The Effects of Personality on Post-Traumatic Growth

The Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory (ABDT) is an extension of the Terror Management Theory (TMT) that suggests that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a result of the disruption of one’s anxiety-buffering mechanisms. This disruption can lead to overwhelming emotions, hyperawareness of one’s mortality, and wide-ranging reactions to traumatic events. The anxiety-buffer system mitigates the effects of potential terror, promotes posttraumatic growth (PTG), and comprises of three main components: cultural worldviews, self-esteem, and close personal relationships. The focus of this current study is to analyze what leads to the success of posttraumatic growth. We suspect that people may be more predisposed to PTG depending on the personality traits, such as those that can be measured by the Five Factor Model, of the individual that has experienced the traumatic event. Discovering the traits that contribute to posttraumatic growth could potentially provide counselors, psychologists, and trauma specialists with insight that further develops methods and practices that assist in cultivating these attributes within their clients. Past research has shown those who score high on the scale of Neuroticism have a higher risk of developing PTSD (Cyniak-Cieciura et al.,2022), however, there has not been much research on the personality traits that would promote posttraumatic growth. To date, there is minimal relevant research that has directly assessed the relationship between personality and posttraumatic growth. Identifying these traits could direct the focus toward cultivating specific characteristics within the traumatized individual in hopes of creating a better outcome. This study aims to identify which Big Five Personality Traits are associated with posttraumatic growth. We hypothesize that high scores in openness, extroversion, and agreeableness will be primary characteristics of those who present more posttraumatic growth