Positive Adult Personality Development

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 320-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula M. Staudinger ◽  
Ute Kunzmann
Keyword(s):  
Young Adulthood ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Developmental Tasks ◽  
Adult Personality ◽  
Heated Debate

Abstract. Does personality stay stable after young adulthood or is there continued change throughout middle and later adulthood? For decades, this question has caused heated debate. Over the last couple of years, a consensus has emerged based on recent cross-cultural as well as longitudinal evidence. This consensus confirms that indeed there is personality change in middle and later adulthood. Many authors have labeled this change personality maturation or growth. In somewhat simplified terms the observed pattern is as follows: neuroticism declines, conscientiousness and agreeableness increase. At the same time it has been argued that this pattern of personality change is the result of coping with the developmental tasks of adulthood and, thus, increased adjustment. We would like to examine this practice of equating developmental adjustment with growth and ask how to define personality growth. To answer this question, we consult theories of personality development as well as lifespan theory.

A theoretical outlook on adult personality development: The next generation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jule Specht ◽  
Wiebke Bleidorn ◽  
Jaap J. A. Denissen ◽  
Marie Hennecke ◽  
Roos Hutteman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Personality Development ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Adult Personality

Correlated personality change across time and age

2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110140
Author(s):  
Gabriel Olaru ◽  
Mathias Allemand
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Change Score ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adult Lifespan

The goal of this study was to examine differential and correlated change in personality across the adult lifespan. Studying differential and correlated change can help understand whether intraindividual trait change trajectories deviate from the norm and how these trajectories are coupled with each other. We used data from two large longitudinal panel studies from the United States that covered a total age range of 20 to 95 years on the first measurement occasion. We used correlated factor models and bivariate latent change score models to examine the rank-order stability and correlations between change across three measurement waves covering 18 years ( N = 3250) and four measurement waves covering 12 years ( N = 4145). We examined the moderation effects of continuous age on these model parameters using local structural equation modeling. The results suggest that the test–retest correlations decrease with increasing time between measurements but are unaffected by participants’ age. We found that change processes in Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were strongly related, particularly in late adulthood. Correlated change patterns were highly stable across time intervals and similar to the initial cross-sectional Big Five correlations. We discuss potential mechanisms and implications for personality development research.

scholarly journals Personality development from 12 to 18 years of age: changes in mean levels and structure of traits

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 445-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jüri Allik ◽  
Kaia Laidra ◽  
Anu Realo ◽  
Helle Pullmann
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
The Self ◽  
Age Changes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Adult Personality ◽  
12Th Grade ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Change In The Mean ◽  
The Mean

The Estonian NEO‐FFI was administered to 2650 Estonian adolescents (1420 girls and 1230 boys) aged from 12 to 18 years and attending 6th, 8th, 10th, or 12th grade at secondary schools all over Estonia. Although the mean levels of personality traits of Estonian adolescents were quite similar to the respective scores of Estonian adults, there was a developmental gap in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. Three of the five personality dispositions demonstrated a modest cross‐sectional change in the mean level of the trait scores: the level of Openness increased and the levels of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness decreased between 12 and 18 years of age. Although the five‐factor structure of personality was already recognizable in the sample of 12‐year‐old children, it demonstrated only an approximate congruence with the adult structure, suggesting that not all children of that age have developed abilities required for observing one's own personality dispositions and for giving reliable self‐reports on the basis of these observations. The self‐reported personality trait structure matures and becomes sufficiently differentiated around age 14–15 and grows to be practically indistinguishable from adult personality by the age of 16. Personality of adolescents becomes more differentiated with age: along with the growth of mental capacities the correlations among the personality traits and intelligence become smaller. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

scholarly journals Person-Situation Transactions across the Lifespan

2017 ◽  
pp. 405-425
Author(s):  
Katherine S. Corker ◽  
M. Brent Donnellan
Keyword(s):  
Personality Development ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Developmental Tasks ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Socioemotional Selectivity ◽  
Situational Characteristics ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
Interactionist Approach

Research on situations has been reinvigorated within social and personality psychology. This chapter argues that a developmental perspective on situations can further enrich understanding of person-situation transactions and generate interesting predictions for future empirical tests. The approach is grounded in life course theory (Elder & Shanahan, 2006), an interactionist approach that considers person-situation dynamics as critical to understanding individual lives. The chapter describes an overarching perspective and reviews principles of personality development before turning to an explicit consideration of how situational characteristics (the Situational Eight DIAMONDS; Rauthmann et al., 2014) may change with age. It then outlines how a developmental tasks perspective and socioemotional selectivity theory can be integrated with the DIAMONDS characteristics. It concludes by describing different kinds of person-situation transactions that promote consistency and change in psychological characteristics across the lifespan and suggests a few future directions for research.

Self–other agreement in personality development in romantic couples

2020 ◽  
pp. 089020702096901
Author(s):  
Madeline R Lenhausen ◽  
Manon A van Scheppingen ◽  
Wiebke Bleidorn
Keyword(s):  
Big Five ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Romantic Couples ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Growth Curve Models

A large body of evidence indicates that personality traits show high rank-order stability and substantial mean-level changes across the lifespan. However, the majority of longitudinal research on personality development has relied on repeated assessments of self-reports, providing a narrow empirical base from which to draw conclusions and develop theory. Here, we (1) tested whether self- and informant-reports provided by couples show similar patterns of rank-order stability and mean-level change and (2) assessed self–other agreement in personality development. We charted the Big Five personality trajectories of 255 couples ( N = 510; M age = 27.01 years) who provided both self- and partner-reports at four assessments across 1.5 years. Results indicated similar rank-order stabilities in self- and partner-report data. Latent growth curve models indicated no significant differences between self- and partner-reported personality trajectories, with exceptions to extraversion and agreeableness. We further found strong cross-sectional agreement across all Big Five traits and assessment waves as well as moderate self–other agreement in personality change in emotional stability and agreeableness. These findings highlight the relevance of multi-method assessments in personality development, while providing information about personality stability and change. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications and future directions for multi-method assessments in longitudinal personality research.

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