Abstract
The objective of this paper was to examine whether the Big-Five Personality factors were associated with obesity and 2-year weight gain in Australian adults. The sample included 5265 Australian adults aged 2565 years. Binary logistic regression models indicated that Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism were cross-sectionally associated with obesity, with Conscientiousness inversely associated with obesity. The longitudinal analyses indicated that Extraversion predicted 2-year weight gain. The relationships between personality and obesity/weight gain were not moderated by age or sex. These results have potentially important implications for developing more effective treatment and prevention strategies for obesity. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.