Examining individual differences in personality trait changes after negative life events

Abstract

Personality traits can change throughout the entire life span, but people differ in their personality trait changes. To better understand individual differences in personality changes, we examined personal (personality functioning), environmental (environmental changes), and event-related moderators (e.g., perceived event characteristics) of personality trait changes. Therefore, we used a sample of 1069 participants who experienced a negative life event in the last 5 weeks and assessed their personality traits at five measurement occasions over 6 months. Employing preregistered multilevel lasso estimation, we did not find any significant effects. While exploratory analyses generally confirmed this conclusion, they also identified some effects that might being worth to be considered in future research (e.g., perceived impact and perceived social status changes were associated with changes in agreeableness after experiencing a relationship breakup). In total, our moderators explained less than 2% of variance in personality traits. Nonetheless, our study has several important implications for future research on individual differences in personality change. For example, future research should consider personal, environmental, and event-related moderators, use different analytical methods, and rely on highly powered samples to detect very small effects.

Life Events and Personality Change: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…A general theme in recent work on this topic involves the need to know more about the context surrounding life events. It should not be surprising to personality psychologists that people do not change in the same ways (Schwaba & Bleidorn, 2018) or that people may react differently to the same life event (Haehner et al, 2023), but individual differences in change have generally not been the focus of this area of research. Thus far, few reliable contextual moderators have been identified that help explain these different reactions.…”

Individual Differences in Changes in Subjective Well-Being: The Role of Event Characteristics After Negative Life Events

“…But why do people differ in their changes in SWB after experiencing major life events? Answering this question is an ongoing challenge for research on major life events not only regarding the domain of SWB but also for research on event-related changes in personality traits and mental health (Bleidorn et al, 2020;Haehner, Bleidorn, & Hopwood, 2023;Luhmann et al, 2021). Some studies considered individual differences in personality traits, coping resources, or demographic characteristics to explain individual differences in the reaction to major life events (e.g., Anusic et al, 2014;Kuhn & Brulé, 2019;Mancini et al, 2011).…”

“…Compared to these occurrence-based approaches to assess major life events, assessing event characteristics provides a more detailed understanding of the experienced event. Thus, considering event characteristics could help to address the question why people react differently to major life events (Haehner, Bleidorn, & Hopwood, 2023;Luhmann et al, 2021).…”

“…Second, perceived event characteristics have only rarely been examined in relation to specific events (e.g., the death of a loved one). However, the relationship between a perceived event characteristic and changes in SWB may differ among events (Haehner, Bleidorn, & Hopwood, 2023;Luhmann et al, 2021). For example, perceived controllability may only be important for a separation but not for the death of a loved one.…”

“…Existing research on individual differences in the reaction to major life events indicates that several decisions on how to specify the according statistical model may influence the findings of interest (Haehner, Bleidorn, & Hopwood, 2023;Wijngaardsde Meij et al, 2005). For example, the relationship between a certain event characteristic and an outcome seems to depend on the inclusion of other event characteristics in the statistical model (Halford & Sweeper, 2013;Wijngaards-de Meij et al, 2005).…”