Associations Between Big-Five Personality Traits and Attitudes and Perception Towards Health Behaviours

Abstract

Despite efforts to promote exercise and healthy diets, global prevalence of obesity continues to rise. This pervasiveness of obesity is alarming as it is a key contributing factor of ischemic heart disease, a leading cause of death worldwide. The issue of obesity is exacerbated in Malaysia, where 50.1% of all adults were considered obese in 2020. Given the severity of the issue, the identification of alternative factors to promote exercise becomes necessary. The current study examined how personality traits are related to perceptions and behaviours towards health. A total of 401 Malaysian university students completed questionnaires which assessed their demographics, health perceptions, and health behaviours. Additionally, the Big-Five Inventory was administered to examine personality traits. Regarding personality traits and their associations to behaviours: Conscientiousness was positively associated with Exercise Adherence and Healthy Diet but negatively with Fears Related to Exercise; Neuroticism had a positive relation with Perceived Lack of Resources and Fears Related to Exercise but a negative relationship with Adherence to Exercise; Extraversion only had a negative association with Healthy Diet; Agreeableness was negatively associated with Substance Use; and lastly, Openness had a positive relationship with Adherence to Exercise but a negative association with Perceived Lack of Resources. Further exploration on the impacts of attitudes and perspectives towards exercise and healthy diets would be beneficial in identifying alternative and potentially more effective approaches in promoting healthy behaviours.

Keywords

personality traits health behaviours exercise adherence healthy diet health perceptions health attitudes

Introduction

Despite efforts to promote exercise, global obesity rates continue to rise, with prevalence increasing by 9.7% in women and 9.2% in men from 1990 to 2022 (Phelps et al., 2024). This trend is particularly alarming in many Asian countries, including Malaysia, where 50.1% of adults are classified as obese (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2020). Such prevalence could stem from cultural diets in the region, which frequently include artificially sweetened foods and drinks (Eng et al., 2022; Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2014; Raji et al., 2017), and the propensity of not meeting physical activity recommendations when compared to other populations (Cai Lian et al., 2016; Nik-Nasir et al., 2022). These lifestyle factors contribute significantly to the risk of ischemic heart disease, a leading cause of death worldwide (Nowbar et al., 2019).

Despite awareness of these risks, 25.1% of Malaysians still fail to adopt preventive health behaviours, such as regular exercise and healthy eating (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2020). These shortcomings would prompt one to reconsider current methods of promoting these health behaviours. Identifying alternative factors that influence exercise and dietary habits are therefore crucial for developing more effective public health strategies.

The current study addresses this need by exploring the role of personality traits and demographic factors in shaping health behaviours, particularly within the Malaysian context. Although previous research has highlighted the importance of these behaviours in public health (Craft et al., 2014; Sutin et al., 2016), there is a gap in understanding how personality traits, alongside demographic factors, influence these outcomes in Asian populations. By examining exercise adherence, perceived barriers, dietary habits, substance use, and behaviours that are critical to public health and potentially modifiable through targeted interventions, this study aims to provide insights that could inform said targeted interventions.

To explore these relationships, the study draws on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1991), which argues that behaviour is influenced by intention, itself shaped by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. Although previous studies have noted robust relationships between personality and health behaviours (Kim, 2022; Satoh et al., 2021), or attitudes and perspectives with health behaviours (Hamzah et al., 2019; Mohammadi et al., 2021), they seldom examine the other as an intermediary factor. This study fills that gap by examining how personality traits impact health behaviours through related attitudes and perceptions.

To accomplish this aim, questions from established questionnaires were carefully selected and adapted to capture key aspects of health behaviours that significantly contribute to overall well-being and are strongly influenced by both psychological and environmental factors. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was then conducted to reduce the dimensionality of the dataset. This approach allowed us to explore how personality traits shape health behaviours through attitudes and perceptions, offering a comprehensive understanding of health behaviour change. These behaviours, prevalent in the general population and modifiable through psychological interventions, are particularly important to examine within the Malaysian context. Understanding the psychological predictors of these behaviours is crucial for developing targeted public health strategies.

Demographics

Although efforts to combat rising obesity rates have led to a growing body of research on the relationship between personality traits and health behaviours, there remains a significant gap in understanding these connections within Asian populations, particularly in Malaysia. Malaysia’s long history of multiculturalism, with its population consisting primarily of Malays (69.8%), Chinese (22.4%), and Indians (6.8%), provides a unique opportunity to explore how ethnicity influences health behaviours (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2021). Given the cultural dependency of diets and physical activity, analysing the impact of ethnicity within this diverse environment can yield valuable insights into the role of culture in shaping health behaviours.

Ethnicity significantly affects subjective norms surrounding exercise, which in turn influences perceptions and decisions regarding physical activity. For example, Chinese individuals in Singapore and Malaysia have the highest prevalence of sedentary behaviours when compared to other ethnic groups (Cai Lian et al., 2016; Win et al., 2015). Cultural differences also extend to dietary habits as well, with Malaysian Malays and Indians consuming more artificially sweetened foods or drinks, whereas Malaysian Chinese favour more fruits (Abdullah et al., 2016; Eng et al., 2022; Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2014).

