Jule Specht

What Drives Adult Personality Development? A Comparison of Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Evidence

Increasing numbers of empirical studies provide compelling evidence that personality traits change across the entire lifespan. What initiates this continuing personality development and how does this development proceed? In this paper, we compare six theoretical perspectives that offer testable predictions about why personality develops the way it does and identify limitations and potentials of these perspectives by reviewing how they hold up against the empirical evidence. While all of these perspectives have received some empirical support, there is only little direct evidence for propositions put forward by the five–factor theory of personality and the theory of genotype → environment effects. In contrast, the neo–socioanalytic theory appears to offer a comprehensive framework that fits the empirical findings and allows the integration of other, more specialized, perspectives that focus on specific aspects of personality development like the role of time, systematic differences between categories of social roles or the active partake of the person himself or herself. We draw conclusions on the likely driving factors for adult personality development and identify avenues for future research. Copyright

Developmental Tasks as a Framework to Study Personality Development in Adulthood and Old Age

Research consistently shows that personality development is a lifelong phenomenon, with mean–level and rank–order changes occurring in all life phases. What happens during specific life phases that can explain these developmental patterns? In the present paper, we review literature linking personality development in different phases of adulthood to developmental tasks associated with these phases. Building on previous work, we describe several categories of developmental tasks that are present in all phases of adulthood. However, the specific tasks within these categories change across adulthood from establishing new social roles in early adulthood to maintaining them in middle adulthood and preventing losses in old age. This trajectory is reflected in mean–level changes in personality, which indicates development towards greater maturity (increases in social dominance, conscientiousness, and emotional stability) in early and middle adulthood, but less so at the end of life. Importantly, developmental tasks are not only associated with mean–level changes, but the way in which people deal with these tasks is also related to rank–order changes in personality. We provide an outlook for future research on how the influence of historical time on the normativeness of developmental tasks might be reflected in personality development. Copyright

Studying Changes in Life Circumstances and Personality: It's About Time

Most theories of personality development posit that changes in life circumstances (e.g. due to major life events) can lead to changes in personality, but few studies have examined the exact time course of these changes. In this article, we argue that time needs to be considered explicitly in theories and empirical studies on personality development. We discuss six notions on the role of time in personality development. First, people can differ before the event. Second, change can be non–linear and discontinuous. Third, change can be reversible. Fourth, change can occur before the event. Fifth, control groups are needed to disentangle age–related and event–related changes. Sixth, we need to move beyond examining single major life events and study the effects of non–normative events, non–events, multiple events, and minor events on personality. We conclude by summarizing the methodological and theoretical implications of these notions. Copyright

Everything under Control? The Effects of Age, Gender, and Education on Trajectories of Perceived Control in a Nationally Representative German Sample.

Perceived control is an important variable for various demands involved in successful aging. However, perceived control is not set in stone but rather changes throughout the life course. The aim of this study was to identify cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal mean-level changes as well as rank-order changes in perceived control with respect to gender and education. Furthermore, changes in income and health were analyzed to explain trajectories of perceived control. In a large and representative sample of Germans across all of adulthood, 9,484 individuals gave information about their perceived control twice over a period of 6 years. Using locally weighted smoothing (LOESS) curves and latent structural equation modeling, four main findings were revealed: (a) Perceived control increased until ages 30-40, then decreased until about age 60, and increased slightly afterwards. (b) The rank order of individuals in perceived control was relatively unstable, especially in young adulthood, and reached a plateau at about age 40. (c) Men perceived that they had more control than did women, but there were no gender differences in the development of perceived control. (d) Individuals with more education perceived that they had more control than those with less education, and there were slight differences in the development of perceived control dependent on education. Taken together, these findings offer important insights into the development of perceived control across the life span.

How Peers Make a Difference: The Role of Peer Groups and Peer Relationships in Personality Development

Peers are a pervasive aspect of peoples lives, but their role in personality development has rarely been considered. This is surprising, given that peers are promising candidates to explain personality development over the entire lifespan. Owing to the lack of clear–cut definitions of peers, we first elaborate on their defining criteria and functions in different life phases. We then discuss the role of peers in personality development across the lifespan. We advocate that an integration of social group perspectives and social relationship perspectives is essential to understand peer effects on personality development. Group socialization theory is particularly suited to explain developmental differences between groups as a result of group norms. However, it is blind towards differences in development within peer groups. In contrast, the PERSOC framework is particularly suited to explain individual differences in development within groups as a result of specific dyadic peer–relationship experiences. We propose that a conjunct consideration of peer–group effects and dyadic peer–relationship effects can advance the general understanding of personality development. We discuss examples for a cross–fertilization of the two frameworks that suggest avenues for future research. Copyright

