Age Changes, Cohort Differences, and Cultural Change on the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey

Abstract

The relation between adult age and temperament was investigated using the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey. Between the years 1958 and 1974, the GZTS was administered to 915 men from 17 to 98 years of age in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study. Repeated measures were obtained for 336 men approximately 7 years after initial testing. Each GZTS scale was analyzed cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Sequential analyses of independent samples were also carried out in an attempt to separate the effects of maturation from those of generational and cultural change. Results showed that Masculinity declined at all ages, but General Activity declined only after age 50. Thoughtfulness and Personal Relations showed cultural declines during the time period studied, whereas Friendliness showed a long-term cultural decline. Later-born cohorts were lower in Restraint and higher in Ascendance than early-born cohorts.

Multiple uses for longitudinal personality data

“…Repeated measures analyses of the GZTS in BLSA men reported by Douglas and Arenberg (1978) showed declines in five of the ten scales, but a consideration of cross-sectional and other analyses led them to conclude that only two scales-General Activity and Masculinity-showed true maturational decline. Similarly, Costa and McCrae (1988b) found statistically significant changes in 9 of the 23 scales of the NEO-PI when scores from 398 Augmented BLSA men and women were examined over a 6-year period.…”

“…Thus, researchers may wish to estimate the stability of individual differences on a trait measure (e.g. Costa, McCrae and Arenberg, 1980), or they may wish to separate maturational changes from generational differences (Douglas and Arenberg, 1978). Longitudinal studies can provide crucial evidence on the causal ordering of variables that may be confounded in retrospective reports (Costa, Fleg, McCrae and Lakatta, 1982).…”

The Aging Voice: A Review, Treatment Data and Familial and Genetic Perspectives

“…While we think most often of the physiological aspects of aging (structural, cellular, morphological), changes occur in psychological and sociological aspects of function as well [8,9]. Some have suggested that personality changes with aging [10,11] as individuals interact with environmental events [12,13]. Cognitive changes with aging have been reported [14].…”

Personality as a Predictor of Depression Among the Elderly

“…Scales such as the Maudsley Personality Inventory (Sugiyama, 1984), the Marke Temperament Schedule (Nilsson & Persson, 1984), the Hand Test (Panek et al, 1976) and the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey (Douglas & Arenberg, 1978) provide profiles of personality on the basis of univariate conceptualizations or theories with limited ranges of factors or scales. However, the design of the present study was derived from the incomplete and piecemeal nature of these studies in an effort to relate depressive symptom complexes to multivariate measures of personality.…”