Gender also plays a crucial role in health behaviours, with men generally more likely to engage in physical activity than women, a trend observed globally and reflected in Malaysia (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2018). However, despite engaging in physical activity more often, a higher percentage of males are categorised as overweight or obese, which could be due to their predisposition towards high-fat foods (Muscogiuri et al., 2024). Additionally, Malaysian male adolescents tend to consume more carbonated soft drinks and smoke more frequently than their female counterparts (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2018). Lastly, demographic variables, such as ethnicity and gender, can interact with one another. For example, Middle Eastern women tend to eat less healthily when compared to their male counterparts, contrasting studies conducted in Western and Southeast Asian countries (El Ansari & Berg-Beckhoff, 2017).

Personality Traits

The Big-Five Model is a taxonomy that classifies all personality traits that an individual may possess into five dimensions (Zillig et al., 2002): Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness (John & Srivastava, 1999). People high in Conscientiousness are more likely to partake in regular exercise, healthy eating patterns, and avoidance of substances (Gartland et al., 2021; Raynor & Levine, 2009; Sattler & Schunck, 2016; Stieger et al., 2020). Additionally, these individuals are less likely to engage in unhealthy habits like smoking and drinking (Hakulinen et al., 2015a, 2015b). Agreeableness is consistently associated with positive health behaviours (Lekka et al., 2021) and a lower rate of mortality, potentially due to its association with reduced alcohol consumption (Hakulinen et al., 2015a; Hakulinen & Jokela, 2019) and increased likelihood of adopting healthier eating patterns (Weston et al., 2020). Neuroticism is linked to a range of unhealthy behaviours, such as less exercise, poor diet, and substance use (Desai et al., 2023; Hakulinen et al., 2015b; Sutin et al., 2016; Weston et al., 2020). Additionally, individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely to have maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (Liu et al., 2020). These complications may cause individuals to avoid exercise due to fear of discomfort or ridicule. Openness is known for its positive association with a general improvement in health and health literacy (Ryser et al., 2023). It also has a small but significant positive impact on physical activity (Kekäläinen et al., 2021; Sutin et al., 2016; Wilson & Dishman, 2015). Extraversion has mixed associations with health behaviours. While it might be linked to less time spent sitting down and higher self-reported physical activity (Kekäläinen et al., 2020; Sutin et al., 2016), its sensation-seeking facet has a positive association with detrimental health practices, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and substance abuse (Dash et al., 2023; Hakulinen et al., 2015a, 2015b). It is believed that extraverts have a heightened sensitivity to rewards, and because of said sensitivity, extraverts are more motivated to engage in such behaviours (Fairbairn et al., 2015).

It has been argued that this mixed association between Extraversion and different kinds of health behaviours could also be due to Extraversion’s interaction with other personality traits (Vollrath & Torgersen, 2008). For example, individuals who are highly extraverted but low in Conscientiousness are more likely to engage with illegal substances when compared to their counterparts who are high in Conscientiousness (Turiano et al., 2012). These interactions would explain some of the contradictory results presented in studies with smaller sample sizes.

The Current Study

The prevalence of obesity in Malaysia has reached an alarming level, with 50.1% of the population affected (Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2020). With obesity being the core risk of ischemic heart diseases, there is a pressing need to identify alternative methods to promote the adoption of health behaviours to curb Malaysia’s rising rates of obesity. The effects of personality on health behaviours, and those of attitudes and perspectives, have been well established in literature. Despite the abundance of findings, there is still a dearth of research between personality traits and its associations with attitudes and perspectives when health behaviours are involved. This gap in the literature also extends to the relationships between health behaviours, and attitudes and perspectives towards health for individuals in Asian countries.

The current study examines the relationship between the dimensions of the Big-Five personality model and health behaviours, their perceived barriers, diet, and substance usage among Malaysian university students. Given the multitude of factors that can affect perspectives, the current study required strict criteria in the admission of participants. Regarding nationality, although Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country (with the main ethnicities being Malay, Chinese, and Indian), it places significant emphasis on tradition and religion (Kamarzaman et al., 2024). Segregation between the ethnicities is commonplace, as even education is affected through the prominence of vernacular schools. These schools are dedicated to teaching specific ethnic groups, often conducting classes in the language of said ethnicity. With such distinction between the different ethnicities, it is possible that the effects of specific cultures may be more pronounced in individuals of Malaysian origin. The decision to only include students from the same university came about due to the basic dietary and gym access that all students have. This restriction was included so that confounds would be reduced when it came to the perceived ease or difficulty in obtaining healthy foods or opportunities to exercise.

Based on literature, it was hypothesised that (1) Conscientiousness would be positively related to beneficial health behaviours, such as exercise and healthy eating, but negatively related to perceived barriers to exercise and substance usage; (2) Agreeableness would be positively related to healthy eating and negatively related to substance usage; (3) Neuroticism would be positively associated with perceived barriers to exercise and substance usage; (4) Extraversion would be positively related to substance usage and negatively with healthy diets; and (5) Openness would be associated with healthy eating.

