Big five personality traits, demographics and energy conservation behaviour: A preliminary study of their associations in Singapore

Residential sector has been recognised as a critical sector for energy conservation in Singapore. Research gap exists to understand the relationship of personality traits, demographics and energy behaviour of the residents. Through detailed questionnaires, demographics, energy conservation behaviour and Big Five personality traits were collected from the households in both public and private housing. The sample size of this study consists of 394 households. The results show that agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness have significant positive correlations with different aspects of energy conservation behaviour. In addition, the results illustrate that household income level and highest education level had statistical correlations whereas age and gender have no statistically significant correlation with energy conservation behaviour. Detailed discussion has been provided in this paper. Lessons from the study can help to refine current energy-saving campaigns in Singapore.