Study on Openness to Experience and Neurotic Personality Trait among Young Adult Artists

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study openness to experience and neuroticism on fine artists in comparison with non-artists. The sample size used is 80 individuals, 40 artists and 40 non-artists. Standardized and quantitative personality assessment Neo-ffi has been used to collect and measure the data. The review on previously existing researches indicated that artists scored higher on openness to experience and exhibit higher measures of neuroticism too. The present results highlight a significant difference between the two groups in both openness and neuroticism traits, inferring that artists are more open to experience than non-artists and exhibit slightly higher tendency towards neuroticism than non-artists. This theme of research can help understanding the mental health and behaviors of creative people and recognize the knowledge of aesthetics along with the background that leads to a final artwork. It can help acknowledge the personality of creative people and guide them effectively as well as nurture the creativity.

Introduction

Personality traits describe patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that influence many aspects of life, including relationships, career choices, and well-being. The Five Factor Model (FFM) developed by Paul Costa and Robert R. McCrae identifies major personality traits such as Openness to Experience and Neuroticism, which are particularly relevant to artistic individuals.

Openness to Experience refers to curiosity, creativity, imagination, and appreciation for art and new ideas. People high in openness are adaptable, emotionally expressive, and interested in learning from new experiences. In contrast, individuals with low openness prefer routine and stability. Neuroticism involves emotional sensitivity, anxiety, self-doubt, and vulnerability to stress. High neuroticism can lead to emotional instability but may also contribute to creativity by encouraging deeper emotional reflection.

Artists often display traits such as creativity, empathy, observation skills, and openness, but they may also experience vulnerability, perfectionism, and self-doubt. Creativity allows artists to express emotions and cope with stress, yet academic pressure, social expectations, and identity struggles can affect their mental health. Previous studies suggest that artists generally show higher openness and higher levels of emotional sensitivity or neuroticism compared to non-artists.

The present study examined these traits among young fine artists aged 18–25 using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI). A total of 80 participants were included: 40 artists and 40 non-artists. Data were collected through online questionnaires and analyzed using statistical methods.

Results showed that artists scored significantly higher in openness to experience than non-artists, indicating greater curiosity, creativity, and appreciation for artistic expression. The findings also revealed that artists were slightly more neurotic than non-artists, suggesting greater emotional sensitivity and vulnerability. These results align with previous research linking openness with creativity and neuroticism with emotional depth in artistic expression.

Conclusion

The present research highlighted the difference in personality traits like Openness to experience and neuroticism between two groups, artists and non-artists. According to the literature, artists score more on both the traits as Openness serves a guiding motive or source to seek inspiration for them to create and neuroticism plays a background role to encourage an artist for expressing the negative emotions that cannot be channeled in any other form. The scores on neuroticism did not show a clear distinction possibly as the young adults commonly tend to experience negative emotions like stress, anxiety or depressed states which make it slightly difficult to compare. Artist group indicated a clear distinction from non-artists as the creative processes require imagination, creative vision, novelty seeking and curiosity.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Ghazal Soni, Dr. Neerja Pandey. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.