Method

Participants

The current study recruited 401 Malaysian students (females = 288, males = 113) from the University of Nottingham Malaysia. In terms of ethnicity, the sample comprised of 273 Chinese, 71 Malays, 38 Indians, and 19 individuals of mixed or indigenous ethnicity, all of whom were Malaysian nationals. The age range of the sample was 18 to 28 years old (M = 20.22, SD = 1.65).

Materials

Demographic Variables

Questions regarding age, ethnicity, and athletic status had been adopted from the National Health Interview Surveys conducted between 1997 and 2016 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017), the San Diego Health and Exercise Survey (Sallis et al., 1989, 1992), and the University College London Health and Behaviour Survey conducted between 1999 and 2001, from Steptoe and Wardle (1996). Questions pertaining to athletic status asked if individuals were an active member of a sports or exercise-based club and if they had a long-term illness or injury limiting their physical activity.

Personality Traits

The 44-item Big-Five Inventory (John & Srivastava, 1999) was used to obtain personality scores of participants on five dimensions: Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness. Participants were given a list of characteristics and had to rate the extent to which they agreed with each of them on a five-point scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree’; 5 = ‘strongly agree’). The questionnaire was reported to have a mean reliability coefficient of 0.83 (John & Srivastava, 1999). Within the current study, a mean reliability coefficient of 0.78 was found.

Exercise Behaviours

Seventeen independent items were adopted from the National Health Interview Surveys (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017) and the University College London Health and Behaviour Survey (Steptoe & Wardle, 1996) to assess the behaviours participants exhibited towards exercise. Participants indicated the degree to which they related to a statement regarding attitudes and health behaviours on a five-point scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree’; 5 = ‘strongly agree’).

Perceived Barriers to Exercise

Seventeen items regarding the availability of exercise facilities and programmes alongside reasons for not exercising were taken from the San Diego Health and Exercise Survey (Sallis et al., 1989, 1992). Participants responded to statements pertaining to its relatability on a five-point scale (1 = ‘strongly disagree’; 5 = ‘strongly agree’).

Food Frequency

Akin to the 12-item Food Frequency Questionnaire used by El Ansari and Berg-Beckhoff (2017), participants indicated the frequency of consumption for particular foods, such as cooked vegetables, meats, and soft drinks, on a five-point scale (1 = ‘never’; 5 = ‘several times a day’). This variation of the Food Frequency Questionnaires was selected as it focused on items that are typical in Southeast Asian diets, such as fresh fruits, fish, and sweetened foods (Eng et al., 2022; Ministry of Health Malaysia, 2014; Raji et al., 2017). Although no formal test of validity was conducted for this version, the questionnaire used in the current study was adapted by El Ansari and Berg-Beckhoff (2017) from a study which reported an extensive test-retest validity of the items used (see Roddam et al., 2005). Healthy foods, such as cereals, vegetables, and fish, were scored based on their frequency of consumption, with higher frequencies receiving higher ratings. Unhealthy foods were given reversed ratings instead, with ‘several times a day’ being rated as 1 on the scale, whereas ‘never’ was rated as 5. Scores were added to get an Overall Diet score, with higher scores indicating better dietary habits.

Substance Use

Adapted from the University College London Health and Behaviour Survey (Steptoe & Wardle, 1996), participants answered 3 items pertaining to smoking, vaping, and drinking. Other items from the survey, such as the use of soft and hard drugs, were not included as participants might feel uneasy answering such questions due to strict drug laws in Malaysia. The adapted scale within the study has a moderate reliability, as a coefficient of 0.66 was found. Participants indicated how often they had partaken in a particular activity within the past 30 days on an eight-point scale (1 = ‘never used’; 8 = ‘used daily’). The frequency ratings from all three items were then added together to reach an overall substance usage score, with individuals scoring higher on the scale being more prone to engaging in them.

Procedure

On Qualtrics (an online platform which offers a cloud-based survey tool), participants were presented with an information sheet, briefing them on the purpose of the study, and a consent form. Upon giving informed consent, they were presented with questionnaires in the following order: Demographics, Big-Five Inventory, and questionnaires about Exercise Behaviours, Perceived Barriers to Exercise, Food Frequency, and Substance Use. At the end of the survey, participants were thanked for their contribution and asked if they were interested in participating in a follow-up study. To incentivise participants, agreement to a possible follow-up and provision of their university email granted them entry to a lucky draw with cash prizes of RM100, RM50, or RM25. Apart from the lucky-draw entry, participants were also provided with information about their Big-Five Inventory personality scores.

Statistical Analyses

Two Principal Components Analyses (PCAs) were conducted to identify components of the Exercise Behaviours and Perceived Barriers to Exercise questionnaires. These analyses were conducted as items present in both questionnaires were derived from several surveys. The PCAs were also conducted with the intention of creating appropriate models to be used in further data analysis. Results of the PCA can be found in Tables A1 and A2 in the Appendix.

After the PCAs, five hierarchical linear regressions were conducted to predict scores of the following components: Adherence to Exercise Regimes, Perceived Lack of Resources, Fears Related to Exercise, Healthy Diet, and Substance Usage. These regressions were conducted using demographic variables (Gender and Ethnicity) and health condition (Injury) as covariates, with Big-Five Inventory scores as the main predictors.

