Long-term correlated change in personality traits in old age.

Abstract

The present study examines long-term correlated change in personality traits in old age across a time period of 12 years. Data from the Interdisciplinary Study on Adult Development were used to investigate different aspects of personality change and stability. The sample consisted of 300 adults ranging from 60 to 64 years of age at Time 1. Personality was measured with the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. Longitudinal structural stability, differential stability, change in interindividual differences, mean-level change, and correlated change of the 5 personality traits were examined utilizing structural equation modeling. After having established strict measurement invariance, factor variances in Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness were found to be different across testing occasions, implying variant covariation patterns over time. Stability coefficients were around .70, indicating high but not perfect differential stability. The amount of interindividual differences increased with respect to Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness. Both mean-level change and stability in personality were observed. Eventually, except for Neuroticism, a number of medium effect-sized correlations among changes in personality traits emerged, implying that personality changes share a substantial amount of commonality.

Long-Term Correlated Change Between Personality Traits and Perceived Social Support in Middle Adulthood

“…In ILSE, participants come from two age cohorts, one comprised of individuals born before World War II and the other including individuals born shortly after the war (i.e., 1930-1932 versus 1950-1952). The ILSE started in 1994, followed by reassessments in 1998 and in 2006 (for more information about the ILSE, see Allemand et al, 2007Allemand et al, , 2008. We selected the younger age cohort, as the present study exclusively focused on middle adulthood.…”

“…Participants were drawn from the Interdisciplinary Study on Adult Development (ILSE; see Allemand et al, 2007;Allemand, Zimprich, & Martin, 2008). In ILSE, participants come from two age cohorts, one comprised of individuals born before World War II and the other including individuals born shortly after the war (i.e., 1930-1932 versus 1950-1952).…”

On Correlated Change in Personality

“…This extra question is included to highlight a more restrictive variant of a correlated change model that would test for equality of concurrent correlations at the first measurement occasion, that is, initial level factor correlations and change factors correlations. Should equality hold, this would imply "intercorrelations stationarity," that is, stability of the associations among the variables of interest over time (Allemand et al, 2008). Specifically, if the correlation between change factors is used as an estimate of correlated linear change that would emerge if the longitudinal time span tended to infinity, it can be shown that the cross-sectional correlations among the factors approach the change factor correlations (cf.…”

Do Agreeableness and Neuroticism Explain Age Differences in the Tendency to Forgive Others?

“…First, cross-sectional and longitudinal research suggest age differences and age-related changes in agreeableness and neuroticism across the lifespan (Allemand, Zimprich, & Hendriks, 2008;Allemand, Zimprich, & Martin, 2008;Donnellan & Lucas, 2008;Roberts, Wood, & Caspi, 2008;Srivastava, John, Gosling, & Potter, 2003;Terracciano, McCrae, Brant, & Costa, 2005). For example, in a very large cross-sectional sample of Internet users aged 10 to 65 (N = 1,267,218), Soto, John, Gosling, and Potter (2011) recently demonstrated that agreeableness tends to increase in adulthood, whereas neuroticism tends to decrease with age.…”