Is There Such a Thing as an Addictive Personality?

And if so, what is it?

We have all heard someone say, “I just have an addictive personality.” The first time I heard that phrase, I was in college. I can’t remember exactly what my friend was talking about, but I think it was Candy Crush. He couldn’t download gaming apps because that would be all he did for days. The phrase “addictive personality” stuck with me.

When he said that to me, I recently recovered from my eating disorder, and other addictions started to creep into my life. I always had a six-pack of alcohol in the house, and I couldn’t go a day without exercising. Granted, I was probably a little paranoid; my eating disorder had sabotaged my life, and I didn’t want anything else too. Hearing there might be an explanation for my struggles piqued my interest.

Is there such a thing as an addictive personality? There are two studies I want to examine. To understand some of this research, we must first understand personality traits. Both studies in this area use the Big Five personality traits. So we will examine them first.

The Big Five Personality Traits

The Big Five personality traits are openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. They are often abbreviated OCEAN or CANOE. Initially discovered in…