Three dummy variables were created for the ethnic groups in the study: Malay, Chinese, and Indian. A value of 1 indicated that the ethnicity was true, whereas a value of 0 indicated that it was false. When all three conditions were false, the participant was classified under the ‘Others’ ethnicity, which includes participants from multi-ethnic families or various indigenous groups of Malaysia, such as the Dusun or Kadazan. With regard to gender, males were coded as 1 and females as 0.

For each regression analysis, we compared two main models: one model with gender, ethnicity, and health condition, and another model with these demographic variables alongside the five personality traits. Additionally, a third model was conducted with demographic variables, personality traits, and interactions between gender and personality traits, and between gender and ethnicity. Due to the large number of predictors analysed in the third model (19), only significant interactions were reported (Fears Related to Exercise, Healthy Diet, and Substance Usage). Results of the regressions are shown in Table A3.

Results

Adherence to Exercise Regimes

Both models for the Adherence to Exercise Regimes component (M = 16.09, SD = 5.77) were significant. The demographic variables in the first model explained 2.9% of the variance, R² = .029, F(5, 395) = 2.33, p = .042. Malay individuals were less inclined to adhere to exercise regimes in comparison to individuals from other ethnicities. The addition of personality traits in the second model increased the amount of explained variance to 19.7%, ΔR² = .177, F(10, 390) = 9.59, p < .001. Malay individuals remained less inclined to adhere to exercise regimes, but Conscientiousness and Openness both positively predicted exercise adherence. Neuroticism, on the other hand, negatively predicted adherence.

Perceived Lack of Resources

Both models for the Perceived Lack of Resources component (M = 16.40, SD = 5.58) were significant. The first model explained 3.4% of variance, R² = .034, F(5, 395) = 2.81, p = .016. In terms of ethnicity, individuals who are Malay or Chinese were more inclined to perceive that there is a lack of resources for exercise. The second model included personality traits, and this inclusion increased the amount of explained variance to 20.4%, ΔR² = .183, F(10, 390) = 9.97, p < .001. In this model, only Malay individuals perceived a lack of resources. In addition, Conscientiousness and Openness negatively predicted this perceived lack of resources, whereas Neuroticism positively predicted this perception.

Fears Related to Exercise

Both main models for the Fears Related to Exercise component (M = 8.29, SD = 3.83) were statistically significant. The first model explained 4.2% of the variance, R² = .042, F(5, 395) = 3.47, p = .004. Males were less likely to experience fears with regard to exercise. The second model included the personality traits, and this inclusion increased the amount of explained variance to 16.6%, ΔR² = .124, F(10, 390) = 7.77, p < .001. For this model, only Conscientiousness and Neuroticism were significant predictors. Conscientiousness negatively predicted fears, whereas Neuroticism positively predicted them. Gender, however, was no longer significant in this model. This change in significance was likely due to an increased propensity of females scoring higher in Neuroticism when compared to their male counterparts (Weisberg et al., 2011). To confirm this gender bias in Neuroticism, an independent-samples t-test was conducted to compare the Neuroticism scores between females and males. A significant difference was noted between females (M = 26.81, SD = 5.48) and males (M = 24.18, SD = 5.85); t(399) = 4.25, p < .05, showing that females scored higher in Neuroticism than males. Lastly, the third regression model was found to be significant, where 19.2% of variance was explained, ΔR² = .026, F(18, 382) = 5.03, p < .001. The interaction between gender and Chinese ethnicity was not retained in this final model. On the other hand, male Malay (β = −2.672, p = .040) and Indian (β = −2.852, p = .034) individuals were found to have fewer fears related to exercise.

Healthy Diet

Both main models for the Overall Diet scores (M = 38.25, SD = 3.85) were statistically significant. The first model explained 3.0% of variance, R² = .030, F(5, 395) = 2.42, p = .036. Here, Malay individuals ate less healthily. Inclusion of the personality traits caused the second model to account for 10.9% of variance, ΔR² = .080, F(10, 390) = 4.79, p = .001. For this model, Malay individuals continued to have less healthy eating habits. In terms of personality traits, Extraversion negatively predicted healthy eating, whereas Conscientiousness positively predicted it. The third regression model was found to be significant, where 14.5% of variance was explained, ΔR² = .036, F(18, 382) = 3.61, p < .001. The interaction between gender and Chinese ethnicity was not retained in this final model. In this model, males who scored high in Extraversion were found to eat less healthily (β = −.200, p = .008). Additionally, males who scored high in Agreeableness had a positive association with healthy eating (β = .240, p = .005).

Substance Usage

Both main models for Substance Usage (M = 5.05, SD = 2.98) were significant. The first model accounted for 7.0% of variance, R² = .070, F(5, 395) = 5.99, p < .001. Individuals of Malay or Chinese ethnicity were less likely to engage in substance use. Furthermore, males were more likely to use substances in comparison to females. The second model included the personality traits, and this inclusion helped to account for 10.4% of variance, ΔR² = .034, F(10, 390) = 4.54, p < .001. For this model, males were still more likely to use substances, and individuals who were Malay or Chinese were still less likely to do so. With regard to personality, Agreeableness predicted substance usage negatively. The third regression model was found to be significant, where 18.1% of variance was explained, ΔR² = .077, F(18, 382) = 4.69, p < .001. The interaction between gender and Chinese ethnicity was not retained in this final model. In this model, Indian males reported higher substance use (β = 4.920, p < .001).

