Authoritarianism as a personality trait: Evidence from a longitudinal behavior genetic study

Authoritarianism has long been conceived of as a highly stable personality trait ( and ), though recent accounts have argued that authoritarianism is too malleable to justify this conception. We provided a test of the trait conception of authoritarianism by measuring its stability in a community sample of twins over a 15 year period, and by identifying the source of any stability with biometric modeling. Our results showed that authoritarianism exhibited a high degree of rank-order stability (r = .74). Biometric analyses indicated that this stability derived primarily from genetic influences, with changes in authoritarianism due to the unique experiences of the individual. In both of these respects, our results were highly comparable to those reported for other personality traits in previous work, indicating support for the trait conception of authoritarianism. Other results of note included a higher degree of stability among the more educated portion of the sample, supporting a hypothesis by Krosnick and Alwin (1989).     

Adolescent personality disorders and conflict with romantic partners during the transition to adulthood

Longitudinal data were used to investigate the association of adolescent personality disorders with conflict between romantic partners during the transition to adulthood (i.e., age 17 to 27). Findings indicated that adolescent personality disorders (PDs) assessed at mean age 16 were associated with subsequent elevated partner conflict. Cluster B PD was associated with sustained elevations in partner conflict throughout the transition to adulthood. Cluster A and C PDs were associated with elevated partner conflict before age 23. Paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, borderline, narcissistic, and obsessive-compulsive PD symptoms were independently associated with sustained elevations in partner conflict.     

Stability and change in personality traits from late adolescence to early adulthood: a longitudinal twin study

We conducted a longitudinal-biometric study examining stability and change in personality from ages 17 to 24 in a community sample of male and female twins. Using Tellegen's (in press) Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), facets of Negative Emotionality (NEM) declined substantially at the mean and individual levels, whereas facets of Constraint (CON) increased over time. Furthermore, individuals in late adolescence who were lowest on NEM and highest on CON remained the most stable over time, whereas those exhibiting the inverse profile (higher NEM, lower CON) changed the most in a direction towards growth and maturity. Analyses of gender differences yielded greater mean-level increases over time for women as compared to men on facets of CON and greater mean-level increases for men than women on facets of Agentic Positive Emotionality (PEM). Biometric analyses revealed rank-order stability in personality to be largely genetic, with rank-order change mediated by both the nonshared environment (and error) as well as genes. Findings correspond with prior evidence of a normative trend toward growth and maturity in personality during emerging adulthood.     

The kids are alright: growth and stability in personality development from adolescence to adulthood

This longitudinal study provides a comprehensive analysis of continuity and change in personality functioning from age 18 to age 26 in a birth cohort (N = 921) using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (A. Tellegen, 1982). Data were analyzed using 4 different methods: differential continuity, mean-level change, individual differences in change, and ipsative change. Convergent evidence pointing toward personality continuity, as opposed to change, was found. The personality changes that did take place from adolescence to adulthood reflected growth in the direction of greater maturity; many adolescents became more controlled and socially more confident and less angry and alienated. Consistent with this, greater initial levels of maturity were associated with less personality change over time. The results indicate that the transition from adolescence to young adulthood is marked by continuity of personality and growth toward greater maturity.     

Goal attainment, goal striving, and well-being during the transition to adulthood: a ten-year U.S. national longitudinal study

This study examines the relation between young adults' goal achievement, continued goal striving over time, and subsequent well-being. Analysis of a longitudinal subsample of a nationally representative U.S. study of 5,693 adolescents as they transition to adulthood revealed that individuals who met their goals had higher well-being, but that the relation between goal completion and well-being varied by goal content. Continued goal striving was related to well-being and maintained domain-specific self-efficacies, whereas goal disengagement was accompanied by declines in domain-specific self-efficacies. Overall, the results suggest that long-term goal striving is beneficial for well-being during the transition to adulthood.     

