Big Five Personality and Depressive Symptoms: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective on Students’ Positive Relationships With Others

This study examines the contribution of social support, self-regulation, and Big Five personality traits in explaining the variance in depressive symptoms among college students based on self-determination theory (SDT). Measures were completed by 235 college students. Results indicated autonomous self-regulation significantly predicted lower levels of depressive symptoms, while controlled self-regulation significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms among the participating students. The informants higher in neuroticism reported significantly more depressive symptoms. However, the strongest predictor of the students’ depressive symptoms was the quality of their relationships with others.