THE EMOTIONAL PATHWAY FROM PERSONALITY TRAITS TO ALEXITHYMIA: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF EMOTION REGULATION

Öz

Although the various consequences of the Big Five personality traits are well documented, the pathway from these personality traits to alexithymia has not been sufficiently investigated. This study aims to examine the relationships among the Big Five personality traits, emotion regulation skills, and alexithymia, as well as the mediating effect of emotion regulation on the relationship between personality traits and alexithymia. The Big Five Personality Inventory (BFI), the Emotion Regulation Skills Questionnaire (ERSQ), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) self-report measures were administered to a non-clinical sample of 402 individuals aged 18 to 55 in Turkey. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS 27 and Process Macro 4.2. Results revealed significant correlations between the Big Five personality traits, emotion regulation skills, and alexithymia. All personality traits are strong predictors of emotion regulation, with extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness showing positive predictive relationships regarding emotion regulation, while neuroticism exhibits a negative predictive relationship. Emotion regulation is a significant negative predictor of alexithymia. Each personality trait significantly predicts alexithymia; specifically, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness are negatively predictive, whereas neuroticism is positively predictive. Furthermore, emotion regulation mediated each of these relationships between the Big Five personality traits and alexithymia. These results significantly contribute to existing research by demonstrating the predictive effect of emotion regulation, along with personality traits, on alexithymia and identifying emotion regulation as a mediator.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• The Big Five personality traits
• Alexithymia
• Emotion regulation skills
• Mediation analysis

KIŞILIK ÖZELLIKLERINDEN ALEKSITIMIYE UZANAN DUYGUSAL YOL: DUYGU DÜZENLEMENIN ARACI ROLÜ

Öz

Beş büyük kişilik özelliğinin çeşitli sonuçları iyi bir şekilde belgelenmiş olsa da bu kişilik özelliklerinden aleksitimiye giden yol yeterince araştırılmamıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Beş Büyük kişilik özelliği, duygu düzenleme becerileri ve aleksitimi arasındaki ilişkileri ve duygu düzenlemenin kişilik özellikleri ve aleksitimi arasındaki ilişkideki aracı etkisini incelemektir. Beş Büyük Kişilik Envanteri (BFI), Duygu Düzenleme Becerileri Ölçeği (ERSQ) ve Toronto Aleksitimi Ölçeği (TAS-20) öz bildirim araçları, Türkiye'de 18-55 yaş arası 402 kişilik klinik olmayan bir örnekleme uygulanmıştır. Veri analizi IBM SPSS 27 ve Process Macro 4.2 kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Sonuçlar, Büyük Beşli kişilik özellikleri, duygu düzenleme becerileri ve aleksitimi arasında anlamlı korelasyonlar olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Tüm kişilik özellikleri duygu düzenlemenin güçlü yordayıcılarıdır; dışadönüklük, uyumluluk, sorumluluk ve deneyime açıklık duygu düzenleme ile ilgili pozitif yordayıcı ilişkiler gösterirken, nevrotizm negatif bir yordayıcı ilişki sergilemektedir. Duygu düzenleme, aleksitiminin anlamlı bir negatif yordayıcısıdır. Her bir kişilik özelliği aleksitimiyi anlamlı şekilde yordamaktadır; özellikle dışadönüklük, uyumluluk, sorumluluk ve deneyime açıklık negatif yordayıcı iken nevrotizm pozitif yordayıcıdır. Ayrıca, duygu düzenleme, Büyük Beşli kişilik özellikleri ve aleksitimi arasındaki bu ilişkilerin her birine aracılık etmiştir. Bu sonuçlar, kişilik özelliklerinin yanı sıra duygu düzenlemenin aleksitimi üzerindeki yordayıcı etkisini göstererek ve duygu düzenlemeyi bir aracı olarak tanımlayarak mevcut araştırmalara önemli ölçüde katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Beş büyük kişilik özelliği
• Aleksitimi
• Duygu düzenleme becerileri
• Aracılık analizi

