 28. Self‑Regulation and Personality  615
self- regulation as prescribed by five-  factor 
theory (e.g., McCrae & Löckenhoff, 2010).
Personality as characterized by these 
domain-  level models is associated with goal 
setting, self-  evaluation, and choice of self- 
regulatory strategy. With regard to goal set -
ting, surgency/extraversion and emotional 
stability/neuroticism reflect approach and 
avoidance, respectively, and these basic ten -
dencies influence whether goals are oriented 
toward producing desirable outcomes or 
avoiding undesirable outcomes (Carver & 
White, 1994; Depue & Collins, 1999). Peo -
ple who are high on surgency/extraversion, 
high on selected facets of conscientious -
ness, and low on the impulsiveness facet of 
emotional stability/neuroticism are likely to 
set more challenging goals (Judge & Ilies, 
2002). Agreeableness is associated with less 
ambitious personal goals and a preference 
for goals that require cooperation (Judge & 
Ilies, 2002). Intellect/openness does not pre -
dict goal type or degree of challenge but is 
associated with the simultaneous pursuit of 
multiple goals (Little, Lecci, & Watkinson, 
1992).
Turning now to processes involved in 
goal pursuit, with a specific focus on self- 
evaluation, we find that standing on several 
of the personality domains is associated with 
the amount and quality of self-  evaluation as 
it relates to progress in goal pursuit. Most 
prominent in this regard is neuroticism. The 
negative emotional states characteristic of 
individuals low in emotional stability (i.e., 
high in neuroticism) bias self-  evaluation in 
the direction of underestimating progress in 
goal pursuit (Little et al., 1992). Moreover, 
low emotional stability is associated with 
a style of self-  reflection that is ruminative 
and ego-  involved (Trapnell & Campbell, 
1999). Thus, individuals low in emotional 
stability are inclined toward worry and 
overly negative self-  evaluation, a bias that, 
ironically, can improve goal-  relevant per -
formance (Norem & Chang, 2002; Tamir, 
2005). Surgency/extraversion is associated 
with positive emotional states that bias self- 
evaluation in a positive direction, perhaps 
resulting in the overestimation of progress 
in goal pursuit. Individuals high in intel -
lect/openness, because of their interest in 
accurate self-  knowledge, are likely to evalu -
ate with relative accuracy their progress in goal pursuit (Schaefer, Williams, Goodie, 
& Campbell, 2004). Finally, low conscien -
tiousness is associated with a tendency to 
engage in goal-  inconsistent behavior in the 
service of self-  serving performance attribu -
tions (Ross, Canada, & Rausch, 2002). The 
result is favorable self-  evaluation despite un -
satisfactory goal pursuit.
The strategies by which goal pursuit is 
routinely managed also are associated with 
the five personality domains and their fac -
ets. Most obvious among these is conscien -
tiousness. The facets of conscientiousness 
identify characteristic patterns of behavior 
that support (McCrae & Löckenhoff, 2010) 
and, at least partially, define (Eisenberg, 
Duckworth, Spinrad, & Valiente, 2014) 
self- regulation. Empirically, conscientious -
ness is associated with effort expenditure, 
persistence, and efficiency of time use 
(Chamorro-  Premuzic & Furnham, 2003; 
Kelly & Johnson, 2005). The remaining 
domains are less explicitly associated with 
goal pursuit but are nonetheless correlated 
with certain preferences for how goals are 
pursued. People high in openness prefer 
spontaneity over scheduling (Courneya & 
Hellsten, 1998). High agreeableness is as -
sociated with a preference for working in 
cooperative group settings in which expec -
tations are clear. People high in surgency/
extraversion, driven primarily by approach 
motivation, rely on input from others (Cour -
neya & Hellsten, 1998) and respond well to 
positive goal-  relevant imagery. Conversely, 
people low in emotional stability/high neu -
roticism, driven primarily by avoidance mo -
tivation, experience improvements in goal 
pursuit on exposure to negative goal-  related 
imagery (Knutson & Bhanji, 2006). In terms 
of preferences that undermine goal pursuit, 
low conscientiousness and low emotional 
stability are associated with a tendency to 
procrastinate (Steel, 2007).
The empirical literature on the Big Five 
and two related aspects of self-  regulation— 
impulse regulation and self-  control—  is ex -
tensive (for a review, see McCrae & Löcken -
hoff, 2010). Most relevant for these aspects 
of self-  regulation are emotional stability/
neuroticism and conscientiousness. The as -
sociations involving emotional stability are 
complex. Individuals low in emotional sta -
bility (i.e., high in neuroticism), which en -