Individual differences in personality change across the adult life span

Schwaba, Ted; Bleidorn, Wiebke

doi:10.1111/jopy.12327

Cited by 152 publications

(113 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…The TOSCA sample consists of students in young adulthood, a critical period in personality development marked by confluence of multiple developmental tasks (Arnett, 2000) and dramatic increase in multiple personality traits in putatively positive directions (Roberts, Walton & Viechtbauer, 2006). However, given that other age groups have shown differential change trajectories of personality traits (Roberts, Walton & Viechtbauer, 2006;Schwaba & Bleidorn, 2018) and depression (Hankin et al, 1998), the associations observed among neuroticism, self-esteem and depression could be affected by developmental challenges specific to other age groups. Future research should examine the associations among self-esteem, depression and neuroticism as well as their continuity and change in other life stages, such as adolescence or senior adulthood.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Depression when Controlling for Neuroticism

Luo

Rieger

et al. 2019

Collabra: Psychology

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Much research has examined the interplay of depression and self-esteem in an effort to determine whether depression causes self-esteem (scar model), or vice versa (vulnerability model). In the current longitudinal study (N = 2,318), we tested whether neuroticism served as a confounding variable that accounted for the association of depression and self-esteem, using both cross-lag models and latent growth models. We found neuroticism accounted for the majority of covariance between depression and self-esteem, to the degree that the scar and vulnerability models appear to be inadequate explanations for the relation between depression and self-esteem. Alternatively, neuroticism appears to be a viable cause of both depression and self-esteem and could explain prior work linking the two constructs over time.

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Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Depression when Controlling for Neuroticism

Luo

Rieger

et al. 2019

Collabra: Psychology

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“…Broad personality traits are powerful predictors of various central life outcomes (e.g., Costa, McCrae, & Löckenhoff, 2019; Ozer & Benet‐Martínez, 2006; Soto, 2019). Given the importance of personality traits for both individual and society, a natural question to consider is how personality traits develop across the lifespan (Schwaba & Bleidorn, 2017). Recent years have witnessed rising interest in adult personality development (Specht et al, 2014) and accumulating empirical evidence for continuous personality plasticity, showing that personality traits can and do change at any time across the lifespan (Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006; Roberts, Wood, & Caspi, 2008; Specht et al, 2014; Wrzus & Roberts, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age differences in Machiavellianism across the life span: Evidence from a large‐scale cross‐sectional study

Götz

Bleidorn

Rentfrow

2020

Journal of Personality

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Objective Lifespan perspectives on personality development have gained much momentum in recent years, mostly focusing on benevolent and neutral traits such as the Big Five. Despite their strong associations with critical personal outcomes, surprisingly little research has investigated the development of malevolent traits. Addressing this gap, we examined age trends in Machiavellianism across the lifespan. Methods Using data from a large‐scale cross‐sectional sample (n = 1,118,643), we analyzed mean‐level changes from age 10 to 67. Results Age differences in Machiavellianism were most pronounced as a strong upward trend during the transition from late childhood to adolescence, when it peaked. Throughout adulthood it exhibited a steady downward trend, reaching an overall minimum at age 65. Across the lifespan, Machiavellianism tended to be higher in men and high‐income participants. Compared to Machiavellianism, the age trends in Agreeableness and—to a lesser extent—Conscientiousness showed almost perfectly polar opposite patterns. Conclusions Age trends in malevolent personality conform to established patterns of normative change, indicating temporary disruption in adolescence and social maturation across adulthood. The results advance theory and research on personality trait development across the lifespan and highlight crucial developmental windows that can inform targeted interventions to keep socially aversive traits in check.

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“…We also found individual differences in ipsative or profile DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONCEPT 22 consistency where some people used the same categories in their self-concept over time, and other people tended to reconfigure their self-concept. For personality traits, there are relatively modest amounts of individual differences in mean-level as well as ipsative change, especially at older ages, with most individual differences in personality trait change occurring in young adulthood (Donnellan et al, 2007;Robins, Fraley, Roberts, & Trzesniewski, 2001;Oltmanns, Jackson & Oltmanns, 2018;Schwaba & Bleidorn, 2018). Self-concept development, in contrast, appears to be quite idiosyncratic, with some people showing no consistency whereas others show perfect consistency.…”

Section: Development Of Self-concept 21mentioning

confidence: 99%

An Idiographic Approach to Personality Development: Examining Change and Consistency in Self-Concept

Jj¹,

Harms²

2019

Preprint

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The field of personality development almost exclusively relies on nomothetic measures (i.e., measures that are designed to capture universal, shared characteristics). Over-reliance on nomothetic measures can neglect important, individualized aspects of personality that are not captured with standard nomothetic measures. The current study takes an individual, idiographic approach to studying personality development by examining the development of one's selfconcept. Participants (N = 507) provided 20 answers to the question "who am I?" four times across a four-year period in college. These self-defining statements were categorized into seven categories (loci, activities and interests, traits, self-evaluation, goals, ideology, and student), and their change and consistency were examined in multiple ways-using rank-order consistency, mean-level change, individual differences in change, and ipsative consistency. Analyses revealed that self-concept is moderately consistent across time, but that mean-level changes occurred in six of the seven categories. Further, mean-level change in self-complexity, or the number of categories used, was also found. Mean-level changes were qualified by significant individual differences in change as well as by a wide distribution of ipsative consistency. The results suggest that young adults are both changing and maintaining the ways they describe themselves over time, some more than others. The diverse content and consistency at the individual-level demonstrates the need for more individual, idiographic assessments to thoroughly examine personality development.

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Individual differences in personality change across the adult life span

Abstract: These results inform theories of life span development and provide future directions for research on the causes and conditions of personality change.

Cited by 152 publications

References 65 publications

The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Depression when Controlling for Neuroticism

The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Depression when Controlling for Neuroticism

Age differences in Machiavellianism across the life span: Evidence from a large‐scale cross‐sectional study

An Idiographic Approach to Personality Development: Examining Change and Consistency in Self-Concept

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