The present study examined associations between Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Revised (WAIS–R) scores and the five-factor model of personality, as measured by the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Both tests were administered to a nonclinical sample of 100 Italian subjects 75 years and older. Analysis showed that the NEO-PI–R Openness to Experience domain was a weak but the best predictor of the three WAIS–R intelligence scores (Total, Verbal, and Performance). Were such a relationship confirmed by further investigations, Openness could be interpreted as a factor which might mitigate intellectual impoverishment which accompanies the normal aging process.
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