Personality Change from Life Experiences: Moderation Effect of Attachment Security

This study focused on effects of life experiences on change in personality and moderation effects of attachment security on the life experience influences. With a sample of Japanese university students (N = 1,000; 679 female; M = 19.72; SD = 1.26; age range, 18–25 years), the Big Five personality traits were assessed twice. The assessment interval was 20 weeks. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses revealed that there were large between‐individual differences in change and stability of the Big Five personality traits, which were accounted for by the amount of daily positive and negative life experiences during the interval period. Moreover, multi‐group HLM analyses indicated that the life experience effects were moderated by participants' attachment security at Time 1. These findings suggest that the accumulation of small daily experiences may work for the personality development of university students and that environmental influences may vary by individual susceptibility to experiences, like attachment security.     

Personality Development in Emerging and Young Adulthood: A Study of Age Differences

Early adulthood is a time of substantial personality change characterized by large inter‐individual diversity. To investigate the role of age in this diversity, the present study examined whether emerging adults differ from an older group of young adults in their Big Five personality development. By means of multi‐group latent change modelling, two groups of 16‐ to 19‐year‐olds (n = 3555) and 26‐ to 29‐year‐olds (n = 2621) were tracked over the course of four years and compared regarding four aspects of personality change: mean‐level change, rank‐order change, inter‐individual differences in change, and profile change. In addition, age‐differential socialization effects associated with six first‐time life events were investigated. Analyses revealed substantial age differences in all four aspects of change. As expected, emerging adults showed greater change and diversity in change than young adults. However, the six life events had no age‐differential impact on change in single traits and Big Five profiles. Overall, the results indicate that age differences should be considered even in specific life stages to advance the understanding of personality development. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The Personality Bases of Ideology: A One-Year Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT

The cross-lagged effects of the Big-Five personality dimensions on Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) were examined over 1 year (N = 112). Consistent with the Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model, SDO and RWA exhibited markedly different personality bases. Low Agreeableness and unexpectedly high Extraversion predicted change in the motivational goal for group-based dominance and superiority (SDO), whereas Openness to Experience predicted change in the motivational goal for social cohesion and collective security (RWA). Neuroticism and Conscientiousness did not predict change in SDO or RWA over time. These findings extend previous cross-sectional (correlational) research and indicate that key dimensions of personality (primarily Agreeableness and Openness to Experience) are an important temporal antecedent of the group-based motivational goals underlying individual differences in prejudice.     

An Investigation of Differential Relationships of Implicit and Explicit Aggression: Validation of an Arabic Version of the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression

Abstract

Most personality research in the workplace relies on self-reports. Although self-report measures are believed to assess the explicit aspect of personality, a more recent approach for assessing implicit personality is based on conditional reasoning. The Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT–A) was developed to assess implicit cognitions that justify aggressive behavior. The integrative model of personality proposes that both the explicit and implicit personality interact together to predict different behavioral outcomes. The results of this investigation are reported in two studies. The purpose of Study 1 was to adapt the CRT–A to the Arabic language and to examine its validity evidence using a large sample of Egyptian employees (n?=?1,046). Study 2 aimed at examining the differential relationships of implicit and explicit components of aggressive personality in explaining different forms of aggressive behavior variance (n?=?271). The results of Study 1 revealed that the psychometric properties of the adapted Arabic version of CRT–A were similar to those obtained for the United States. In addition, factor analysis results were consistent with the psychological theory used to build the conditional reasoning problems. The results of Study 2 provide substantial empirical support for the integrative model of assessment of aggression.     

Personality Trait Change in Adulthood

ABSTRACT— Recent longitudinal and cross-sectional aging research has shown that personality traits continue to change in adulthood. In this article, we review the evidence for mean-level change in personality traits, as well as for individual differences in change across the life span. In terms of mean-level change, people show increased self-confidence, warmth, self-control, and emotional stability with age. These changes predominate in young adulthood (age 20–40). Moreover, mean-level change in personality traits occurs in middle and old age, showing that personality traits can change at any age. In terms of individual differences in personality change, people demonstrate unique patterns of development at all stages of the life course, and these patterns appear to be the result of specific life experiences that pertain to a person's stage of life.     

