Addictive personality

• Impulsivity
• Sensation seeking[7][8]
• Nonconformity combined with weak commitment to socially valued goals for achievement
• Social alienation and tolerance for deviance
• Heightened stress coupled with lack of coping skills.

Some claim the existence of "addictive beliefs" in people more likely to develop addictions, such as "I cannot make an impact on my world" or "I am not good enough", which may lead to developing traits associated with addiction, such as depression and emotional insecurity.[9] People who strongly believe that they control their own lives and are mostly self-reliant in learning information (rather than relying on others) are less likely to become addicted.[10] However, it is unclear whether these traits are causes, results or merely associated coincidentally. For example, depression due to physical disease[11] can cause feelings of hopelessness that are mitigated after successful treatment of the underlying condition, and addiction can increase dependence on others. Certain psychological disorders such as panic attacks, depressive disorders, and generalized anxiety disorder have been related to addiction. The addicted person, who struggles with reality and feels negative feelings, such as anxiety and depression, will seek out ways to help them avoid such feelings.[1]

Overeating due to food addiction has not yet been recognized as a medical disorder under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders despite its prevalence in the general population. A study based on social cognitive theories, included a personality-targeted intervention that was shown to help treat substance addiction. It is feasible that by changing certain elements of one's personality, one can gain a step in the right direction towards changing their addictive personality.[12]

According to David Goldman, a prominent alcoholism researcher,[13] addiction is one of the behavioral disorders most strongly correlated with genetic makeup.[14] Individual traits can share common underlying factors or interact. For example, depression, poor self-control, and compulsive behavior are linked to neurotransmitter abnormalities, i.e., biological mechanisms.[15] In laboratory studies with rats, only some rats develop a pattern of self-administration of stimulant drugs, supporting the existence of some inherent propensity for addictive tendencies. In these rats, a positive correlation was found between locomotor response to novel stimuli and the amount of amphetamine self-administered during the first few days of testing.[16] Twin and adoption studies have shown genetic factors account for 50–60% of the risk for alcoholism. In early adolescence, social and familial factors play a more important role in the initiation of drug use, but their importance fades with progression into adulthood.[17] The gene CHRNA5 has been heavily linked to the addictions of cigarettes. Researchers discovered that the CHRNA5 variant creates a less nauseating experience for a first time smoker. The gene is active in the region of the brain called the habenula. Research showed that frequent smoking might damage the neurons within the habenula that inhibit its role in aversion and avoidance, which might cause the smoker to then use more nicotine to feel relief from resulting distressful and negative feelings.[18]

Studies have found numerous environmental factors that correlate with addiction. Exposure to sustained stress in childhood, such as physical or sexual abuse, especially accompanied by unpredictable parental behavior strongly correlates with drug addiction and overeating in adulthood.[19] Children who tend to react to distress in a more rash way have been linked to becoming more likely to drink and smoke in their adolescence. Results from this research found that this was because the reaction to distress affected psychosocial learning, which led to increased expectancy to drink or smoke.[20] A lack of social interaction has also been shown to correlate with addictive tendencies; rats reared in isolation were quicker to develop a pattern of cocaine self-administration than rats reared in groups.[16] There is a gene/environment connection in that individuals with particular personality traits may self-select into different environments, e.g., they may seek out work environments where addictive substances are more readily available.[21]

A group of British forensic psychologists and data scientists analysed a new large database of users of psychoactive substances.[32] To analyse the predisposition to drug use, they utilized 7 psychological traits, the Five Factor Model supplemented by Impulsivity and Sensation seeking:

• N Neuroticism is a long-term tendency to experience negative emotions such as nervousness, tension, anxiety and depression (associated adjectives: anxious, self-pitying, tense, touchy, unstable, and worrying);[33]
• E Extraversion is manifested in outgoing, warm, active, assertive, talkative, cheerful characters, often in search of stimulation (associated adjectives: active, assertive, energetic, enthusiastic, outgoing, and talkative);[33]
• O Openness to experience is a general appreciation for art, unusual ideas, and imaginative, creative, unconventional, and wide interests (associated adjectives: artistic, curious, imaginative, insightful, original, and wide interest);[33]
• A Agreeableness is a dimension of interpersonal relations, characterized by altruism, trust, modesty, kindness, compassion and cooperativeness (associated adjectives: appreciative, forgiving, generous, kind, sympathetic, and trusting);[33]
• C Conscientiousness is a tendency to be organized and dependable, strong-willed, persistent, reliable, and efficient (associated adjectives: efficient, organized, reliable, responsible, and thorough);[33]
• Imp Impulsivity is defined as a tendency to act without adequate forethought;[33]
• SS Sensation Seeking is defined by the search for experiences and feelings, that are varied, novel, complex and intense, and by the readiness to take risks for the sake of such experiences.[33]

These factors are not statistically independent but the condition number of the correlation matrix is less than 10 and the multicollinearity effects are not expected to be strong.[32]

The results of the detailed analysis of modern data support partially the hypothesis about psychological predisposition to addiction. The group of users of illicit drugs differs from the group of non-users for N, O, A, C, Imp, and SS. Symbolically, this difference can be illustrated as follows:

${\displaystyle {\rm {N}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {O}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {A}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {C}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {Imp}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {SS}}\Uparrow }$

(N, O, Imp, and SS scores are higher for users; A and C scores are lower for users).

The hypothesis about importance of E for addiction was not supported by this aggregated analysis of use of all illicit drugs.

Analysis of consumption of different drugs separately demonstrated that predisposition to use of different drugs is different. For all illicit drugs groups of their users have the following common properties:

${\displaystyle {\rm {O}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {C}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {Imp}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {SS}}\Uparrow }$

(O, Imp, and SS scores are higher for users and C score is lower for users).

Deviation of N, E, and A scores for users of different drugs can be different. For example, heroin users have average profile

${\displaystyle {\rm {N}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {E}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {O}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {A}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {C}}\Downarrow ,{\rm {Imp}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {SS}}\Uparrow ,}$

whereas for LSD and Ecstasy (the latter being a so-called "Party drug") users N has no significant deviation from the population level and E can be higher.[32]

Several personality profiles of risky behaviour were identified by various researchers, for example ${\displaystyle {\rm {N}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {C}}\Downarrow }$ (Insecures) and ${\displaystyle {\rm {E}}\Uparrow ,{\rm {C}}\Downarrow }$(Impulsives, Hedonists).[34] Various types of addictive personality have in common low C.

Internet addiction is associated with higher scores in neuroticism and lower scores in extraversion and conscientiousness.[35] One explanation for the association with high neuroticism is that virtual environments may be regarded as more safe and comfortable by individuals with lower self-esteem and increased negative emotion (traits associated with high neuroticism) compared to real-life environments. Similarly, individuals with low extraversion that desire social interaction but are averse to face-to-face interaction may find the opportunity for online communication attractive.[35]