Testing the social investment principle around childbirth: little evidence for personality maturation before and after becoming a parent

Abstract

In line with the social investment principle, becoming a parent should lead to more mature behaviour and an increase in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability. However, previous research provided mixed results that do not support this idea. Here, we used data from a nationally representative household panel study from Germany (N = 19 875) to examine whether becoming a parent relates to personality maturation. Whether a child was born was assessed yearly, and the Big Five personality traits were measured in four waves from 2005 to 2017. We used multilevel analyses to investigate whether personality differs between individuals who will or will not become parents, whether personality differs before and after becoming a parent, and whether these effects vary by gender, age, and living status. In sum, our findings revealed that less open and more extraverted individuals were more likely to start a family, and openness and extraversion both decreased after the transition to parenthood. Some other effects varied by gender, age, and living status. Taken together, our findings suggest that the Big Five personality traits differ before and across the transition to parenthood and that these differences especially apply to openness and extraversion.

Maternal personality, social support, and changes in depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms during pregnancy and after delivery: A prospective-longitudinal study

“…Becoming a mother constitutes a significant turning point in life. During pregnancy and after delivery, (expectant) mothers are confronted with manifold changes concerning their body, their family, and their social identity [ 1 – 4 ]. As suggested by previous research, their personality [ 54 – 63 ] and levels of perceived social support [ 5 , 69 – 71 ] might crucially affect how they adjust to these changes and whether they do or do not experience alterations in depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms across the peripartum period.…”

“…Moreover, they need to adjust to their novel family situation, social identity, and role expectations as a mother, which might affect multiple areas of their life such as their partnership [ 1 – 3 ]. After delivery, new mothers need to take care of their newborn on demand and adjust their daily routines and behavior accordingly [ 4 ].…”

“…After delivery, new mothers experience a range of far-reaching physiological and psychosocial changes. They need to take care of their child, deal with their novel family situation, identity, and responsibilities, and adjust their daily life accordingly [ 1 – 4 ]. These challenges might lead to an increase of stress symptoms, especially shortly after delivery.…”

The role of personality in the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of students in Germany during the first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The developmental period of young adulthood is characterized by considerable change, including many age-graded major life events and transitions [ 28 , 29 ]. For example, comparatively young students often still live with their parents, whereas comparatively old students often have already started a family [ 30 , 31 ]. It is thus plausible to assume that students’ daily routines and activities vary substantially by age, which might explain our age effects on students’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Stability and change in major life goals during the transition to parenthood

“…For example, longitudinal research on parenthood and the Big Five provided robust evidence that higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of openness (Asselmann & Specht, 2020;Jokela et al, 2011;van Scheppingen et al, 2016) predict selection into parenthood while there is little replicable evidence for socialization effects of parenthood on any of the Big Five traits (Denissen et al, 2019;Galdiolo & Roskam, 2014;Specht et al, 2011;van Scheppingen et al, 2016). In contrast to the growing body of research on parenthood and personality traits, relatively little is known about selection effects of and socialization effects on major life goals.…”