Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men

Mroczek, Daniel K.; Spiro, Avron

doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01907.x

Cited by 277 publications

(231 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Our finding that subjective nearness to death is related to objective nearness to death even after controlling for other variables is in line with a growing number of studies showing that subjective evaluations (e.g., well-being, selfperceptions of aging, personality) have predictive power over and above the effects of common objective determinants of mortality such as age or objective health status (e.g., Chida and Steptoe 2008;Kotter-Grühn et al 2009;Mroczek and Spiro 2007). However, when interpreting the results of the multilevel analysis, it should be taken into account that distance to death as a time metric only explained some of the within-person variance in subjective nearness to death (comparable to a small-to medium-sized effect).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Predicting one’s own death: the relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age

2010

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Previous research found that the perception of a limited remaining lifetime is related to goal setting, social network composition, attitudes, and behavior. However, to better understand those findings, it is important to know if this subjective perception of being close to death corresponds with the time a person actually survives. The aim of the present study was to examine the predictive and timedynamic relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death using 16-year longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (Baltes and Mayer 1999; N = 516 older adults between 70 and 104 years). Older adults who felt close to death at the first measurement occasion were more likely to die over the following 16 years than persons who did not report feeling close to dying. Results of multilevel analyses revealed that there was a time-dynamic relationship such that subjective nearness to death increased as a function of objective nearness to death. Our results indicate that very old adults seem to have quite accurate perceptions of their nearness to death.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Predicting one’s own death: the relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age

2010

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“…One reason to consider personality traits as dependent variables is that personality-trait change may be quite consequential for people. Mroczek and Spiro (2007) demonstrated that long-term increases in neuroticism were predictive of mortality in an 18-year survival analysis (the study used men; women were not available in this study). Those who started high on neuroticism (above the sample median) and increased over 10 years had higher mortality, controlling for age, depression, and physical health.…”

Section: Individual Differences In Personality-trait Change In Adulthoodmentioning

confidence: 87%

Personality Trait Change in Adulthood

Roberts

Mroczek

2008

Curr Dir Psychol Sci

967

720

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Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits continue to change in adulthood. In this article, we review the evidence for mean-level change in personality traits, as well as for individual differences in change across the life span. In terms of mean-level change, people show increased selfconfidence, warmth, self-control, and emotional stability with age. These changes predominate in young adulthood (age 20-40). Moreover, meanlevel change in personality traits occurs in middle and old age, showing that personality traits can change at any age. In terms of individual differences in personality change, people demonstrate unique patterns of development at all stages of the life course, and these patterns appear to be the result of specific life experiences that pertain to a person's stage of life.Keywords personality development; personality traits; mean-level change; individual differences in change Personality traits are defined as the relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that distinguish individuals from one another. Whether personality traits continue to develop in adulthood depends in part on how one defines "relatively enduring." In the past, some researchers took that phrase to mean-and the empirical literature to indicatethat personality traits stopped changing in adulthood (McCrae & Costa, 1994). Since 1994, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of personality-trait change in adulthood have forced a reevaluation of the assumption that personality traits do not change in adulthood (e.g., Mroczek & Spiro, 2003;Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006;Srivastava, John, Gosling, & Potter, 2003). Research now shows that personality traits continue to change in adulthood and often into old age, and that these changes may be quite substantial and consequential. In this article, we provide an overview of the evidence for personality-trait change in adulthood and outline some of the possible reasons for these changes. Before we discuss these findings further, we describe what we mean by change. DEFINITIONS OF PERSONALITY CONTINUITY AND CHANGEResearchers often fail to clarify what they mean when they describe personality as consistent or changeable. Part of the difficulty arises from the multiple indices for tracking continuity and change-such as mean-level change, rank-order consistency (relative ordering of people over time), structural consistency (e.g., similar factor structures over time), and individual differences in change. A complete understanding of personality continuity and change can only come from a thorough examination of multiple indices, as they are often independent of

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“…It addition, it has been linked with a range of outcomes (Magee et al, 2013, Mroczek and Spiro, 2007, Roberts and Mroczek, 2008and Turiano et al, 2012. For instance, individuals with increased N over time have poorer mental and physical health, whereas increased E is linked with improved health (Magee et al, 2013, Mroczek and Spiro, 2007, Roberts and Mroczek, 2008and Turiano et al, 2012. Boyce et al (2013) found that personality change predicted LS in a sample of 8625 Australian adults aged 15-93 years old drawn from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.…”

Section: Personality Change and Lsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality trait change and life satisfaction in adults: The roles of age and hedonic balance

Magee¹,

Miller²,

Heaven³

2013

Personality and Individual Differences

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This paper examines whether changes in personality traits influenced life satisfaction (LS). This involved investigating whether these associations were moderated by age and mediated by hedonic balance (i.e., positive and negative affect). Participants included 11,104 Australian adults aged 18-79. years, with data available from two time points (baseline and 4-year follow up). Latent difference score modeling indicated that increased neuroticism was associated with lower LS, whereas increased extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were associated with higher LS. These relationships were moderated by age, and were less evident in older adults. Hedonic balance partially mediated the relationships between change in neuroticism and extraversion with LS. These findings provide important insights into longitudinal associations between personality change and LS. Abstract This paper examines whether changes in personality traits influenced life satisfaction (LS).This involved investigating whether these associations were moderated by age and mediated by hedonic balance (i.e., positive and negative affect). Participants included 11,104Australian adults aged 18-79 years, with data available from two time points (baseline and 4-year follow up). Latent difference score modeling indicated that increased neuroticism was associated with lower LS, whereas increased extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness were associated with higher LS. These relationships were moderated by age, and were less evident in older adults. Hedonic balance partially mediated the relationships between change in neuroticism and extraversion with LS. These findings provide important insights into longitudinal associations between personality change and LS.2

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Personality Change Influences Mortality in Older Men

Cited by 277 publications

References 30 publications

Predicting one’s own death: the relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age

Predicting one’s own death: the relationship between subjective and objective nearness to death in very old age

Personality Trait Change in Adulthood

Personality trait change and life satisfaction in adults: The roles of age and hedonic balance

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