The goal of the current study was to examine links between personality and cognitive performance at both the trait and facet level. Current literature suggests that personality and cognitive performance are strongly related, but relatively little work has sought to examine the characteristics that drive these relations. The current study used a probability sample of 154 adults ranging in age from 22 to 84. All participants were administered the Brief Test of Adult Cognition-Telephone (BTACT), and filled out the NEO-Five Factor Inventory, in addition to the Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Scales, Need for Cognition scale, and the Personality in Intellectual Aging Contexts Scale (PIC). Data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression modeling, and it was found that intellectual aspects of personality (openness, ideas, and competence) are associated with high performance, especially on tasks that require effortful processing (i.e. fluency and executive functioning). We found that negative emotional aspects of personality (i.e. neuroticism, anger, anxiety) are associated with lower performance across age, both on effortful tasks and speed-based tasks, and that the social aspects of personality, particularly assertiveness, are associated with faster processing speed and lower scores on tasks that require more effortful processing. Results also indicate that a number of personality traits and facets moderate age differences in cognitive performance, such that in older adulthood it is beneficial to be high on positively valenced emotional aspects of personality (i.e. positive emotions, feelings, altruism). The underlying characteristics of personality, such as anxiety, motivation, control beliefs and cognitive engagement were also examined as potential mediators of the personality-cognition link, and while significant mediation was not found, our findings indicate that control and anxiety are important factors to consider when unraveling the complexities of personality’s effect on cognitive performance. Additionally, we discuss how certain personality characteristics have the potential to protect against age related cognitive decline in older adulthood.