Neuroticism as mental noise: Evidence from a continuous tracking task

Objective Prominent theories of Neuroticism emphasize its potential link to threat‐ or punishment‐sensitivity processes. Even in the absence of external threats, though, Neuroticism may predispose people to a sort of “mental noise,” or cognitive instability, that creates problems for ongoing efforts after control. If this is the case, cognitive views of Neuroticism might be needed to complement the primarily emotion‐related views that currently exist. Method In a four study program of research (total N = 541), momentary forms of monitoring and control were assessed using variants of a continuous tracking task. Results As hypothesized, the dimension of Neuroticism was consistently linked to performance deficits, regardless of whether aversive sounds were present or not (Studies 1–3), and the relevant deficits also predicted daily levels of negative affect (Study 4). Conclusions The results support the idea that momentary self‐regulation is noisier in the context of higher levels of Neuroticism.