On the Consistency of Personality Types Across Adulthood: Latent Profile Analyses in Two Large-Scale Panel Studies

Consistency and change in personality were analyzed by examining personality types across adulthood and old age using data from 2 nationally representative panel studies from Germany (N = 14,718; 16-82 years) and Australia (N = 8,315; 15-79 years). In both samples, the Big Five personality traits were measured twice across a period of 4 years. Latent profile analyses and latent profile transition analyses revealed 4 main findings: First, solutions with 3 (in the German sample) or 4 (in the Australian sample) personality types were found to be most interpretable. Second, measurement invariance tests revealed that these personality types were consistent across all age groups but differed slightly between men and women. Third, age was related to the number of individuals classified within each personality type. Namely, there were more resilients and fewer undercontrollers in older compared with younger age groups. Fourth, there was strong consistency of personality type membership across a period of 4 years in both genders and most age cohorts. Comparatively less consistency across time was found for undercontrollers and individuals in old age. Taken together, these findings show that in the 2 nations studied here, personality types were highly consistent across gender, age, and time.

Personality Trait Development During the Transition to Parenthood: A Test of Social Investment Theory

Social investment theory (SIT) proposes that the transition to parenthood triggers positive personality trait change in early adulthood. Using data from a representative sample of first-time parents compared to nonparents, the results of rigorous tests do not support the propositions of SIT. Specifically, we found no evidence for the proposition that parents show more pronounced mean-level increases in emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness compared to nonparents. We did find that agreeableness and openness changed depending on how long someone was in the parent role. Finally, our results suggest that high extraversion and low openness in both genders and high conscientiousness in females predict the likelihood to enter into parenthood. Discussion focuses on why this transition seems to be unrelated to mean-level personality trait change and the implications of these results for SIT.

Examining Mechanisms of Personality Maturation

Individuals are expected to mature with increasing age, but it is not yet fully understood which factors contribute to this maturation process. Using data of a representative sample of Germans (N = 14,718) who gave information about their Big Five personality traits twice over a period of 4 years, the authors identified satisfaction with life, which was reported yearly, as an important variable for explaining mechanisms and interindividual differences in personality maturation. Dual latent change models suggest that more satisfied (compared to less satisfied) individuals experience more positive changes in Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and that positive changes in life satisfaction are associated with positive changes in personality. Furthermore, maturation processes were examined for individuals who faced a social role transition, namely, marriage, birth of a child, or entering the job market. Again, differential effects highlight the importance of life satisfaction for personality maturation.

The Benefits of Believing in Chance or Fate

The death of a spouse is an extremely stressful life event that consequently causes a large drop in life satisfaction. Reactivity to the loss, however, varies markedly, a phenomenon that is currently not well understood. Because lack of controllability essentially contributes to the stressful nature of this incident, the authors analyzed whether individual differences in belief in external control influence the coping process. To examine this issue, widowed individuals (N = 414) from a large-scaled panel study were followed for the 4 years before and after the loss by using a latent growth model. Results showed that belief in external control led to a considerably smaller decline in life satisfaction and higher scores in the year of the loss. Thus, although usually regarded as a risk factor, belief in external control seems to act as a protective factor for coping with the death of a spouse.

Long-Term Effects of an Extensive Cognitive Training on Personality Development

Previous research found that cognitive training increases the Big Five personality trait Openness to Experience during and some weeks after the intervention. The present study investigated whether long-term changes happen in Openness to Experience and other personality traits after an extensive cognitive training of memory and perceptual speed. The intervention group consisted of 204 adults (20-31 years and 65-80 years; 50% female) who received daily 1-hour cognitive training sessions for about 100 days. The control group consisted of 86 adults (21-29 years and 65-82 years; 51% female) who received no cognitive training. All participants answered the NEO Five-Factor Inventory before and 2 years after the cognitive training. Latent change models were applied that controlled for age group (young vs. old) and gender. In the long run, the cognitive training did not affect changes in any facet of Openness to Experience. This was true for young and old participants as well as for men and women. Instead, the cognitive training lowered the general increase of Conscientiousness. Even an extensive cognitive training on memory and perceptual speed does not serve as a sufficient intervention for enduring changes in Openness to Experiences or one of its facets.