Personality Change in Middle Adulthood: With Focus on Differential Susceptibility

In this study, it was expected that personality change would be related to parents' concerns in various domains of midlife functioning. Personality was found to be moderately stable, but small but reliable change was also found. Fathers' change in personality was uniquely related to their life satisfaction, work stress and perceptions of the level of their adolescent children's internalising problems, but not to perceived partner support. By comparison, mothers' change in personality was only uniquely related to their life satisfaction. These results suggest that personality change in midlife is associated with the successful adaptation to midlife concerns. This pattern is consistent with social investment theories of personality development, though cross‐lagged longitudinal research is needed to substantiate this conclusion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Positive Adult Personality Development

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027/1016-9040.10.4.320 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 320-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 106

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.

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Trait and State Components of Perceived Parental Differential Treatment in Middle Adulthood

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000024 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 158-165 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Thomas Boll ◽

Tom Michels ◽

Dieter Ferring ◽

Sigrun-Heide Filipp

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation ◽

Differential Treatment ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Equation Modeling ◽

Middle Adulthood ◽

Parental Differential Treatment ◽

Trait Theory ◽

Trait Variance ◽

Parental Recognition ◽

Middle Aged Adults

Despite its importance for basic and applied psychology, only a few longitudinal studies have examined whether parental differential treatment (PDT) is a persistent or a transient phenomenon, these studies being confined to childhood or adolescence. Based on latent state-trait theory, the present study identified the amount of variance in three dimensions of perceived PDT in middle adulthood attributable to stable interindividual differences (trait variance) and to intraindividual changes (state variance). At two occasions of measurement (2 years apart), 709 middle-aged adults rated how often they and a sibling currently received parental recognition, nurture, and demand to assume filial responsibility. Tests of latent state-trait models for these three dimensions of PDT by structural equation modeling revealed that trait variance represented the largest proportion of the systematic variance in all observed indicators of perceived maternal and paternal differential treatment. Yet there was a considerable increase in state variance for the dimension of differential parental demand for assuming responsibility. Results are discussed with respect to the conditions accounting for the high overall stability of actual and/or perceived PDT in adulthood, and different approaches for determining their role are proposed.

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