Rigidity and its Relations to the Basic Dimensions of Personality
Rigidity and its Relations to the Basic Dimensions of Personality

Summary/Abstract: The paper examines rigidity and its relations to the basic dimensions of personality as they are identified by the Big Five’s factors and Eysenck’s personality model. Empirical data come from two studies with Bulgarian adults who have been tested with a Bulgarian questionnaire for measuring dimensions of personality rigidity as perseveration, rigidity, and dogmatism. Study 1 involved 150 students from 3 different universities who filled in the questionnaire on personality rigidity and the Bulgarian form of the IPIP-50 measure. In Study 2, 30 men and 30 women filled in online the same questionnaire on personality rigidity and the Bulgarian adaptation of the Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire. In the paper we first discuss the concept of rigidity, its scope and content, and outline the relations between the dimensions of personality rigidity and other personality traits. Then we compare the results of the two empirical studies. Finally, we draw conclusions about where and how the measures of rigidity fit into the big five model of personality. Correlational and factor analyses revealed association between perseveration and neuroticism, replicated across the two samples, while rigidity tended to be related to conscientiousness and psychoticism. Our findings support the need of a closer examination of the particular manifestations of rigidity when measures of rigidity are considered or when its relations to personality and behaviour are studied.

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