Is Personality Fixed? Personality Changes as Much as “Variable” Economic Factors and More Strongly Predicts Changes to Life Satisfaction

Boyce, Christopher J.; Wood, Alex M.; Powdthavee, Nattavudh

doi:10.1007/s11205-012-0006-z

Cited by 191 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 83 publications

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“…Neuroticism is the personality trait most strongly linked to wellbeing (Boyce et al, 2013;DeNeve & Cooper, 1998;Steel, Schmidt, & Shultz, 2008), and so it is likely that at least temporary changes in neuroticism would have taken place. Such a finding, rather than being inconsistent, helps to illustrate differences between relatively stable predispositions and temporary shifts to well-being.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality change following unemployment.

Boyce

Wood

Daly

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Psychology

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178

121

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Unemployment has a strongly negative influence on well-being, but it is unclear whether it also alters basic personality traits. Whether personality changes arise through natural maturation processes or contextual/environmental factors is still a matter of debate. Unemployment, a relatively unexpected and commonly occurring life event, may shed light on the relevance of context for personality change. We examined, using a latent change model, the influence of unemployment on the five-factor model of personality in a sample of 6,769 German adults, who completed personality measures at 2 time points 4 years apart. All participants were employed at the first time point, and a subset became unemployed over the course of the study. By the second time point, participants had either remained in employment, been unemployed from 1 to 4 years, or had experienced some unemployment but become reemployed. Compared with those who had remained in employment, unemployed men and women experienced significant patterns of change in their mean levels of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, whereas reemployed individuals experienced limited change. The results indicate that unemployment has wider psychological implications than previously thought. In addition, the results are consistent with the view that personality changes as a function of contextual and environmental factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality change following unemployment.

Boyce

Wood

Daly

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Psychology

Self Cite

178

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Personality has been considered a stronger and more consistent predictor of high life satisfaction (Wood et al 2008;Boyce et al 2013). Despite the low between-person variance in life satisfaction explained by socio-economic factors compared to personality, these are typically the focus of SWB research due to the belief that they change whereas personality does not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the low between-person variance in life satisfaction explained by socio-economic factors compared to personality, these are typically the focus of SWB research due to the belief that they change whereas personality does not. This view has been recently challenged by Boyce et al (2013) based on a longitudinal study on personality change and life satisfaction. Regardless of whether personality changes over time or not, if it is a strong predictor of life satisfaction it should be included in wellbeing studies as a control variable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are People Who Participate in Cultural Activities More Satisfied with Life?

2014

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Abstract:The influence of various aspects of life on wellbeing has been extensively researched. However, despite little empirical evidence, participation in leisure activities has been assumed to increase subjective wellbeing. Leisure is important because it is more under personal control than other sources of life satisfaction. This study asked whether people who participate in cultural leisure activities have higher life satisfaction than people who do not, if different types of leisure have the same influence on life satisfaction and if satisfaction is dependent on the frequency of participation or the number of activities undertaken. It used data from UKHLS Survey to establish associations between type, number and frequency of participation in leisure activities and life satisfaction. Results showed an independent and positive association of participation in sport, heritage and active-creative leisure activities and life satisfaction but not for participation in popular entertainment, theatre hobbies and museum/galleries. The association of reading hobbies and sedentary-creative activities and life satisfaction was negative. High life satisfaction was associated with engaging in a number of different activities rather than the frequency of participation in each of them. The results have implications for policy makers and leisure services providers, in particular those associated with heritage recreation. Subjective wellbeing measures, such as life satisfaction, and not economic measures alone should be considered in the evaluation of services. The promotion of leisure activities which are active and promote social interaction should be considered in programmes aimed at improving the quality of life.

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“…In the present study, we used a fixed-effects regression approach to examine the associations between property damage and changes in dementia symptomatology over time. In the case of two-wave panel data, the model is equivalent to a first-difference model (36). That is, the model estimates within-individual changes in the dependent variable (△Y: change in level of dementia symptomatology) regressed on changes in the independent variable (△X: experiences of disaster damage), which effectively differences out the confounding influences of all observed and unobserved time-invariant factors.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased risk of dementia in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Hikichi

Aida

Kondo

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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No previous study has been able to examine the association by taking account of risk factors for dementia before and after the disaster. We prospectively examined whether experiences of a disaster were associated with cognitive decline in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. The baseline for our natural experiment was established in a survey of older community-dwelling adults who lived 80 km west of the epicenter 7 mo before the earthquake and tsunami. Approximately 2.5 y after the disaster, the follow-up survey gathered information about personal experiences of disaster as well as incidence of dementia from 3,594 survivors (82.1% follow-up rate). Our primary outcome was dementia diagnosis ascertained by in-home assessment during the follow-up period. Among our analytic sample (n = 3,566), 38.0% reported losing relatives or friends in the disaster, and 58.9% reported property damage. Fixed-effects regression indicated that major housing damage and home destroyed were associated with cognitive decline: regression coefficient for levels of dementia symptoms = 0.12, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.01 to 0.23 and coefficient = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.17 to 0.40, respectively. The effect size of destroyed home is comparable to the impact of incident stroke (coefficient = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.11 to 0.36). The association between housing damage and cognitive decline remained statistically significant in the instrumental variable analysis. Housing damage appears to be an important risk factor for cognitive decline among older survivors in natural disasters.instrumental variable analysis U p to two-thirds of the affected populations in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami were older residents who were 60 y old or older (1). Recovery after major disaster poses a unique set of challenges for the elderly population, including disruption of medical care for preexisting conditions, preexisting functional limitations that impede recovery, and social isolation in the aftermath of housing loss and resettlement. A particular concern for older survivors is the potential risks of cognitive decline. In the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, an estimated 340,000 residents were displaced as a result of widespread destruction to residential properties. In turn, as a direct consequence of residential dislocation and resettlement in unfamiliar surroundings, many seniors experienced disorientation that could hasten cognitive decline (2). Psychological trauma, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (3) and the onset of depression (4), may have additionally contributed to this risk.Two years after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, a cross-sectional study found that 36.0% of seniors who moved to temporary housing in Kesen-numa city were suffering from dementia symptoms (5). Another cross-sectional study of seniors affected by the disaster reported that 47.9% showed signs of mild cognitive impairment, and an additional 16.0% of respondents were diagnosed as having dementia (6). However, ...

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Is Personality Fixed? Personality Changes as Much as “Variable” Economic Factors and More Strongly Predicts Changes to Life Satisfaction

Cited by 191 publications

References 83 publications

Personality change following unemployment.

Personality change following unemployment.

Are People Who Participate in Cultural Activities More Satisfied with Life?

Increased risk of dementia in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

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