Big Five Personality Traits and Emotional Eating in Young Adults

Emotional eating (EE) refers to consuming food in response to emotionally provoking triggers rather than physical hunger (Tinmazoglu & Guvender-Doksat, 2020). Often acting as a learned coping mechanism, EE is associated with emotions like anxiety, depression, anger, or stress. This behavior can lead to overeating or undereating depending on the individual's emotional response and coping style, posing risks for obesity, eating disorders, and nutritional imbalances (Tinmazoglu & Guvender-Doksat, 2020). Psychological factors affect susceptibility to EE, with research indicating that personality traits interact with biological, environmental, and social influences to heighten vulnerability to disordered eating behaviors (Brown et al., 2020). This study examines the association between personality traits and EE among 183 participants (108 female, 71 male, 4 non-binary; M= 20.022 years; SD= 2.12) from a small liberal arts college. Participants reported personality traits via the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and EE behaviors using the Adult Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (AEBQ). Correlational analysis revealed significant negative relationships between conscientiousness (r= -.223, p= .002), agreeableness (r= -.172, p = .020), emotional stability ( r= -.163, p= .027), and emotional overeating. Findings align with prior research suggesting that conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability contribute to structured eating patterns in emotional contexts (Brown et al., 2020; Gacek et al., 2023). These results highlight the role of personality in EE, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions to address disordered eating. Early identification of personality-linked vulnerabilities could inform strategies to mitigate risks associated with EE and eating disorders.