Discussion

The current study examined the relationship between Big-Five personality traits and health behaviours, perceived barriers, diet, and substance usage among Malaysian university students. To control for confounding factors such as access to healthy food and exercise opportunities, participants were selected from the same university. The study hypotheses were as follows: Conscientiousness is expected to correlate positively with healthy behaviours and negatively with perceived barriers and substance usage; Agreeableness with healthy eating and negatively with substance usage; Neuroticism with perceived barriers and substance usage; Extraversion with substance usage and negatively with healthy diets; and Openness with healthy eating.

Personality Traits

From the analyses conducted in the present study, several associations between the Big-Five personality traits and health perspectives were found. Most notably, Conscientiousness was negatively associated with Fears Related to Exercise; for Agreeableness, a negative association with Substance Usage was noted; whereas Neuroticism had positive associations with Perceived Lack of Resources and Fears Related to Exercise. Regarding Extraversion, only a negative association with healthy diets was found. Lastly, Openness was reported to have an inverse association with Perceived Lack of Resources.

Conscientiousness

As hypothesised, Conscientiousness was associated with beneficial health behaviours, which can be seen from its positive association with the Adherence to Exercise Regimes scale and healthy diet. It was also negatively associated with Fears Related to Exercise. With regard to adherence, a core component of Conscientiousness is self-discipline (Lindahl, 2023). Self-discipline is influential in this aspect as constant conscious effort is required to maintain any regime or active routine (Raynor & Levine, 2009). On the notion of perceived barriers, Fears Related to Exercise was inversely related with Conscientiousness. A facet of this trait is achievement striving (John & Srivastava, 1999), and this aspect might help them to see past these fears. The current study looked at certain aspects of this mental barrier, such as fear of embarrassment and ridicule, intimidation from others, and being overly self-conscious. Although it is possible that individuals may experience these fears initially, the desire to achieve may push them to put in more effort in mastering a relevant skillset, ultimately leading to confidence which helps overcome these fears. As for diet, the results of the current study are in line with findings from literature. Due to the deliberative, non-impulsive nature of highly conscientious individuals (Bogg & Roberts, 2013; Obara-Gołębiowska & Michałek-Kwiecień, 2020), their ability to visualise long-term benefits and delay gratification is advantageous. Attitudes towards health behaviours, such as having a proper diet, would be viewed more positively as they understand the benefits derived, ultimately causing these individuals to be more inclined to partake in them.

Agreeableness

Of all personality traits, only Agreeableness had a significant but negative association with Substance Usage. These findings are akin to those in literature, where Agreeableness is inversely associated with alcohol usage (Hakulinen & Jokela, 2019). It is suspected that the compliance facet of Agreeableness could be responsible, as individuals prone to deviance and non-conformity are more likely to engage in substance use (de Jong et al., 2020).

Neuroticism

In line with literature, this personality trait had a negative relationship with Adherence to Exercise. The anxiety and depression facets of Neuroticism, which are also components of negative affect, are often linked to tiredness, exhaustion, and burnout (Ferreira et al., 2019). It is possible that a lack of energy, coupled with a drop in motivation, could result in neurotic individuals deviating from planned programmes, especially one that is physically demanding, such as exercise. For Perceived Barriers, Neuroticism was linked to both Perceived Lack of Resources and Fears Related to Exercise. About the former, the depression facet of Neuroticism has correlations with lower scores in cognitive flexibility tasks (Yu et al., 2020). With impeded cognitive flexibility, highly neurotic individuals may overlook or ignore alternative opportunities to pursue their exercise regimes. This oversight of opportunities is supported by the precedence of the current study, where all participants had the same base level of access to exercise resources at the university campus. Regarding the latter, facets of Neuroticism, such as anxiety, self-consciousness, and feelings of vulnerability, could cause one to be fearful of exercising or using exercise equipment. As examined in the scale, fear of injury, fear of embarrassment and ridicule, and intimidation from others are all tied to Neuroticism facets.

Extraversion

As expected, individuals who scored high on Extraversion reported poorer diets. These individuals often chose to eat unhealthy foods, such as sugary drinks and salty snacks, while simultaneously eating less healthy options, such as fruits and vegetables, when compared to those who scored low on Extraversion. It has been argued that the sensation-seeking facet of Extraversion could be due to an increased sensitivity to stimulants and rewards (Fairbairn et al., 2015). This increased sensitivity could serve as a motivating factor for highly extraverted individuals to consume unhealthy food despite knowing their detrimental impacts.

