Chapter 5: Personality Dispositions Over Time (stability/coherence/change) Flashcards
what is personality development
the continuities, consistencies and stabilities in people over time AND the ways in which people change over time –> stability and change
what are the three most important forms of stability
- rank order stability
- mean level stability
- personality coherence
what is rank order stability
the maintenance of individual position within a group (e.g. maintaining position of extraversion relative to others over time) –> commonly looked at through test-retest correlations
what is rank order change
if people fail to maintain their rank order and there is instability
what is mean level stability
if the average level of personality stays the same over time (versus mean level change)
describe the concept of personality coherence
manifestations of a given trait might change over time –> e.g. disagreeableness as a child might manifest as tantrums, while in adulthood it manifests as short temper
what are the two defining qualities of personality change
change is internal to the person and changes are relatively enduring over time
what are the three levels of analysis for looking at personality stability
- population as a hole
- group differences within the population
- individual differences within groups
what is a popular theory that looks a personality on the population level
Freud’s psychosexual theories –> thought to apply to EVERYONE equally (changes and consequences are all the same)
describe the group differences level of personality
some changes over time affect different group of people differently (e.g. depending on sex, cultural/ethnic differences) –> e.g. European Canadians are higher in externalizing behaviours and thus at greater risk of developing ADHD (compared to Asian Canadians)
what is temperament
the individual differences that emerge in infancy, are likely to have a heritable basis, and are often involved with emotionality or arousibility
describe Rothbart’s six factors of temperament
- activity level
- smiling and laughter
- fear (approach/avoidance)
- distress to limitations
- soothability
- duration of orienting
–> high correlations over time (stable), especially towards the end of infancy (9-12 months)
what are some limitations of the studies showing stability in temperament across infancy
caregivers may have developed certain conceptions of their infants (might not actually be behaviours staying consistent)
what four important points are outlined by studies showing consistency in temperament across infancy
- stable individual differences emerge early in life
- for most temperament variables there are moderate levels of stability over the first year of life
- stability of temperament tends to be higher over short intervals of time than over long intervals of time
- level of stability of temperament tends to increase as infants mature
what is an actometer
- recording device attached to the wrists of children during play period –> records motoric movement
- these remain stable in childhood (between age 3 and 4)
- high validity coefficients between the actometer and questionnaire measures
what are stability coefficients
correlations between the same measures obtained at two different points in time (also called test-retest reliability coefficients) –> the further apart measures are taken, the lower the stability coefficient
what are validity coefficients
correlations between different measures of the same trait obtained at the same time
describe the stability of aggression across development
- individual differences in aggression emerge very early in life
- individuals retain their rank order stability on aggression to a substantial degree over the years
- similar trends with other personality traits –> children high in a particular trait remain high on it over time
describe the stability in status as a bully and victim in childhood
majority of children receive the same classification (of a bully, victim, or neither) a year later at a different school –> people classified as bullies are more likely to become juvenile delinquents in adolescence and criminals in adulthood
what traits do bullies tend to score more highly on
- extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism (on the Eysenck scale)
- more outgoing/gregarious, emotionally volatile/anxious, impulsive and lacking in empathy
- linked to conflicts at home
how stable are personality traits in adulthood (rank order stability)
- most big 5 traits show moderate to high levels of stability in adulthood –> self-reported, spouse ratings, peer ratings, etc., shown across different populations and investigators
- other traits (self-esteem, self-confidence, interpersonal empathy) also seen very consistent over time
what 2 results were found in Roberts & DelVecchaio’s study on when personality trait consistency peaks (rank order stability)
- personality consistency tends to increase with age (.47 in adolescence, .57 in 20s, .62 in 30s)
- peaks during the fifties (.75)!
how stable are personality traits in adulthood (mean level stability)
- big 5 shows mean level stability over time
- after age 50, there is little change in average stability in the big 5
- there are some small but consistent changes in traits
in terms of mean level stability, which personality traits change consistently (in small amounts)
- openness, extraversion and neuroticism gradually declines with increasing age until age 50
- conscientiousness and agreeableness show a gradual increase until age 50
- changes are usually in a positive direction (e.g. becoming more emotionally stage when entering midlife, especially between ages 22 and 40)
- all of these reflect growth in the direction of maturity
in whom does personality change more
perceptions of personality change (recognition that change has occurred) has a moderate association with actual personality change
what facets of conscientiousness appear to increase most with age
industriousness (working hard), impulse control, and reliability
what is the maturity principle
small (but consistent) changes in mean levels of personality traits in improved directions (e.g. decreased impulsivity, neuroticism, etc.)
