Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging

Below are some excerpts and thoughts brought by an interesting article from the journal Computers in Human Behavior:

The Big Five personality inventory measures personality based on 5 key traits:

1. neuroticism
2. extraversion
3. agreeableness
4. openness to experience
5. conscientiousness

Individual differences on the Big Five factors may be associated with different types of Internet usage, for example, a prolific daily blogger versus a lurker (a person who reads discussions on a message board, blog, chat room, or other interactive system, but rarely participates).

The study authors from the Department of Psychology, University of Alabama examined whether the different Big Five traits predicted blogging.

According to the 2 studies they did, people who are high in openness to new experience (both men and women) and high in neuroticism (women) are likely to be bloggers.

Women who are high in neuroticism are more likely to be bloggers as compared to those low in neuroticism. There was no such difference for men.

Disclaimer: I cannot be certain about the validity and reproducibility of the study results and can only speak from personal experience. However, since none of my friends and colleagues describes me as "neurotic," and I enjoy blogging, the study results may apply to my (clinical) case. In the light of the study findings, should I add "openness to new experience" to my CV then?

Steve Rubel's reply to a comment about his "workaholism" still brings a smile to my face:

"A blogger notices from my lifestream that I love my job, which I do! Downside? It’s the Clinical Cases blog!"

References:

Who blogs? Personality predictors of blogging. Rosanna E. Guadagno, Bradley M. Okdiea and Cassie A. Enoa. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 5, September 2008, Pages 1993-2004.
Image source: Chicago, Illinois. Hit the Road - See America and the World.
Link via The Happy Hospitalist.

Related reading:

Personality Characteristics of Wikipedia Members: Introvert. Amichai-Hamburger Y, Lamdan N, Madiel R, Hayat T. Cyberpsychol Behav. 2008 Oct 28.

As A Busy Physician, Why Do I Even Bother Blogging? http://goo.gl/fSF3 - Excellent summary.
Why blog? Notes from Dr. RW. A perfectly reasonable list. All doctors should consider blogging. It's do-it-yourself CME.
Facebook profiles predict job success - the researchers used the same Big Five personality traits: conscientiousness, emotional stability, agreeableness, extraversion, openness