Cognitive ability and personality: Testing broad to nuanced associations with a smartphone app

Abstract The present work provides robust insights into how cognitive ability is correlated to personality traits. We investigated how cognitive ability (operationalized as facets of working memory capacity) is linked to the Big Five personality traits on broader domain- and facet-levels, as well as with individual personality inventory items. The effective sample comprised 1211 people (55% female; age M = 31.39, SD = 11.76) who participated in the study via a smartphone application where they filled out a personality test, and solved six working memory capacity tasks (based on two binding paradigms with different stimulus types). In addition to bivariate analyses, we used network analysis to model cognitive ability in relation to personality on different aggregation levels. We found that Openness, its facet Intellectual and some items of the Openness domain were consistently associated with cognitive ability tasks. While some of the earlier findings were replicated, we also provide novel findings with robust methodology across different levels of personality and by differentiating the facets of cognition. All in all, personality is not substantially correlated with cognitive ability, and the links with Openness are weak.