Ryan Adams

Interpersonal conflict, agreeableness, and personality development

This multimethod research linked the Big-Five personality dimensions to interpersonal conflict in childhood. Agreeableness was the personality dimension of focus because this dimension has been associated with maintaining positive interpersonal relations in adolescents and adults. In two studies, elementary school children were assessed on the Big-Five domains of personality. Study 1 (n=276) showed that agreeableness was uniquely associated with endorsements of conflict resolution tactics in children as well as parent and teacher reports of coping and adjustment. Study 2 (n=234) revealed that childrens perceptions of themselves and others during conflict was influenced by their agreeableness regardless of their partners agreeableness. Observers also reported that pairs higher in agreeableness had more harmonious, constructive conflicts. Overall findings suggest that of the Big-Five dimensions, agreeableness is most closely associated with processes and outcomes related to interpersonal conflict and adjustment in children.

The antecedents and correlates of agreeableness in adulthood.

Data from a 25-year prospective study of 194 individuals indicated that teacher and peer reports of aggression, compliance, and self-control at age 8 distinguished high-agreeable from low-agreeable adults at age 33. Profile analyses revealed two behavioral types in childhood and two personality types in adulthood, with considerable continuity in the composition of these high- and low-agreeable types over time. High-agreeable childhood types had fewer disobedience and concentration problems than low-agreeable childhood types, and among boys, high-agreeable childhood types had better school grades and fewer behavior problems than their low-agreeable counterparts. High-agreeable adulthood types reported less alcoholism and depression, fewer arrests, and more career stability than did low-agreeable adulthood types.

Results of the study

Abstract This chapter presents and discusses the results of the study. The results are presented in three sections: results of the correlational analysis, results of the regression analysis, and results of the path analysis. In general the results suggest that family background is indirectly linked to GPA by virtue of its direct effect on study behaviors, verbal ability, and nonverbal ability. Similarly, the link between study behaviors and GPA is mediated through verbal ability and nonverbal ability. Family background and study behaviours consistently predicted nonverbal ability, verbal ability, and GPA, even after the effects of the other cognitive variables had been removed.

Models, modeling, and the design of the study

Abstract In this chapter three theoretical models linking verbal ability, nonverbal ability, family background, and study behaviors with college GPA are presented. The sample, consisting of 142 US and 42 Estonian University students, is described. Finally, the procedure used to conduct the study is summarized and the methods used to analyze the data are reviewed.

A reaction to the commentaries

Abstract In this chapter, conclusions are drawn and implications are suggested. Of the non-cognitive variables included in the study, the students’ Priorities were the most important in predicting GPA. In general, non-cognitive variables provided important information on admissions. Furthermore, explicit conceptual models, analyzed with relatively sophisticated statistical techniques, are needed to further our understanding of variables directly and indirectly related to college success.