We characterize Openness/Intellect as motivated cognitive flexibility, or cognitive exploration, and develop a neuropsychological model relating it to dopaminergic function and to the functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Evidence is reviewed for sources of Openness/Intellect shared with Extraversion and sources unique to Openness/Intellect. The hypothesis that the cognitive functions of th...

The current project investigated why people with high levels of Openness/Intellect tend to have higher levels of cognitive functioning than people with lower levels of Openness/Intellect. We hypothesized that the positive relationship between Openness/Intellect and cognition might be attributable to more open people being more likely to engage in cognitively stimulating activities that are bene...