Preprint Perceived Characteristics of Life Events - Short-Term Changes in Prosociality and Empathy?

Abstract

Post-traumatic growth can be understood as positive change in desirable personality traits after adverse life events. However, recent research questioned whether adversity is a relevant, necessary, and sufficient condition for change in desirable personality traits. Using five-wave longitudinal data, this study explored changes in the desirable personality traits prosociality and empathy before and after life events. We included all life events participants had experienced between the second and third assessment, that is, adverse, ambiguous, and positive events. Participants rated their life events on the Event Characteristics Questionnaire which assesses the individual perception of life events on nine continuous dimensions: challenge, emotional significance, extraordinariness, external control, impact, valence, social status change, predictability and change in world views. We used multilevel growth curve models to explore changes in prosociality and empathy as a function of these event characteristics. Prosociality and empathy remained stable in the assessment period of six to nine months after the reported life event, independently of whether the event had been perceived as adverse or not. We discuss our findings with respect to the inclusion of positive and ambiguous events as predictors of personality change and with respect to its theoretical implications for post-traumatic growth and personality development more broadly.

Stability and change of perceived characteristics of major life events.

“…Data from the What’s NEXT? Study were already used by Fassbender et al (2021), Fassbender and Luhmann (2021), Kritzler et al (2021), and Luhmann et al (2020), but these publications did not investigate stability or change of perceived event characteristics. Data collection was approved by the local ethics committee of Ruhr University Bochum (Protocol 422: “Examining characteristics of adverse events as predictors of character growth”).…”

“…An alternative approach is to let participants rate their perceptions of major life events on different continuous dimensions, henceforth called life event characteristics, such as valence, predictability, or challenge (Ferguson et al, 1999; Kendler et al, 2003; Luhmann et al, 2020). These perceived event characteristics can be used as predictors of event-related changes in subjective well-being, mental health, and other outcomes (e.g., Fassbender et al, 2021; Luhmann et al, 2020).…”