical guide. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
67.
VaidyanathanU.PatrickC. J.CuthbertB. N. (2009). Linking dimensional models of internalizing psychopathology to neurobiological systems: Affect-modulated startle as an indicator of fear and distress disorders and affiliated traits. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 909–942.
68.
WalkerD. L.DavisM. (2002). Quantifying fear potentiated startle using absolute versus proportional increase scoring methods: Implications for the neurocircuitry of fear and anxiety. Psychopharmacology, 164, 318–328.
69.
WalkerD. L.ToufexisD. J.DavisM. (2003). Role of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis versus the amygdala in fear, stress, and anxiety. European Journal of Pharmacology, 463, 199–216.
70.
WhiteT. L.DepueR. A. (1999). Differential association of traits of fear and anxiety with norepinephrine- and dark-induced pupil reactivity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 863–877.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