Genetic and environmental influences on observed personality: evidence from the German Observational Study of Adult Twins

Previous behavior-genetic research on adult personality relied primarily on self-reports or peer reports that may be subject to contrast effects, resulting in biased estimates of genetic and environmental influences. In the German Observational Study of Adult Twins (GOSAT), personality traits of 168 monozygotic (MZ) and 132 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs were rated on 35 adjective scales, largely markers of the Big 5. The ratings were provided by 120 judges who never met the twins but observed videotaped behaviors of 1 twin of each pair in 1 of 15 different settings. The aggregated video-based trait ratings were highly reliable, and substantial correlations were obtained between MZ as well as DZ twins. Model-fit analyses suggested about 40% genetic, 25% shared environmental, and 35% nonshared environmental influence. Extraversion was the only trait that seemed not to be influenced by shared environment.     

Genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement trajectories during adolescence

Most studies have considered the effects of particular characteristics on academic achievement individually, which means that little is known about how they function together. Using the population-based Minnesota Twin Family Study, the authors investigated the effects of child academic engagement (interest, involvement, effort), IQ, depression, externalizing behavior, and family environmental risk on academic achievement (reported school grades) from ages 11 through 17. Hierarchical linear growth curve modeling showed main effects on initial reported Grades for all variables, and IQ mitigated the deleterious effects of family risk and externalizing. Only engagement affected change in Grades through adolescence. Influences on initial Grades were strongly genetically influenced, associated primarily with IQ, engagement, and externalizing behavior. Shared environmental influences on initial Grades linked engagement, IQ, and family risk. Genetic influences on change in Grades were substantial, but they were not associated with the academic, family risk, and mental health covarying factors. These results indicate that age 11 achievement and change in achievement through adolescence show systematic patterns and document the existence of individual differences in the commonly shared developmental experience of adapting to the school environment.     

Belongingness as a core personality trait: how social exclusion influences social functioning and personality expression

People have a fundamental need for positive and lasting relationships. This need to belong is rooted in evolutionary history and gave rise to the development of traits that enable individuals to gain acceptance and to avoid rejection. Because belongingness is a core component of human functioning, social exclusion should influence many cognitive, emotional, and behavioral outcomes and personality expression. This article summarizes recent evidence that social exclusion causes an assortment of outcomes, many of which depend on whether the excluded can gain acceptance or forestall possible distress. It highlights common overlap in physical and social pain systems and how a physical painkiller can reduce the pain of social exclusion. Finally, it shows how social exclusion moderates the effects of traits on cognition, emotion, and behavior. To appreciate personality processes in social contexts, scientists should consider how people respond to social exclusion and how the need to belong influences personality expression.     

Associations between four types of childhood neglect and personality disorder symptoms during adolescence and early adulthood: findings of a community-based longitudinal study

Data from a community-based longitudinal study were used to investigate the association between childhood neglect and personality disorder (PD) symptom levels during adolescence and early adulthood. Psychosocial and psychiatric interviews were administered to a representative sample of 738 youths and their mothers from upstate New York in 1975, 1983, 1985-1986, and 1991-1993. Evidence of childhood cognitive, emotional, physical, and supervision neglect was obtained from the maternal interviews that were conducted in 1975, 1983, and 1985-1986, and from New York State records. PDs were assessed among the youths in 1985-1986, when they were adolescents, and in 1991-1993, when they were young adults. Findings indicated that childhood emotional, physical, and supervision neglect were associated with increased risk for PDs and with elevated PD symptom levels during adolescence and early adulthood, after age, sex, childhood physical or sexual abuse, other types of childhood neglect, and cooccurring PD symptoms were controlled statistically. Childhood emotional neglect was associated with increased risk for avoidant PD and with paranoid and Cluster A PD symptom levels during adolescence and early adulthood. Childhood physical neglect was associated with increased risk for schizotypal PD and with Cluster A PD symptom levels during adolescence and early adulthood. Childhood supervision neglect was associated with increased risk for passive-aggressive and Cluster B PDs and with borderline, paranoid, and passive-aggressive PD symptom levels during adolescence and early adulthood. The present findings suggest that childhood emotional, physical, and supervision neglect may play a role in the etiology of some PDs.     