Openness

Interestingly, an association was found between Openness and Adherence to Exercise. It has been argued that individuals who score high on Openness often report an increase in engagement of physical activities (Kekäläinen et al., 2021; Sutin et al., 2016). This relationship has been attributed to the wide-interests facet of Openness (Wilson & Dishman, 2015). These interests can involve several physically engaging activities, such as sports or general exercise. It does, however, encompass sedentary behaviours as well, such as watching television and reading books. With regard to Perceived Lack of Resources, Openness was inversely associated with perceived barriers. This relationship could be attributed to the creative aspect of highly open individuals. Individuals who score high on Openness may discover or create alternative methods to overcome obstacles that they face (Abu Raya et al., 2023; Knaps, 2015). An item in the Perceived Lack of Resources scale asked whether participants felt that there was insufficient equipment to exercise with. Those who score low on Openness may agree with the sentiment as they would have the preconception that to exercise, one would need dedicated facilities, such as specific gym equipment tailored to their needs or proper jogging paths. Those who score high on Openness, however, may look towards alternative methods for training instead, such as body weight exercises, or using less travelled paths for jogging purposes. The proposed concept on Openness’ relation to Perceived Lack of Resources is brought about due to the fact that all participants in the study had the same basic level of access to exercise resources.

Gender * Personality

Given the large main effects of gender and personality, it was not surprising that interaction effects were found. Males who scored high on Extraversion had poor diets, which is unsurprising as both males and high Extraversion scores were negatively associated with dietary health. This interaction could have exacerbated overall diet scores due to socialising with like-minded individuals. As social groups go out to eat, nutrition and health often becomes secondary whereas taste and enjoyment become the primary focus. What is surprising, however, is the interaction between males and high Agreeableness scores. Based on this interaction, men who are agreeable ate healthier in comparison to other personality*gender combinations. It could be that high Agreeableness scores ‘counteract’ men’s propensity for poor diets. Perhaps an increase in awareness regarding dietary health through education, and the desire to appear sociable and approachable, may have influenced these men to eat healthier.

Demographics

Gender

It was found that Fears Related to Exercise were more prominent in female individuals as opposed to their male counterparts. Items on this scale include intimidation from others in the gym, fear of embarrassment and ridicule, and feelings of self-consciousness. It has been discussed that while exercising, females often focus on achieving an “ideal” body type due to possible influences from media (Craft et al., 2014; Durau et al., 2022). Perhaps it is due to this pressure that women may be more overly self-conscious and at the same time fear judgement from peers. Furthermore, one cannot discount the possibility of intimidation or fear of sexual harassment from male counterparts. The current study only offers a glimpse into the matter, and this issue can be an important avenue to pursue in future research.

Ethnicity

Prior to discussing the relationship between ethnicity and health behaviours, it is crucial to acknowledge the significant ethnic imbalance in the study’s sample, with 68.1% of participants being Chinese. This disparity raises concerns about the reliability of estimates for Malay and Indian participants, necessitating caution when interpreting these results. Although the data quality may have been affected, findings suggest that Malay participants were less inclined to adhere to exercise regimes when compared to other ethnic groups.

This reduction in exercise adherence contradicts the results of Win et al. (2015), which found Singaporean Malays to have the lowest prevalence of sedentary behaviours. It is possible, however, that higher levels of SES may have contributed to this contrast. The study’s sample consisted of students from a private university, which could mean that participants in the current study are likely of a higher SES when compared to the study by Win et al. (2015), which used a national sample. Unlike studies involving Caucasian participants, SES has an inverse relationship with exercise in studies with Asian participants. Higher SES among Asians correlates with reduced physical activity (Khaing Nang et al., 2010) or increased sedentary time (Chen et al., 2015). This inverse relationship, which is potentially mediated by ethnicity, may explain why the current findings diverge from broader literature.

Regarding perceptions, it was found that, even though they had access to the same facilities on campus, Malays and Chinese were more inclined to perceive a lack of resources for exercise when compared to Indians or those of ‘Other’ ethnicities. However, once personality was accounted for, it was found that only Malay individuals were more inclined to perceive a lack of resources. This perception could be due to a lack of single-gendered facilities. Malay individuals have been reported to be more conservative when compared to other ethnicities in Malaysia (Aminnuddin, 2020), and it is possible that this disinclination to exercise with members of the opposite sex may affect their perception of the availability of facilities.

It is also interesting that ethnicity (primarily Malay and Indian individuals) interacted with gender when it came to Fears Related to Exercise. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the specific cause, it is possible that Malay and Indian men capitalise on social dynamics and stereotypes to combat fears of ridicule or intimidation from others. For example, with Malay men, they are members of the socially conservative and majority ethnicity. Societal expectations and gender roles could play into how they experience and deal with fear from social situations.

On the topic of diets, results suggest that Malay individuals are less likely to eat healthily when compared to the other ethnicities. Individuals of Malay ethnicity tend to consume more artificially sweetened foods, such as cakes or ice cream, when compared to other racial groups (Eng et al., 2022). The preference for these foods could reflect traditional Malay cuisine, which prominently features sweet and savoury pastries often made from a variety of sugar and coconut milk (Raji et al., 2017).

Lastly, substance usage had a negative association with individuals of Malay or Chinese ethnicity. Findings for Chinese individuals were in line with those from the Malaysian Ministry of Health (2018), which reported the Chinese as having the lowest prevalence of smoking (7%). However, the current study’s findings for Malay individuals were in contrast to government findings, which reported Malays as having the second highest prevalence, with a rate of 14.1%. It is likely that this contrast occurred as participants of the current study have a higher level of education when compared to the national average. High academic achievements often result in a negative relationship with substance usage (Bugbee et al., 2019).

