Personality change and environmental concerns

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher James Hopwood ◽  
Ted Schwaba ◽  
Wiebke Bleidorn

Personal concerns about climate change and the environment are a powerful motivator of sustainable behavior. People’s level of concern varies as a function of a variety of social and individual factors. Using data from 58,748 participants from a nationally representative German sample, we tested preregistered hypotheses about factors that impact concerns about the environment over time. We found that environmental concerns increased modestly from 2009-2017 in the German population. However, individuals in middle adulthood tended to be more concerned and showed more consistent increases in concern over time than younger or older people. Consistent with previous research, Big Five personality traits were correlated with environmental concerns. We present novel evidence that increases in concern were related to increases in the personality traits neuroticism and openness to experience. Indeed, changes in openness explained roughly 50% of the variance in changes in environmental concerns. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the individual level factors associated with changes in environmental concerns over time, towards the promotion of more sustainable behavior at the individual level.

2021 ◽  
pp. 089020702110162
Author(s):  
Christopher J Hopwood ◽  
Ted Schwaba ◽  
Taciano L Milfont ◽  
Chris G Sibley ◽  
Wiebke Bleidorn

Withstanding the climate crisis will depend in part on individuals behaving in a more environmentally sustainable manner. However, relatively little is known about the individual factors that promote sustainable attitudes and behaviors (SABs). Although there are established cross-sectional associations between personality traits and SABs, it is unclear whether changes in personality are related to increases in SABs over time, and how personality is differentially related to specific SABs. Using data from 61,479 participants in New Zealand, we tested preregistered hypotheses about how personality codevelops with valuing the environment, believing in climate change, concern about climate change, personal environmental efficacy, personal environmental sacrifice, and support for the Green Party. We found that SABs generally increased from 2009 to 2017, although there was variation across age cohorts, SAB variables, and samples. We replicated concurrent correlations between broad personality traits—particularly Agreeableness, Openness, and Honesty/Humility—and SABs and present novel evidence that increases in SAB are related to changes in traits, particularly Agreeableness. These findings have implications for both understanding the factors associated with changes in SABs over time and understanding the factors that drive personality change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Schindler ◽  
Jan Querengässer ◽  
Maximilian Bruchmann ◽  
Nele Johanna Bögemann ◽  
Robert Moeck ◽  
...  

AbstractExamining personality traits as predictors of human behaviour is of high interest. There are several but inconclusive reported relationships of personality and the susceptibility to the “anchoring effect”, a tendency to adjust estimates towards a given anchor. To provide an answer to variably reported links between personality traits and the anchoring effect, we collected data from 1000 participants in the lab and validated typical anchoring effects and representative personality scores of the sample. Using Bayesian statistical data analyses, we found evidence for the absence of a relationship between anchoring effects and personality scores. We, therefore, conclude that there are no specific personality traits that relate to a higher susceptibility to the anchoring effect. The lack of a relationship between personality and the susceptibility to the anchoring effect might be due to the specific anchoring design, be limited to specific cognitive domains, or the susceptibility to anchors might reflect no reliable individual cognitive phenomena. In the next step, studies should examine the reliability of anchoring effects on the individual level, and testing relationships of individual traits and anchoring effects for other types of anchors, anchoring designs, or cognitive domains.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 447-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helle Pullmann ◽  
Liisa Raudsepp ◽  
Jüri Allik

The present study examined three types of personality change and continuity (mean‐level, individual‐level, and rank‐order stability) over the 2‐year period in a nationally representative longitudinal sample of Estonian adolescents (N = 876) aged 12–18. According to the Reliable Change Index, 82.1% of adolescents maintained the same level on any given personality trait measured by the NEO Five‐Factorial Inventory (NEO‐FFI) indicating that the individual‐level continuity of adolescents did not differ compared to young adults. A reliable increase was found in Openness. Across the five dimensions, the average test–retest correlations were 0.51, 0.56 and 0.67, and the computed biennial stability values were 0.80, 0.83 and 0.89 for age groups 12 → 14, 14 → 16 and 16 → 18 years, respectively. Neither intelligence nor school performance moderated the differential continuity. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Author(s):  
Md. Razib Alam ◽  
Bonwoo Koo ◽  
Brian Paul Cozzarin

Abstract Our objective is to study Canada’s patenting activity over time in aggregate terms by destination country, by assignee and destination country, and by diversification by country of destination. We collect bibliographic patent data from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We identify 19,957 matched Canada–US patents, 34,032 Canada-only patents, and 43,656 US-only patents from 1980 to 2014. Telecommunications dominates in terms of International Patent Classification technologies for US-only and Canada–US patents. At the firm level, the greatest number of matched Canada–US patents were granted in the field of telecommunications, at the university level in pharmaceuticals, at the government level in control and instrumentation technology, and at the individual level in civil engineering. We use entropy to quantify technological diversification and find that diversification indices decline over time for Canada and the USA; however, all US indices decline at a faster rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margarita Torre