Prosocial development in early adulthood: a longitudinal study

Consistency of measures of a prosocial personality and prosocial moral judgment over time, and the interrelations among them, were examined. Participants and friends' reports of prosocial characteristics were obtained at ages 21-22, 23-24, and 25-26 years. In addition, participants' prosocial judgment was assessed with interviews and with an objective measure of prosocial moral reasoning at several ages. Reports of prosocial behavior and empathy-related responding in childhood and observations of prosocial behavior in preschool also were obtained. There was interindividual consistency in prosocial dispositions, and prosocial dispositions in adulthood related to empathy/sympathy and prosocial behavior at much younger ages. Interview and objective measures of moral reasoning were substantially interrelated in late adolescence/early adulthood and correlated with participants' and friends' reports of a prosocial disposition.     

Preschool personality antecedents of narcissism in adolescence and young adulthood: A 20-year longitudinal study

This prospective study examined relations between preschool personality attributes and narcissism during adolescence and emerging adulthood. We created five a priori preschool scales anticipated to foretell future narcissism. Independent assessors evaluated the participants’ personality at ages 14, 18, and 23. Based upon these evaluations, we generated observer-based narcissism scales for each of these three ages. All preschool scales predicted subsequent narcissism, except Interpersonal Antagonism at age 23. According to mean scale and item scores analyses, narcissism increased significantly from age 14 to 18, followed by a slight but non-significant decline from age 18 to 23. The discussion focused on a developmental view of narcissism, the need for research on automatic processing and psychological defenses, and links between narcissism and attachment.     

Genetic and environmental influences on pre‐schizophrenic personality: MAXCOV‐HITMAX and LISREL analyses

Postulating that the predisposition to illness in Claridge's disease model of schizophrenia can be equated with the personality dimensions S or Insensitivity, (low) E or Extraversion, and N or Neuroticism, as measured by Van Kampen's 3DPT, and assuming that the mode of transmission of schizophrenia is basically polygenic, the genetic and environmental etiology of S, E, and N was assessed in a sample of 52 MZ and 76 DZ twin pairs and their parents by means of LISREL. Besides, in a sample of 2118 subjects MAXCOV–HITMAX analyses were conducted for these factors as well as for the personality dimension G or Orderliness, but now assessed by the 4DPT, in order to find out whether a discrete or quasi‐discrete variable might also underlie these dimensions, giving support to the possibility of dominance or epistasis. The results obtained in these investigations favoured a model for all three dimensions, allowing for both additive and non‐additive genetic effects in combination with non‐shared environmental influences. It was not possible to choose between a model involving dominance and a model involving epistatic genetic effects. With the use of scores corrected for sex and age, which were converted to normal scores, the proportion of variance explained by additive genetic factors was 20% for S, 40–41% for E, and 26–29% for N. Dominance or multiple‐gene epistasis accounted for 37–38% (S), 19–20% (E), and 30–31% (N), and unshared environmental influences for 42–43% (S), 41% (E), and 42–43% (N) respectively. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Affective mediators of intergroup contact: a three-wave longitudinal study in South Africa

Intergroup contact (especially cross-group friendship) is firmly established as a powerful strategy for combating group-based prejudice (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Great advances have been made in understanding how contact reduces prejudice (Brown & Hewstone, 2005), highlighting the importance of affective mediators (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008). The present study, a 3-wave longitudinal study undertaken among minority-status Colored high school children in South Africa (N = 465), explored the full mediation of the effects of cross-group friendships on positive outgroup attitudes, perceived outgroup variability, and negative action tendencies via positive (affective empathy) and negative (intergroup anxiety) affective mediators simultaneously. The target group was the majority-status White South African outgroup. As predicted, a bidirectional model described the relationship between contact, mediators, and prejudice significantly better over time than either autoregressive or unidirectional longitudinal models. However, full longitudinal mediation was only found in the direction from Time 1 contact to Time 3 prejudice (via Time 2 mediators), supporting the underlying tenet of the contact hypothesis. Specifically, cross-group friendships were positively associated with positive outgroup attitudes (via affective empathy) and perceived outgroup variability (via intergroup anxiety and affective empathy) and were negatively associated with negative action tendencies (via affective empathy). Following Pettigrew and Tropp (2008), we compared two alternative hypotheses regarding the relationship between intergroup anxiety and affective empathy over time. Time 1 intergroup anxiety was indirectly negatively associated with Time 3 affective empathy, via Time 2 cross-group friendships. We discuss the theoretical and empirical contributions of this study and make suggestions for future research.     

