Chapter 3: Personality Over the Lifespan

Question 1

Rank Order Stability

Answer 1

The absolute score will change, but when compared to people like you in terms of age and gender, it is still relatively stable. For instance, although rebellion for everyone decreases as we age if you were above average in rebellion, chances are you are still above average, even though you are lower compared to your younger self.

Question 2

Mean Stability

Answer 2

When observing the entire population, the average remains constant. Some folks will increase, while others will decrease in specific traits, these fluctuations will cancel out.

Question 3

Coherence

Answer 3

The personality trait will remain the same, but the manifestation of a trait will change over time to be more age-appropriate. For instance, teens may rebel against their parents, while adults would rebel against the government. Still rebellion.

Question 4

When are the typical times for personality change?

Answer 4

Infancy to Childhood
Childhood to Adolescence
Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood
Emerging Adulthood to Middle Adulthood
Middle Adulthood to Elderhood

Question 5

Temperament

Answer 5

Since we cannot test many traits in infants, we look at temperament as a predecessor of personality. Temperament increasingly becomes stable as infants mature. Temperament breaks into 3 types:
Easy
Difficult
Slow to Warm Up

Question 6

Goodness-of-Fit

Answer 6

This refers to how well the infant’s temperament works with the environment they are put in. There is always an environment that matches well with the infant’s personality.