Additionally, after accounting for interactions with gender, it was found that Indian men were more likely to engage in substance use compared to other gender and ethnicity combinations. Although the study aligns with literature showing that men are more likely to engage in substance use and that Malay and Chinese individuals are less likely, the ethnic imbalance in the sample must be considered. The underrepresentation of Indian participants might skew these findings, and caution is needed when generalising these results. However, it is interesting to note that among the three main ethnicities in Malaysia, Indians are the smallest group. This potentially increases their vulnerability to race-based discrimination, and research has shown that individuals who experience racial discrimination are at a higher risk of substance use (Cénat et al., 2023).

Implications

Despite social awareness on the impacts of sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy diets, over half of Malaysians are obese and, by extension, are not adopting sufficient preventive health behaviours. Although it would be easy to attribute the issue to regional diets or ethnic-level disinterest in physical activity, if current trends were to continue and no changes are made to both diet and activity levels, Malaysia could see a substantial increase in mortality rates from ischemic heart disease. Additionally, the nation could witness an increase in other physical and mental health complications, taxing the country through increased healthcare costs.

To combat this grim possibility, the current study had selected contributing factors to this worrying trend: Fears Related to Exercise, especially ridicule and/or injury; a Perceived Lack of Resources, such as exercise equipment or energy; and unhealthy diets, and identified demographic variables and personality traits associated with each of these factors. The outcomes of this study allow for the development of more targeted interventions based on a person’s personality or demographics. For example, provision of educational sessions on gym safety and equipment use could be offered to individuals who scored high in neuroticism to combat fears of injury. On the issue of Perceived Lack of Resources, gender-segregated gym hours or facilities could help promote exercise, especially for women or those who are more conservative. Additionally, Extraverts could benefit by increasing the variety of their diet through expanding their cooking repertoire on healthy foods or increasing the number of local establishments which serve healthier options. Overall, individually targeted interventions may prove to be more effective than traditional blanket measures. Apart from developing interventions, the interactions between gender and personality, and gender and ethnicity have allowed us to identify specific groups of individuals who are more at risk of substance use and/or poor diets when compared to other demographic and/or personality combinations. Government agencies could leverage these findings to create campaigns that better target these at-risk groups.

On a theoretical note, the development of the two questionnaires pertaining to attitudes and perceptions of exercise provided insightful data on preventive health behaviours. The results showed a robust relationship between Big-Five personality traits and the subscales of our questionnaire: Adherence to Exercise, Fears Related to Exercise, and Perceived Lack of Resources. These associations aligned with the study’s predictions, given previous associations between personality and health related behaviours (Gartland et al., 2021; Kekäläinen et al., 2021; Sutin et al., 2016). Future studies examining long-term beneficial behaviours, such as studying or work, could benefit from similar questionnaires as well. By developing or using pre-existing scales targeted at attitudes or perceptions, researchers can discern underlying elements involved in influencing one’s behaviour and either promote or discourage them.

Future Directions and Limitations

The current study provides insight into the relationships between the Big-Five personality traits and the perceptions and attitudes that one has towards health behaviours. Based on the results and their subsequent explanations, the exploration of individual personality facets would greatly contribute to a better understanding of personality’s underlying mechanisms towards attitudes and perceptions on health behaviours.

Additionally, the current study derived two scales containing negative perceptions towards exercise, that is: Fears Related to Exercise and Perceived Lack of Resources. Although there are other negative perceptions and attitudes that could be investigated, a major limitation of the study is the lack of positive perceptions and subscales. The lack of analysis on motivational factors is particularly troublesome, as the opportunity to contrast positive and negative perceptions is lost. With enough motivation, individuals may engage in behaviours that they might otherwise deem costly. Moreover, due to the self-reported nature of the study, participant responses may be subjected to social desirability biases. Future studies could investigate possible positive subscales, such as Socialisation via Exercise or Enjoyment of Exercise (which did not have enough items to qualify for a subscale in the current study). Exploration of these possible perspectives could help develop and improve theories explaining why certain types of individuals are more prone to holding particular types of views regarding health behaviours. Furthermore, given the flexibility of personality, analysis of perspectives could extend to other fields, such as studying or working.

One issue with the study was that the restrictive criteria for participants could have potentially skewed its results. The sample solely comprised of Malaysian university students, which meant the study only examined individuals who were highly educated. This highly educated sample may have led to unintended ceiling or floor effects, such as the case of substance use. As seen, only Agreeableness had a negative association with substance use, but against expectations, no associations were found with Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, or Extraversion. Given that literature often reports a negative correlation between educational attainment and substance usage (Bugbee et al., 2019) it is likely that the sample’s high level of education may have impacted the results of the study.

Furthermore, it is important to stress that although the study aligns with literature showing that men are more likely to engage in substance use and that Malay and Chinese individuals are less likely, the ethnic imbalance in the sample remains a concern. The underrepresentation of Indian participants could have skewed these findings, highlighting the need for caution when generalising the results.