The number of women occupying male-dominated blue-collar jobs continues to be very low. This study examines segregation in the blue-collar trades, taking into consideration both structural and individual factors. Using nationally representative data for 25 countries, the study shows that segregation in the blue-collar sector does not vary with the strength of vocational education and training programs. At the individual level, findings reveal higher degrees of social reproduction among working-class families, but parental background alone does not fully account for the gender composition of the sector in which children end up working. Overall, the findings point to the existence of a socializing mechanism that entrenches horizontal segregation in the blue-collar sector. The study indicates that to reduce segregation in the blue-collar fields, policies must address this prior mechanism, both at the structural and individual level.


Author(s):  
Courtney A Polenick ◽  
Kira S Birditt ◽  
Angela Turkelson ◽  
Benjamin C Bugajski ◽  
Helen C Kales

Abstract Objectives Individuals often manage chronic conditions in middle and later life that may diminish well-being. Little is known, however, about discordant conditions (i.e., two or more conditions with competing self-management requirements) among older couples and their links to depressive symptoms. We considered discordant conditions at both the individual level and the couple level (i.e., between spouses), along with their long-term implications for depressive symptoms. Methods The U.S. sample included 1,116 middle-aged and older couples drawn from five waves (2006–2014) of the Health and Retirement Study. Longitudinal actor-partner interdependence models evaluated whether individual-level and couple-level discordant chronic health conditions were concurrently linked to depressive symptoms, and whether these associations became stronger over time. Models controlled for age, minority status, education, prior wave depressive symptoms, and each partner’s baseline report of negative marital quality and number of chronic conditions in each wave. Results Wives and husbands reported significantly greater depressive symptoms when they had individual-level discordant conditions about 2 years after baseline, and these links intensified over time. Beyond this association, husbands had significantly greater depressive symptoms when there were couple-level discordant conditions. Discussion Individual-level and couple-level discordant conditions may have lasting implications for depressive symptoms during midlife and older adulthood.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Soto

The Big Five personality traits have been linked with a broad range of consequential life outcomes. The present research systematically tested whether such trait–outcome associations generalize across gender, age, ethnicity, and analytic approaches that control for demographic and personality covariates. Analyses of nationally representative samples from the Life Outcomes of Personality Replication project ( N = 6,126) indicated that (a) most trait–outcome associations do generalize across gender, age, and ethnicity; (b) controlling for overlap between personality traits substantially reduces the strength of many associations; and (c) several dozen trait–outcome associations proved highly generalizable across all analyses. These findings have important implications for evaluating the robustness of the personality–outcome literature, updating the canon of established trait–outcome associations, and conducting future research.


2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (10) ◽  
pp. 1339-1362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diederik Boertien ◽  
Christian von Scheve ◽  
Mona Park

The social demographic literature on divorce suggests that the lower educated are more likely to have personality traits that reduce relationship stability. However, few empirical verifications of this proposition exist. To fill this void, we look at the distribution of personality traits across educational groups of married individuals in Britain. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey ( N = 2,665), we first estimated the effects of the “Big Five” personality traits agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience on divorce and subsequently examine their distribution across educational groups. We find that in particular women’s personality traits differ by education. We also observe that personality traits affecting divorce risk are distributed unevenly over educational groups, but they do not favor the higher educated in general. In sum, the data do not support the hypothesis that the lower educated in Britain have personality traits that reduce relationship stability.


1982 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald R. Lehmann ◽  
William L. Moore ◽  
Terry Elrod

This paper examines Howard's (1963) typology dividing decision making into extensive problem solving (ESP), limited problem solving (LSP), and routinized response behavior (RRB). Specifically, the amount of information accessed in a longitudinal experiment is studied. Information acquisition is modeled stochastically at the individual level, and the existence of two segments (LSP and RRB) is tested in a nested-model framework.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S729-S730
Author(s):  
Anna E Kornadt ◽  
Anna E Kornadt

Abstract Despite considerable stability of the Big Five personality traits, there is evidence for personality plasticity and change across the lifespan. In younger years, the investment in social roles, such as entering worklife or starting a family has been shown to drive personality change. With regard to personality in later life, the investigation of social roles has so far been neglected. A questionnaire was developed to assess a large number of social roles that can be assumed in the second half of life. N = 306 participants aged 50 to 86 years reported on their social roles and rated their personality traits. Results show that assuming and investing in certain social roles (e.g. friend, retiree, volunteer) mediated the effects of age on the Big Five, especially for the oldest participants and in the domains openness and extraversion. The findings support the importance of social roles for personality also in later life.


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