Historical Changes in the Freedom with Which Children Express Themselves on Personality Inventories

Sutton‐Smith, Brian; Rosenberg, B. G.; Morgan, Edward E.

doi:10.1080/00221325.1961.10534419

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…More direct evidence comes from authors who have examined self-reports of anxiety. These authors have found that more recent cohorts score higher on anxiety measures (Schonberg, 1974; Sutton-Smith, Rosenberg, & Morgan, 1961; Veroff, Douvan, & Kulka, 1981; cited in Veroff, Kulka, & Douvan, 1981, p. 36). These studies also have substantial limitations, however.…”

Section: Empirical Evidence For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The age of anxiety? The birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993.

Twenge¹

2000

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

592

559

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Two meta-analyses find that Americans have shifted toward substantially higher levels of anxiety and neuroticism during recent decades. Both college student (adult) and child samples increased almost a full standard deviation in anxiety between 1952 and 1993 (explaining about 20% of the variance in the trait). The average American child in the 1980s reported more anxiety than child psychiatric patients in the 1950s. Correlations with social indices (e.g., divorce rates, crime rates) suggest that decreases in social connectedness and increases in environmental dangers may be responsible for the rise in anxiety. Economic factors, however, seem to play little role. Birth cohort, as a proxy for broad social trends, may be an important influence on personality development, especially during childhood.

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Section: Empirical Evidence For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The age of anxiety? The birth cohort change in anxiety and neuroticism, 1952–1993.

Twenge¹

2000

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

592

559

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“…An explanation for the differences found in direction of the changes over time in Neuroticism may lie in the fact that these studies concerned populations that differed in age. The studies of Twenge (2000) and Sutton-Smith and colleagues (1961) were based on samples of college students (Twenge, 2000, Study 1) and children, ages 9 to about 14 (Sutton-Smith et al, 1961; Twenge, 2000, Study 2), whereas the studies of Mroczek and Spiro (2003) and Terracciano and colleagues (2005) were based on samples of adults with mean ages around 65. These differences in age group of the samples might have contributed to differences in direction of the changes over time in Neuroticism.…”

Section: Empirical Evidence For Change Across Birth Cohortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, some studies have found birth cohort effects on personality factors. The relationship between birth cohort and the Big Five personality traits has been addressed in a number of studies, including the studies of Twenge, (2000Twenge, ( , 2001a; Sutton-Smith, Rosenberg, and Morgan (1961); Mroczek and Spiro (2003); and Terracciano, McCrae, Brant, and Costa (2005). These studies showed increases over time in Extraversion (Mroczek & Spiro, 2003;Twenge, 2001a) and Conscientiousness (Terracciano et al, 2005) and increases (Sutton-Smith et al, 1961;Twenge, 2000) or decreases (Mroczek & Spiro, 2003;Terracciano et al, 2005) over time in Neuroticism.…”

Section: Empirical Evidence For Change Across Birth Cohortsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cohort differences in Big Five personality factors over a period of 25 years.

Smits¹,

Dolan²,

Vorst³

et al. 2011

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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The notion of personality traits implies a certain degree of stability in the life span of an individual. But what about generational effects? Are there generational changes in the distribution or structure of personality traits? This article examines cohort changes on the Big Five personality factors Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience, among first-year psychology students in The Netherlands, ages 18 to 25 years, between 1982 and 2007. Because measurement invariance of a personality test is essential for a sound interpretation of cohort differences in personality, we first assessed measurement invariance with respect to cohort for males and females separately on the Big Five personality factors, as measured by the Dutch instrument Five Personality Factors Test. Results identified 11 (females) and 2 (males) biased items with respect to cohort, out of a total of 70 items. Analyzing the unbiased items, results indicated small linear increases over time in Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and small linear decreases over time in Neuroticism. No clear patterns were found on the Openness to Experience factor. Secondary analyses on students from 1971 to 2007 of females and males of different ages together revealed linear trends comparable to those in the main analyses among young adults between 1982 onward. The results imply that the broad sociocultural context may affect personality factors.

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“…In certain areas of psychology, the results obtained are highly dependent on the sociocultural milieu, for example, interests, attitudes, and personality. Sutten- Smith, Rosenberg, and Morgan (1961), taking cognizance of the changes that occurred in middle-class child-rearing patterns, reasoned that the responses and therefore the norms for personality inventories would change. Their findings supported the conclusion that there is a need for reappraisal of personality inventories used over long periods of time.…”

Section: Replication Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%