Genetic and environmental influences on person-situation interactions

Genetic and environmental influences on person-situation and person-mode of response interactions for anxiety and for dominance were investigated in an adult twin sample. For anxiety, evidence of significant genetic variance was found for the person-situation interaction and the person-mode of response interaction. For dominance, evidence of shared sibling-environmental influences was found for the person-situation interaction. Sex differences in the patterns of findings were also examined. The data indicate that the factors influencing personsituation interactions vary depending on the specific trait studied, and the results provide empirical support for the “interactionist” hypothesis that an individual's behavior can be characterized by meaningful patterns of behavior across situations. In addition, the study illustrates that behavior-genetic research can be designed to address important theoretical questions about the nature of personality.     

Genetic and environmental influences on pubertal development: longitudinal data from Finnish twins at ages 11 and 14

To study sources of individual differences in pubertal development, the authors fit a sex-limitation common factor model to data reported, at ages 11 and 14 years, by 1,891 twin pairs on items that comprise the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS; A. C. Petersen, L. Crockett, M. Richards, & A. Boxer, 1988). The model divides variation into a general pubertal factor and item-specific variation and, in addition, decomposes it into constituent sources. In both boys and girls, genetic influences made the largest contribution to variance common to PDS items. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variation specific to PDS items in boys, whereas for girls, common environmental influences were added for growth spurt and menarcheal status. For both common and item-specific variation, genetic effects were partially sex specific. Subsidiary analyses found accelerated maturation in both boys and girls who at age 14 were reared in father-absent homes.     

The stability of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood: a six-year follow-up study

The stability and gender differences of self-concept during adolescence and early adulthood were studied in 894 randomly selected Finnish subjects using the shortened version of the Coopersmith (1967) Self-Esteem Inventory. There were no differences between the men and women in the total score for self-concept. In early adulthood, men scored higher than women on general self-esteem, and women scored higher on the home-parents factor in each developmental period from pre-adolescence to adulthood. The stability of self-concept, as well as its different components, was rather high. General self-esteem showed the highest predictive value for the total score 6 years later.     

Genetic and environmental influences on behavior: capturing all the interplay

Basic quantitative genetic models of human behavioral variation have made clear that individual differences in behavior cannot be understood without acknowledging the importance of genetic influences. Yet these basic models estimate average, population-level genetic and environmental influences, obscuring differences that might exist within the population and masking systematic transactions between specific genetic and environmental influences. This article discusses a newer, more sophisticated and powerful quantitative genetic model that articulates these transactions. Results from this model highlight the ways in which the gene- environment interaction and correlation are intertwined. They can be used to integrate findings from quantitative and molecular genetic studies and to understand the roles of genetic influences and social forces in manifested behaviors, even when DNA sequence variation is not relevant.     

Social class and workplace harassment during the transition to adulthood

Young disadvantaged workers are especially vulnerable to harassment due to their age and social class position. As young people enter the workforce, their experiences of, and reactions to, harassment may vary dramatically from those of older adult workers. Three case studies introduce theory and research on the relationship between social class and harassment of young workers. We suggest two mechanisms through which class may structure harassment experiences: (1) extremely vulnerable youth are directly targeted based on their social class origins, and (2) the type and condition of youth employment, which is structured by class background, indirectly affect experiences of harassment.     

Relationships matter in personality development: evidence from an 8-year longitudinal study across young adulthood

Personality-relationship transactions were investigated in a general population sample of young German adults with three assessments over 8 years. Four general findings were obtained. First, personality development was characterized by substantive individual differences in change. Second, bivariate latent growth models indicated that individual differences in personality change were substantially associated with change in peer and family relationships. Third, forming a partner relationship for the first time moderated the maturation of personality. This finding was replicated over two subsequent time intervals with independent subgroups. Fourth, higher neuroticism and higher sociability predicted which of the singles began a partner relationship during the next 8 years. The results confirm that individual differences in personality development predict and result from life transitions and relationship experiences.