--- title: Do personality traits and hormone changes affect how well women recognize emotions? description: Women who score high in neuroticism recognized emotions less well when progesterone was high. Personality traits did not significantly affect emotion recognit url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/does-the-interplay-of-emotion-related-personality-traits-and-reproductive-2023/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Do personality traits and hormone changes affect how well women recognize emotions? Survey study, 2023 # Do personality traits and hormone changes affect how well women recognize emotions? Women who score high in neuroticism recognized emotions less well when progesterone was high. Personality traits did not significantly affect emotion recognition across different cycle phases. Early or limited evidence 129 healthy women (72 confirmed with hormone blood test), naturally cycling ## What they did 129 healthy women provided saliva samples during two cycle phases and completed personality tests and facial emotion recognition tests. ## What they found When progesterone levels were high, women with higher neuroticism scores recognized emotions less well. However, personality traits did not significantly affect how emotion recognition changed between cycle phases. There was no significant interaction between emotion recognition and openness or extraversion across different hormone levels. ## What it means for you Personality combined with progesterone levels may affect emotion recognition, though this is preliminary research. The sample of 129 women is too small to be certain of these findings. The study suggests these findings might be important for PMDD, where hormone dysregulation is a key problem. 129 women studied 72 confirmed with blood hormone test 2 cycle phases tested ## About the study Original title Does the interplay of emotion-related personality traits and reproductive hormones predict individual variation in emotion recognition? Authors Rafiee Y, Heine C, Schacht A Journal PloS one Year 2023 Study design Survey study Participants 129 What was tested None Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295176](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295176) Original abstract Person-related variation has been identified in many socio-cognitive domains, and there is evidence for links between certain personality traits and individual emotion recognition. Some studies, utilizing the menstrual cycle as a hormonal model, attempted to demonstrate that hormonal fluctuations could predict variations in emotion recognition, but with merely inconsistent findings. Remarkably, the interplay between hormone fluctuations and other person-related factors that could potentially influence emotion recognition remains understudied. In the current study, we examined if the interactions of emotion-related personality traits, namely openness, extraversion, and neuroticism, and the ovulatory cycle predict individual variation in facial emotion recognition in healthy naturally cycling women. We collected salivary ovarian hormones measures from N = 129 (n = 72 validated via LH test) women across their late follicular and mid-luteal phases of the ovulatory cycle. The results revealed a negative association between neuroticism scores and emotion recognition when progesterone levels (within-subject) were elevated. However, the results did not indicate a significant moderating influence of neuroticism, openness, and extraversion on emotion recognition across phases (late follicular vs. mid-luteal) of the menstrual cycle. Additionally, there was no significant interaction between openness or extraversion and ovarian hormone levels in predicting facial emotion recognition. The current study suggests future lines of research to compare these findings in a clinical setting, as both neuroticism and ovarian hormone dysregulation are associated with some psychiatric disorders such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Reproduced under CC-BY. ## Topics [Menstrual cycle and mood](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-cycle-mood/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Work and productivity](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-work/)[Cognition, concentration and memory](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-cognition/)[Low mood and depression](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-depression-mood/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Review, 2015 What do we know about PMS and PMDD and how are they treated? Survey study, 2026 Are PMS and PMDD the same condition or are they different? Case-control study, 2024 Does PMDD affect how women judge space and direction? Study, 2026 How does PMDD affect women's work and careers? Randomised trial, 2023 What does research show about PMDD neurochemistry? Systematic review, 2026 Can digital tools help diagnose PMDD? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