Personality and negative expectancies: Trait structure of the Beck Hopelessness Scale

The relationship between Hopelessness and personality variables was studied. Participants (N=191) completed the revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). Results of factor-level multiple regression analyses revealed that Hopelessness was positively predicted by Neuroticism and negatively predicted by Extraversion and Conscientiousness. Neither Openness nor Agreeableness was related to Hopelessness. More fine-grained analyses revealed that Hopelessness was positively predicted by the Neuroticism facets, Depression and Vulnerability, and negatively predicted by Impulsiveness. Among the six facets of Extraversion, Hopelessness was negatively predicted by Assertiveness and Positive Emotions. Of the six facets of Conscientiousness, only Competence (negatively) predicted Hopelessness to a significant degree.