Association of personality with habituation of physical and non-physical activities among Japanese adults: Results from questionnaire research before COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: Physical activity has benefits for public health as it reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases and improves the quality of life. Previous studies have shown that health conditions, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status influence one's tendency to engage in physical activity. However, the influence of psychological traits on engagement in physical activity is not yet fully understood. In this study, we explored personality traits associated with the habituation of physical activity and compared them with personality traits associated with the habituation of non-physical activity. METHODS: We recruited 1600 Japanese adult volunteers and conducted an online survey just before the spread of COVID-19. We collected data for the prevalence of physical and non-physical activities, and various aspects of personality traits including the Big Five personality traits, sensitivity to behavioral activation, dark triad personality, levels of internal locus of control, and the degree of just-world belief. FINDINGS: The results demonstrated that high levels of extraversion, sensitivity to behavioral activation, and an internal locus of control had a positive influence on the habituation of physical activity. Moreover, our results were contradictory as they also showed that high levels of openness, sensitivity to behavioral activation, and just world belief related to the habituation of non-physical activity. INTERPRETATION: These results suggest that the personality traits that influenced the habituation of activities depend on the characteristics of the activity and reveal extraversion and internal locus of control as the personality traits specific to the habituation of physical activity. FUNDINGS: This study was supported by Senryakuteki-kenkyu from Chukyo University, a Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (Grant No. 19 K20650 and 22 K13880), the Promotion of Joint International Research (Grant No. 20KK0054). This work was also supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Construction of the Face-Body Studies in Transcultural Conditions” (Grant No. 17H06342).