Personality Theories

Abstract

The study of personality development has seen significant advances since the 1990s. For many years, youth and adult individual differences were studied from separate theoretical standpoints. However, more recent research has indicated that teenagers display personality traits in many of the same ways as adults. These personality traits are moderately stable throughout the life course, but there are important developmental shifts in their expression, structure, and maturation, especially in adolescence. This has resulted in an effort to study youth personality “in its own right.” Early personality associations with important lifelong outcomes—including academic achievement, mental health, and interpersonal relationships—further underscore the importance of studying traits in youth. This entry discusses the current consensus and controversies on adolescent personality and highlights foundational research on the topic.

Revisão Sistemática de Instrumentos de Personalidade usando o Big-Five em Crianças

“…Como uma consequência, os estudos de personalidade na infância são mais escassos e possuem menor consistência ( Shiner et al, 2021), afastando o interesse de muitos pesquisadores. Ademais, o estudo de traços na infância, por muito tempo, foi dominado por teorias relacionadas a traços de temperamento ( Brandes et al, 2020). Mesmo que haja uma grande sobreposição conceitual entre as proposições das duas áreas (veja Shiner & DeYoung, 2013 e Shiner et al, 2021 para uma revisão), estudos com temperamento foram, historicamente, a principal escolha para explicações acerca dos traços na infância.…”

Towards a contemporary approach for understanding personality pathology in developmental context: An integrative model

“…Finally, the scar/complication model states that the experience of psychopathology may leave lasting impressions on people in ways that alter their personality functioning. Taken together, these explanations for personality and psychopathology implied by traditional models suggest the association between personality and psychopathology is likely complex and bidirectional across time (Brandes et al, 2019). These traditional models are likely complementary and may be differentially relevant in understanding different forms of psychopathology, different developmental stages, or different people.…”

“…Traditional developmental accounts of personality pathology (see Table 2) posit distinguishable yet potentially complementary models for understanding its development: spectrum/continuity, vulnerability, resilience, pathoplasty, and scar/complication models (Brandes, Reardon, & Tackett, 2019; Shiner & Caspi, 2003). First, the spectrum/continuity model states that personality pathology is an extreme manifestation of personality traits, with traits and disorders/syndromes existing on a continuum ranging from normal personality traits to psychopathology.…”

“…These traditional models are likely complementary and may be differentially relevant in understanding different forms of psychopathology, different developmental stages, or different people. In order to understand individual variation in personality and psychopathology, the structure, stability, and change of traits must be conceptualized from a developmentally informed lens (Brandes et al, 2019).…”