Type D personality and social relations in adults with diabetes: results from diabetes MILES – The Netherlands

Abstract

Objective: To examine whether individual differences in Type D personality (combination of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI)) could explain heterogeneity in perceived social support and relationship adjustment (intimate partner relationship) among people living with diabetes.

Design: In the Diabetes MILES—The Netherlands survey, 621 adults with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (54% female, age: 56?±?14 years) completed measures of Type D personality (DS14), perceived social support and relationship adjustment. We used established DS14 cut-off scores to indicate Type D personality, high NA only, high SI only and reference groups.

Results: Participants from the Type D and NA only groups perceived lower levels of social support (Welch[3,259]?=?37.27, p?<?0.001), and relationship adjustment (Welch[3,191]?=?14.74; p?<?0.01) than those from the SI only and reference groups. Type D was associated with lower social support (lowest quartile; adjusted OR?=?8.73; 95%CI?=?5.05?～?15.09; p?<?0.001) and lower relationship adjustment (lowest quartile; adjusted OR?=?3.70; 95%CI?=?2.10?～?6.53; p?<?0.001). Type D was also associated with increased levels of loneliness.

Conclusion: Participants with Type D and participants with high NA only tend to experience less social support and less relationship adjustment. Type D personality was also associated with more loneliness. Experiencing lower social support and relationship adjustment may complicate coping and self-management in people with diabetes.     

A Clinical-Empirical Model of Personality: Life after the Mischelian Ice Age and the NEO-Lithic Era

ABSTRACT A theory of personality should lead to both accurate prediction and interpretive understanding. Aside from its empirical uses, a personality theory should provide a grammar that allows personality psychologists to infer meaning from overt behavior with more sophistication than a layperson, and the best laboratory for testing the interpretive utility of a personality theory remains the clinic. With respect to the appropriate data for constructing and evaluating theories of personality, an overreliance on questionnaire data is problematic for several reasons: It assumes that understanding people requires no training, it mistakes research on the conscious self-concept for research on personality, it conflates implicit and explicit knowledge, it fails to address defensive biases, and it lacks interrater reliability. Consideration of both empirical and clinical data points to three questions that define the elements of personality necessary for a comprehensive assessment of an individual: (a) What psychological resources–cognitive, affective, and behavioral dispositions–does the individual have at his or her disposal? (b) What does the person wish for, fear, and value, and how do these motives combine and conflict? (c) How does the person experience the self and others, and to what extent can the individual enter into intimate relationships?     

Person–city personality fit and entrepreneurial success: An explorative study in China

While the study of personality differences is a traditional psychological approach in entrepreneurship research, economic research directs attention towards the entrepreneurial ecosystems in which entrepreneurial activity are embedded. We combine both approaches and quantify the interplay between the individual personality make‐up of entrepreneurs and the local personality composition of ecosystems, with a special focus on person–city personality fit. Specifically, we analyse personality data from N = 26,405 Chinese residents across 42 major Chinese cities, including N = 1091 Chinese entrepreneurs. Multi‐level polynomial regression and response surface plots revealed that: (a) individual‐level conscientiousness had a positive effect and individual‐level agreeableness and neuroticism had a negative effect on entrepreneurial success, (b) city‐level conscientiousness had a positive, and city‐level neuroticism had a negative effect on entrepreneurial success, and (c) additional person–city personality fit effects existed for agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism. For example, entrepreneurs who are high in agreeableness and conduct their business in a city with a low agreeableness level show the lowest entrepreneurial success. In contrast, entrepreneurs who are low in agreeableness and conduct their business in a city with a high agreeableness level show relatively high entrepreneurial success. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

The Dark Triad and competitive psychological climate at work: A model of reciprocal relationships in dependence of age and organization change

ABSTRACT

Integrating an interactionist model of personality development, the cumulative continuity model of personality development, and selection–evocation–manipulation theory, the present study analysed reciprocal relations of the Dark Triad common core and its sub-traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism with competitive psychological climate. Moreover, within a large (N = 1,185) and longitudinal sample of employees from Germany, latent cross-lagged panel analyses were applied to analyse the moderating roles of age and organization change (i.e., organizational turnover). Overall, results revealed positive reciprocal relations between the Dark Triad common core, its sub-traits, and competitive psychological climate. The Dark Triad common core and Machiavellianism were more stable within the older (50–59 years) compared to the younger (25–34 years) age group. However, we found no age differences for the relation between competitive psychological climate and change in the Dark Triad common core or its sub-traits. Among employees who changed organizations, the Dark Triad common core, narcissism, and psychopathy were more strongly positively related to the change in competitive psychological climate than in the non-change group. This suggests stronger selection compared to evocation–manipulation effects for individuals with high values in the Dark Triad common core, narcissism, and psychopathy, but not for Machiavellianism.     

