Individual Differences in Multitasking Performance

The present study examined whether personality characteristics and general intelligence predict multitasking performance. The Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II was used to assess multitasking performance. Personality factors included the Big Five, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The results indicated scores on general intelligence predict performance on the tracking task of the Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II, where higher scores of general intelligence predicted improved tracking performance. Additionally, conscientiousness and neuroticism were found to predict worsened performance on the resource management task of the Multi-Attribute Task Battery-II. Furthermore, agreeableness was found to predict perceived workload on the mental demand subscale of the Workload Rating Scale.