Kaynakça

1. Bagby, R. M., Parker, J. D. A., & Taylor, G. J. (1994a). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale—I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. *Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38*(1), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(94)90005-1
2. Bagby, R. M., Taylor, G. J., & Parker, J. D. A. (1994b). The Twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale—II. Convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity. *Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38*(1), 33–40. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/0022-3999(94)90006-x
3. Barańczuk, U. (2019). The five factor model of personality and alexithymia: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 78, 227–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.12.005
4. Benet-Martínez, V., & John, O. P. (1998). Los Cinco Grandes across cultures and ethnic groups: Multitrait-multimethod analyses of the Big Five in Spanish and English. *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75*(3), 729–750. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.3.729
5. Berking, M., & Znoj, H. (2008). Entwicklung und Validierung eines Fragebogens zur standardisierten Selbsteinschätzung emotionaler Kompetenzen [Development and validation of a self-report measure for the assessment of emotion-regulation skills]. Zeitschrift für Psychiatrie, Psychologie und Psychotherapie, 56, 141–152.
6. Berthoz, S., Artiges, E., Van De Moortele, P.-F., Poline, J.-B., Rouquette, S., Consoli, S. M., & Martinot, J.-L. (2002). Effect of impaired recognition and expression of emotions on frontocingulate cortices: An fMRI study of men with alexithymia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 961–967. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.159.6.961
7. Besharat, M. A. (2008). The relations between personality dimensions and alexithymia. Contemporary Psychology, Biannual Journal of the Iranian Psychological Association, 2(2), 50–58.
8. Besharat, M. A., Zahedi, T. K., & Noorbala, A. A. (2014). Alexithymia and emotion regulation strategies in patients with somatization, anxiety disorders, and normal individuals: A comparative study. Contemporary Psychology, Biannual Journal of the Iranian Psychological Association, 8(2), 3–16.