The stability of adult personality varies across age: Evidence from a two-year longitudinal sample of adult New Zealanders

We model developmental patterns in the stability of Big-Six personality markers over a two-year period in a multi-cohort panel study of adult New Zealanders (n = 3910). Structural Equation Models testing patterns of linear, quadratic and cubic effects identified considerable variation in the stability of most aspects of personality across the adult age range (20–80 years). Agreeableness showed a slight linear decrease in consistency with increasing age. Extraversion, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Honesty–Humility exhibited quadratic ‘inverted U’ patterns of rank-order stability. Unlike Agreeableness, the two-year consistency of these other personality dimensions increased from young adulthood towards middle age, then decreased as people progressed toward old age. Implications for personality research and emerging trends are discussed.     

Stability and Change of Ego Resiliency From Late Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Multiperspective Study Using the ER89–R Scale

In this research, we examined the psychometric properties of the Revised Ego Resiliency 89 Scale (ER89–R; Alessandri, Vecchio, Steca, Caprara, & Caprara, 2008), a brief self-report measure of ego resiliency. The scale has been used to assess the development of ego resiliency from late adolescence to emerging adulthood, focusing on different ways to define continuity and change. We analyzed longitudinal self-report data from 267 late adolescents (44% male) using 4 different approaches: factor analysis for testing construct continuity, correlational analysis for examining differential stability, latent growth modeling for analyzing mean level change, and the reliable change index for studying the occurrence of change at the individual level. Converging evidence points to the marked stability of ego resiliency from 16 to 20 years, both for males and females. The scale predicts externalizing and internalizing problems, both concurrently and at 2 and 4 years of distance. Findings suggest that the ER89–R scale represents a valid and reliable instrument that can be fruitfully suited for studying ego resiliency through various developmental stages.     

Divorce and personality development across middle adulthood

This study tested whether divorce helps explain individual differences in personality development in the years that follow a divorce. The sample consisted of 526 middle‐aged adults aged 42–46 years at the beginning. Personality traits were measured using the NEO‐Five‐Factor Inventory at three measurement occasions over 12 years. First, personality development was characterized by individual differences in change. Second, those individuals who experienced a divorce showed a decrease in extraversion and positive affect over time although nondivorced individuals did not change on these traits. Third, divorce was associated with a decrease in dependability. Fourth, divorce was associated with a decrease in orderliness for individuals who were remarried. The results of this study indicated that divorce had little influence on personality development.     

Personality Traits as Potential Susceptibility Markers: Differential Susceptibility to Support Among Parents

In this study, we examined whether parents are differentially susceptible to support from their spouse and adolescent child depending on their personality traits, and whether differences in susceptibility to support among parents, in turn, are linked to the quality of support parents give to their children. Participants in this three‐wave longitudinal study were 288 two‐parent Dutch families with an adolescent child. Fathers were on average 43.9 years old (SD = 3.7 years), mothers were 41.7 years old (SD = 3.3 years), and adolescents (50% girls) were 14.5 years old (SD = 0.8 years). We found that the association between support from children toward their parents and subsequent support from parents toward their children was more pronounced for parents high on Openness, for better and for worse. Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotional Stability did not emerge as markers of differences in susceptibility. Also, parents did not differ in their susceptibility to support from their spouse, nor were differences in susceptibility found a year later when using data from a third wave. We found very modest support for differential susceptibility, only for Openness, and depending on the source of perceived support and on the timing of measurement.     

