The big five personality traits and extracurricular activities

Abstract

This study analyses the potential of extracurricular activities in the development of personality traits in adolescence. The five broad personality traits described in this model are extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. In particular, the aim is to define the profile of adolescents who attain a balance in the five domains, and allocate their time out-of-school optimally to the development of the big five. To do so, the methodological approach combines regression analysis based on data from eight different countries as well as interval multiobjective programing techniques. The results show that Internet use of more than one hour per day has a negative effect on the process of personality traits formation, especially on the dimension of conscientiousness and neuroticism. The performance of other activities is also discussed in the article.