instability of personality article

Introduction to Personality Development

  • Focuses on the Big Five personality factors: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness to Experience (Goldberg, 1990).

  • Explores personality development across adolescence (ages 11-17) and middle adulthood (ages around 35-50).

  • Highlights that personality change is possible throughout life, with differences noted based on age, gender, and observer type.

Study Overview

  • Participants: 288 two-parent Dutch families with at least two adolescents were studied.

  • Method: Families completed assessments across three annual measurement waves, with mothers, fathers, and adolescents separately evaluating their personalities and each other’s.

  • Analysis: Used accelerated longitudinal growth curve analyses to assess personality changes.

Findings on Developmental Changes

Adolescence

  • Boys

    • Decrease in Extraversion and Openness.

  • Girls

    • Increase in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness.

    • Self-reported Extraversion showed a curvilinear pattern (increase then decrease).

Adulthood

  • Fathers

    • Decreased levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability.

  • Mothers

    • Increased Emotional Stability and Conscientiousness, with marginal decreases in Agreeableness.

  • Significant personality changes observed, especially in self-reports versus other-reports.

Gender Differences

  • Males generally show less variation in personality change than females during adolescence.

  • Females tend to change more significantly across various personality dimensions.

    • Faster cognitive and emotional development in girls potentially leads to earlier personality maturation.

Methodological Considerations

  • The study used a cohort-sequential longitudinal design which allows for the observation of personality changes within individuals over time while comparing different cohorts.

  • Acknowledged limitations include relatively small age ranges and the need for long-term studies to capture life-span development effectively.

Statistical Analysis

  • Employed latent growth curve modeling to analyze personality data over the measurement waves.

  • Significant variances in growth trajectories for boys, with more variability relating to changes in other-reports (e.g., Conscientiousness).

Importance of Self and Other Reports

  • The study emphasizes differences between self-reported and family member-reported personality traits.

  • Self-perceptions may be more influenced by individual experiences and social contexts than family member observations.

Conclusion

  • Personalities undergo change from adolescence through adulthood with notable interindividual differences in development.

  • Observations underscore the importance of using both self-reports and other-reports to understand personality traits better.