Conclusions

The current study was a novel exploration of the relationships between Big-Five personality traits and the individual’s perspective on health behaviours while considering ethnicity and gender. Conscientiousness had a positive association with Adherence to Exercise, and healthy dieting, but had a negative association with Fears Related to Exercise. For Agreeableness, there was a negative association with Substance Usage. Neuroticism associated positively with Perceived Lack of Resources and Fears Related to Exercise, but negatively with exercise adherence. On the notion of Extraversion, only a negative association with healthy diets was found. Additionally, Openness was found to have a positive relationship with exercise adherence, but an inverse association with Perceived Lack of Resources. Given the plethora of associations found between Big-Five personality traits and health perspectives, further research on the relationship between the two would be greatly beneficial for identifying factors that influence adherence and adoption of health behaviours.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the World Conference on Exercise Medicine (Exercise Medicine Research Grant), EMRG/2019/19003.

ORCID iDs

Kean Mun Lee

E-Luan Choong

Steve M. J. Janssen

Appendix

Table A1.

Summary of the principal component analysis results for the Attitudes towards Exercise questionnaire.

Item	Rotated loadings
Item	Adherence to Exercise Regimes	Utilisation of Provisions and Enjoyment of Exercise
I exercise even when I am feeling sad or highly stressed. (H2)	.512	.216
I am more physically active than people my age. (H4)	.580	.184
I stick to my exercise programme even when social life or studies take a lot of my time. (H5)	.716	.009
I enjoy the feeling I get during exercise. (H9)	−.057	.854
I use the facilities provided by the university or hostels (gym, jogging paths). (H11)	.134	.420
I set aside time for regular exercise. (H13)	.864	−.048
I exercise regularly (2 or more times a week). (H14)	.782	.014
I feel that I get enough exercise. (H16)	.717	−.094
Eigenvalues	4.054	1.019
% of variance	50.669	12.737
Α	.865	.564

Note. Loadings over .40 appear in bold.

Table A2.

Summary of the principal component analysis results for the Perceived Barriers to Exercise questionnaire.

	Rotated loadings
Item	Perceived Lack of Resources	Fears Related to Exercise
I avoid exercise as I don’t enjoy it. (B3)	.660	.009
I don’t exercise as there isn’t enough equipment available. (B5)	.360	−.036
I don’t have enough energy to exercise. (B6)	.809	.169
I avoid exercise as I don’t have the skills to exercise. (B7)	.680	−.110
I avoid exercise because I am intimidated by the people in the gym. (B8)	.000	−.772
I avoid exercise as I fear injury. (B9)	.442	−.050
I avoid exercise because I fear embarrassment and ridicule. (B10)	.073	−.841
I avoid exercise because I am self-conscious about how I look when I exercise. (B12)	.051	−.803
I don’t exercise as there isn’t enough space to do so. (B13)	.365	−.073
I feel discouraged from exercising. (B17)	.532	−.146
Eigenvalues	4.421	1.215
% of variance	44.207	12.154
Α	.776	.871

Note. Loadings over .40 appear in bold.

Table A3.

Hierarchical Linear Regressions (Unstandardised Beta) with respect to Health Behaviours and Perspectives.

	Adherence to Exercise Regimes	Perceived Lack of Resources	Fears Related to Exercise	Overall Diet	Substance Usage
Step 1
Gender	0.617	−0.608	−1.063*	−0.654	0.895*
Malay	−3.961*	3.321*	1.702	−2.660*	−1.504*
Chinese	−2.334	3.470*	0.707	−1.223	−1.531*
Indian	−1.381	1.089	−0.001	−1.609	0.390
Injury	0.273	0.006	0.747	0.622	−0.479
R²	.029*	.034*	.042*	.03*	0.070**
F	2.330*	2.814*	3.474*	2.416*	5.988**
Step 2
Gender	0.441	−0.287	−0.734	−0.597	0.734*
Malay	−3.415*	2.904*	1.457	−2.314*	−1.536*
Chinese	−1.124	2.355	0.301	−0.791	−1.519*
Indian	−2.014	1.921	0.426	−1.386	0.175
Injury	0.758	−0.359	0.476	0.995	−0.649
Extraversion	0.049	−0.066	−0.049	−0.094*	0.036
Agreeableness	0.002	−0.095	0.004	0.036	−0.078*
Conscientiousness	0.307**	−0.204**	−0.147**	0.153**	−0.048
Neuroticism	−0.140*	0.185**	0.132**	−0.060	−0.038
Openness	0.133*	−0.109*	0.015	0.020	0.050
R²	.197**	.204**	.166**	.109**	.104**
F	9.586**	9.970**	7.765**	4.791**	4.539**

*p < .1.

**p < .01.

Author Biograpies

Lee Kean Mun is a PhD candidate at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, specialising in Developmental Psychology. His research explores the acoustic properties of Infant-Directed Speech, neural entrainment, and digital learning in children.

Jasmine Mun Yin Yee graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham Malaysia. Her academic interests included Biological Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience.

Choong E-Luan holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Nottingham Malaysia. She is also a co-author of the paper Replicating Remembering “Remembering”, reflecting her contributions to research on memory and cognition.

Steve M. J. Janssen has worked as postdoctoral research fellow at Duke University (USA), Hokkaido University (Japan), and Flinders University (Australia), after obtaining his PhD from the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands). He is currently a Full Professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia (Malaysia), where he continues to examine autobiographical memory.

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