Personality predicts prospective memory task performance: an adult lifespan study

Do interindividual differences in prospective memory task performance reflect individual differences in personality and lifestyle? Do the cognitive abilities known to change with age retain their power to predict episodic prospective memory task performance after controlling for personality and lifestyle variables, and do personality and lifestyle variables offer predictive power apart from that provided by cognitive ability measures? To answer these questions, we conducted a study with community‐living healthy individuals (n= 141) between 18 and 81 years of age. They completed three different episodic prospective memory tasks – two laboratory tasks and one field task – as well as various measures of personality, lifestyle, and cognitive ability. The results indicated that personality and lifestyle reliably predicted who will succeed and who will fail on all three episodic prospective memory tasks. Conscientiousness predicted performance on two of the prospective memory tasks; socially prescribed perfectionism and neuroticism each predicted performance on one of the prospective memory tasks. Cognitive ability predicted performance on one of the laboratory prospective memory tasks but not on the other two prospective memory tasks. After we controlled for individual differences in personality and lifestyle variables, cognitive ability was no longer able to predict performance on the laboratory prospective memory task. By contrast, controlling for cognitive ability had no influence on the predictive power of the personality and lifestyle variables.     

Subjective Age and Personality Development: A 10‐Year Study

Personality theory and research typically focus on chronological age as a key indicator of personality development. This study examines whether the subjective experience of age is an alternative marker of the biomedical and psychosocial factors that contribute to individual differences in personality development. The present study uses data from the Midlife in the United States longitudinal survey (N = 3,617) to examine how subjective age is associated with stability and change in personality and the dynamic associations between subjective age and personality traits over a 10‐year period. Regression analyses indicated that a younger subjective age at baseline was associated with increases in Openness, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness; correlated changes were also found. The rank‐order stability of Extraversion and Openness and overall profile consistency were higher among those with a younger subjective age at baseline and were also associated with the rate of subjective aging over time. The present study reveals that beyond chronological age, the age an individual feels is related to changes in characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving over time.     

Personality change over 40 years of adulthood: hierarchical linear modeling analyses of two longitudinal samples

Normative personality change over 40 years was shown in 2 longitudinal cohorts with hierarchical linear modeling of California Psychological Inventory data obtained at multiple times between ages 21-75. Although themes of change and the paucity of differences attributable to gender and cohort largely supported findings of multiethnic cross-sectional samples, the authors also found much quadratic change and much individual variability. The form of quadratic change supported predictions about the influence of period of life and social climate as factors in change over the adult years: Scores on Dominance and Independence peaked in the middle age of both cohorts, and scores on Responsibility were lowest during peak years of the culture of individualism. The idea that personality change is most pronounced before age 30 and then reaches a plateau received no support.     

Identification with groups: the role of personality and context

Is identification a product of personality or of the context? We examine this question by adopting a multidimensional conceptualization of identification (the CIDS model) that integrates research perspectives on personality and contextual effects. We investigate (Study 1) the relationships of traits to identification with the nation (students, N = 77), the army (soldiers, N = 220), and a business school (students, N = 123). Then we show that the modes of identification vary in their stability across social contexts and in their susceptibility to contextual change. Idealizing groups' symbols (“deference” identification) is especially stable across different foci of identification (Study 2): the military and former high school (soldiers, N = 188), the business school and the nation (students, = 62), and the military and one's ethnic group (soldiers, N = 95). Perceiving the group as a central part of the self (“importance” identification) is the most susceptible to contextual effects of priming values (Study 3; students, N = 80, 60) and the group's status (Study 4; students, N = 68).     

Personality development and growth in women across 30 years: three perspectives

This article addressesthree questions about personality development in a 30‐year longitudinal study of women (N = 78): (1) To what extent did the women maintain the same position inrelation to each other on personality characteristics over the 30 years, and what broad factorswere related to the amount of change in their rank order? (2) Did the sample as a whole increaseor decrease over time on indices of personality growth, and did they change in ways distinctive towomen? (3) Were experiential factors associated with individual differences in the amount ofchange? Results showed that personality was quite consistent while also showing that timeinterval was positively related to rank‐order change and age was negatively related to rank‐orderchange. Over the period from age 21 to age 52, the women increased on measures ofnorm‐orientation and complexity and showed changes on measures of Dominance andFemininity/Masculinity consistent with the hypothesis that changing sex roles would lead toincreases in Dominance and increases, then decreases, in Femininity/Masculinity. A third set ofresults showed that changes in Dominance and Femininity/Masculinity were associated with lifecircumstances such as marital tension, divorce, and participation in the paid labor force. Theimplications of the findings for personality development and growth are discussed.