9. Bird, G., & Cook, R. (2013). Mixed emotions: The contribution of alexithymia to the emotional symptoms of autism. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 37(3), 469–478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.10.009
10. Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (2008). The revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R). In G. J. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment (Vol. 2, pp. 179–198). Sage.
11. Dang, T., Du, W., Niu, M., & Xu, Z. (2024). The effects of personality traits on learning engagement among college students: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1476437. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1476437PubMed+5Frontiers+5Frontiers+5
12. Elmas, H. G., Cesur, G., & Oral, E. T. (2016). Alexithymia and pathological gambling: The mediating role of difficulties in emotion regulation. Turkish Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.5080/u13779
13. Fitzner, K. (2007). Reliability and validity: A quick review. *Diabetes Educator, 33*(5), 775–776, 780. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145721707308172
14. Fuente, J. de la, Sander, P., Garzón Umerenkova, A., Urien, B., Pachón-Basallo, M., & Luis, E. O. (2024). The Big Five factors as differential predictors of self-regulation, achievement emotions, coping and health behavior in undergraduate students. BMC Psychology, 12, Article 45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01768-9
15. Gaggero, G., Dellantonio, S., Pastore, L., Sng, K. H. L., & Esposito, G. (2022). Shared and unique interoceptive deficits in high alexithymia and neuroticism. PLoS ONE, 17(8), e0273922. https://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.0273922
16. Garofalo, C., Velotti, P., & Zavattini, G. C. (2018). Emotion regulation and aggression: The incremental contribution of alexithymia, impulsivity, and emotion dysregulation facets. Psychology of Violence, 8(4), 470–483. https://doi.org/10.1037/vio0000141
17. Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X. 2014.940781
18. Güleç, H., Köse, S., Güleç, M. Y., Çitak, S., Evren, C., Borckardt, J., & Sayar, K. (2009). Reliability and factorial validity of the Turkish version of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). *Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 19*(3), 214–220.
19. Hahs-Vaughn, D. L., & Lomax, R. G. (2020). *Statistical concepts—A second course* (5th ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429277825
20. Hamdi Bacha, Y. (2023). Examining the Association between Alexithymia and the Big Five Personality Traits. Humanization Journal for Researches and Studies, 14(2), 297–311.
21. Heshmati, R., & Azmoodeh, S. (2017). Study of alexithymia trait based on Big-Five personality dimensions. Mediterranean Journal of Clinical Psychology, 5(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.6092/2282-1619/2017.5.1642
22. Heshmati, R., & Pellerone, M. (2019). The Big Five personality traits and dispositional mindfulness as predictors of alexithymia in college students. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 16(2), 98–106.
23. Horwood, S., & Anglim, J. (2021). Emotion regulation difficulties, personality, and problematic smartphone use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(4), 275–281. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0328
24. Ioannidis, C. A., & Siegling, A. B. (2015). Criterion and incremental validity of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, Article 247. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00247
25. John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (Vol. 2, pp. 102–138). Guilford Press.
26. John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 114–158). The Guilford Press.
27. Kano, M., & Fukudo, S. (2013). The alexithymic brain: The neural pathways linking alexithymia to physical disorders. BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 7, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/1751-0759-7-1
28. Kessler, H., Kammerer, M., Hoffmann, H., & Traue, H. C. (2010). Regulation von Emotionen und Alexithymie: Eine korrelative Studie. PPmP - Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, Medizinische Psychologie, 60, 169–174. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0029-1234046
29. Kobylińska, D., Zajenkowski, M., Lewczuk, K., Jankowski, K. S., & Marchlewska, M. (2020). The mediational role of emotion regulation in the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Current Psychology, 41, 4098–4111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00861-7
30. Kobylińska, D., Zajenkowski, M., Lewczuk, K., Jankowski, K. S., & Marchlewska, M. (2020). The mediational role of emotion regulation in the relationship between personality and subjective well-being. Current Psychology, 39(6), 1740–1751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00861-7hummov.awf. wroc.pl+1SpringerLink+1
31. Kokkonen, M., & Pulkkinen, L. (2001). Examination of the paths between personality, current mood, its evaluation, and emotion regulation. European Journal of Personality, 15(2), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.397
32. Kokkonen, M., & Pulkkinen, L. (2001a). Examination of the paths between personality, current mood, its evaluation, and emotion regulation. European Journal of Personality, 15(2), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.397
33. Kokkonen, M., & Pulkkinen, L. (2001b). Extraversion and neuroticism as antecedents of emotion regulation and dysregulation in adulthood. European Journal of Personality, 15(6), 407–424. https:// doi.org/10.1002/per.425
34. Laloyaux, J., Fantini, C., Lemaire, M., Luminet, O., & Larøi, F. (2015). Evidence of contrasting patterns for suppression and reappraisal emotion regulation strategies in alexithymia. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203(9), 709–717. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000000353
35. Luminet, O., Bagby, R. M., Wagner, H., Taylor, G. J., & Parker, J. D. A. (1999). Relation between alexithymia and the five-factor model of personality: A facet-level analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment, 73(3), 345–358. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327752JPA7303_4
36. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2008). The five-factor theory of personality. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 159–181). The Guilford Press.
37. Orsolini, L. (2020). Unable to describe my feelings and emotions without an addiction: The interdependency between alexithymia and addictions. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 543346. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020. 543346
38. Pandey, R., Saxena, P., & Dubey, A. (2011). Emotion regulation difficulties in alexithymia and mental health. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 7(4), 604–623. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v7i4.155
39. Picardi, A., Toni, A., & Caroppo, E. (2005). Stability of alexithymia and its relationships with the “Big Five” factors, temperament, character, and attachment style. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 74(6), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1159/000087785
40. Pilkington, P. D., Karantzas, G. C., Faustino, B., & Pizarro-Campagna, E. (2023). Early maladaptive schemas, emotion regulation difficulties and alexithymia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 31(1), e2914. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2914
41. Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Becerra, R., Chen, W., Allan, A., Robinson, K., Boyes, M., Hasking, P., & Gross, J. J. (2022). Why is alexithymia a risk factor for affective disorder symptoms? The role of emotion regulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 296, 337–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.09. 085
42. Preece, D. A., Mehta, A., Petrova, K., Sikka, P., Bjureberg, J., Becerra, R., & Gross, J. J. (2023). Alexithymia and emotion regulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 324, 232–238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.12.065
43. Purna, R. S., & Prawitasari, J. E. (2019). Trait relations: Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism with teacher emotion regulation. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 9(3), 33–38. https://doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.v9n3p5ijhssnet.com+ 1research.amanote.com+1
44. Purnamaningsih, E. H. (2017). Personality and emotion regulation strategies. International Journal of Psychological Research, 10(1), 53–60. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.2040
45. Rahimi, M., Zarimeidani, F., Bahreini, H. S., Rahmati, R., & Raeisi Shahraki, H. (2025). Personality traits and alexithymia: A closer look at university students in a cross-sectional study. Medicine, 104(10), e41765. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000041765
46. Rosenberg, N., Rufer, M., Lichev, V., Ihme, K., Grabe, H.-J., Kugel, H., Kersting, A., & Suslow, T. (2016). Observer-rated alexithymia and its relationship with the five-factor-model of personality. Psychologica Belgica, 56(2), 118–134. https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.302
47. Sadr, M. M. (2016). The role of personality traits predicting emotion regulation strategies. International Academic Journal of Humanities, 3(1), 125–136. https://iaiest.com/iaj/index.php/IAJH/article/view/IAJH1510013
48. Sandhu, T., & Kapoor, S. (2013). Implications of personality types for emotional regulation in young women. Voice of Research, 1(4), 34–39.
49. Schmitt, D. P., Allik, J., McCrae, R. R., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2007). The geographic distribution of Big Five personality traits: Patterns and profiles of human self-description across 56 nations. *Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38*(2), 173–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022106297299
50. Sfärlea, A., Dehning, S., Keller, L. K., & Schulte-Körne, G. (2019). Alexithymia predicts maladaptive but not adaptive emotion regulation strategies in adolescent girls with anorexia nervosa or depression. Journal of Eating Disorders, 7, Article 41. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-019-0271-1
51. Shi, J., Yao, Y., Zhan, C., Mao, Z., Yin, F., & Zhao, X. (2018). The relationship between Big Five personality traits and psychotic experience in a large non-clinical youth sample: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, Article 648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00648
52. Shi, J., Yao, Y., Zhan, C., Mao, Z., Yin, F., & Zhao, X. (2018). The relationship between Big Five personality traits and psychotic experience in a large non-clinical youth sample: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, Article 648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00648
53. Sifneos, P. E. (1973). The prevalence of “alexithymic” characteristics in psychosomatic patients. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 22(2), 255–262. https://doi.org/10.1159/000286529
54. Singh, K., Arteche, A., & Holder, M. D. (2011). Personality factors and psychopathy, alexithymia and stress. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 4(1), 35–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2011.01.003
55. Stanton, K., Rozek, D. C., Stasik-O’Brien, S., Ellickson-Larew, S., & Watson, D. (2016). A transdiagnostic approach to examining the incremental predictive power of emotion regulation and basic personality dimensions. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 125(7), 960–975. https://doi.org/10.1037/ abn0000208
56. Stasiewicz, P. R., Bradizza, C. M., Gudleski, G. D., Coffey, S. F., Schlauch, R. C., Bailey, S. T., Bole, C. W., & Gulliver, S. B. (2012). The relationship of alexithymia to emotional dysregulation within an alcohol dependent treatment sample. Addictive Behaviors, 37(4), 469–476. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2011.12.011
57. Sümer, N., & Sümer, H. C. (2005). Beş faktör kişilik özellikleri ölçeği [Unpublished manuscript].
58. Swart, M., Kortekaas, R., & Aleman, A. (2009). Dealing with feelings: Characterization of trait alexithymia on emotion regulation strategies and cognitive-emotional processing. PLOS ONE, 4(6), e5751. https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0005751
59. Tao, Y., Liu, X., Hou, W., Niu, H., Wang, S., Ma, Z., Bi, D., & Zhang, L. (2022). The mediating role of emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between Big Five personality traits and anxiety and depression among Chinese firefighters. Frontiers in Public Health, 10, Article 901686. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.901686
60. Taylor, G. J., Bagby, R. M., & Parker, J. D. A. (1997). Disorders of affect regulation: Alexithymia in medical and psychiatric illness. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511526831 Tholia, G., & Suri, S. (2020). Parental psychological control, Big Five personality and difficulties in emotion regulation among adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14(1), 45–50. https://doi.org/ 10.30491/ijbs.2020.209342.1169
61. Vaiouli, P., & Panayiotou, G. (2021). Alexithymia and autistic traits: Associations with social and emotional challenges among college students. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.733775
62. Vatan, S., & Oruçlular Kahya, Y. (2018). Duygu düzenleme becerileri ölçeğinin Türkçeye uyarlanması: Geçerlilik ve güvenilirlik çalışması. Anatolian Journal of Psychiatry, 19(2), 192–201.
63. Vater, A., & Schröder-Abé, M. (2015). Explaining the link between personality and relationship satisfaction: Emotion regulation and interpersonal behaviour in conflict discussions. European Journal of Personality, 29(2), 201–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1993
64. Venta, A., Hart, J., & Sharp, C. (2013). The relation between experiential avoidance, alexithymia and emotion regulation in inpatient adolescents. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 18(3), 398–410. https://doi.org/ 10.1177/1359104512455815
65. Visted, E., Vøllestad, J., Nielsen, M. B., & Schanche, E. (2018). Emotion regulation in current and remitted depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 756. https://doi.org/ 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00756
66. Widiger, T. A., & Oltmanns, J. R. (2017). Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications. World Psychiatry, 16, 144–145. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20411
67. Young, A. C., & Kyranides, M. N. (2022). Understanding emotion regulation and humor styles in individuals with callous-unemotional traits and alexithymic traits. The Journal of Psychology, 156, 147–166. https:// doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2021.2017831
68. Zhang, B., Li, X., Deng, H., Tan, P., He, W., Huang, S., Wang, L., Xu, H., Cao, L., & Nie, G. (2024). The relationship of personality, alexithymia, anxiety symptoms, and odor awareness: A mediation analysis. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1), Article 185. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05653-y