describe how the big 5 personality dispositions may be changeable through therapy
outpatient drug rehabilitation program appeared to decrease neuroticism, increase agreeableness and conscientiousness –> these changes were largely maintained 15 months later
what did results from the victoria longitudinal study show
- observed evidence of personality change in old age
- overall structure remained stable over time, but there were significant individual differences in all factors from T1 to T2
- increases in Neuroticism, decreases in extraversion
- women showed decreases in neuroticism and increases in agreeableness & openness
- note the potential influence of critical life events
what is the reason behind a relatively lacking knowledge about change in personality
“inconsistency” “instability”, etc. seem undesirable and unpredictable –> absence of change is typically seen as positive
what is self-esteem
the extent to which one perceives oneself as relatively close to being the person one wants to be and/or as relatively distance from being the kind of person one does not want to be
how is self esteem measured
overall difference between a current self-description and an ideal self-description –> smaller discrepancy = higher self-esteem
describe the stability/change in self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood
- for sample overall there was no change
- men’s self-esteem tended to increase, while women’s tended to decrease
what are declines in self-esteem associated with
elevated levels of cortisol (stress hormone) –> improving self-esteem might improve health outcomes for seniors
what is self-esteem variability
magnitude of short-term changes in ongoing self-esteem –> measured by having people keep records of how they feel about themselves every day
describe the interaction between level and variability of self-esteem
- level and variability are unrelated but interact to predict life outcomes
- variability indicates fragility –> person is vulnerable to stress, influenced by events
- self-esteem level is related to depression, especially in those with high variability –> variability is more of a predictor than overall level
describe highly variable self-esteem
sensitivity to one’s sense of self-worth –. dependent for their self-worth on the approval of others, sensitive to social feedback, judge themselves through the eyes of others
what four things are observable in people with highly variable self-esteem
- enhanced sensitivity to evaluative events
- increased concern about self-concept
- over-reliance on social sources for self-evaluation
- reactions of anger/hostility when things don’t go their way
describe changes in overall levels of ambition, autonomy, achievement and dominance in men
- steep declines in ambition during 20s –> steepest for those with postsecondary education (although they started out with more ambition)
- become more realistic about their limited possibilities for promotion in the company
- scores on autonomy, leadership motivation, achievement and dominance increased over time
describe the four subscales of the sensation-seeking scale (SSS)
- thrill and adventure seeking
- experience seeking
- disinhibition
- boredom susceptibility
describe changes in sensation seeking over time
increases from childhood to adolescence (peaks at 18-20) and then falls continuously with age
what is the difference between impulsivity and sensation-seeking
- impulsivity –> tendency to act on behavioural impulses without planning or considering consequences
- sensation-seeking –> seek out experiences that are novel, exciting or rewarding
- both decline from adolescence to adulthood, but decline in impulsivity is steeper and begins earlier, and sensation seeking is pretty low early in adolescence (while impulsivity is high)
describe changes in openness/creativity over time
- most show a slight decrease at the mean level with age, but experiences might change this
- interventions aimed to improve cognitive reasoning shown to increase openness to experience
- psilocybin (magic mushrooms) increases openness, especially those who had a spiritual experience while on them
- mindfulness-based meditation might increase openness
what are cohort effects
- social times in which people lived –> might influence apparent changes in personality
- e.g. changes in women’s status have increased/decreased levels of assertiveness depending on the time period
- e.g. increases in narcissism in young adults
how do sociocultural factors shape narcissism
- individualistic vs collectivistic cultures
- narcissism higher in people who grew up in individualistic cultures
describe what has been found on volitional (intentional) personality change
- students who set goals to increase a Big 5 trait tended to experience actual increases in that trait
- shown on self-report and daily behaviours associated with the trait in question
what is personality coherence
predictable changes in the manifestations or outcomes of personality factors over time (even if underlying characteristics remain stable)
what are the three aspects of personality that seem to be strong predictors of marital dissatisfaction
- neuroticism of the husband
- lack of impulse control of the husband (linked to extramarital relations)
- neuroticism of the wife
–> neuroticism is strongest predictor
describe how neuroticism influences responses to the death of a spouse
- best predictor of coping well with the death of a spouse is emotional stability
- less grievance, less depression, quickest psychological recovery
describe the relationship between personality characteristics and alcoholism
- high on neuroticism = development of serious emotional problems or alcoholism
- low impulse control = same outcomes
- high on sensation seeking and impulsivity, low on agreeableness and conscientiousness –> also linked to substance use more generally
describe the relationship between religiosity and personality
- high on conscientiousness & agreeableness in adolescence = more religious later in life
- openness in adolescence = spirituality later in life
describe the role of impulsivity in education and academic achievement
- more impulsive = less education/academic performance
- less impulsive = more involvement with work, higher occupational attainment, better financial security
describe the role of conscientiousness and achievement in school/work
- high conscientiousness = successful academic performance
- some influence of emotional stability, agreeableness and openness
–> these outcomes also have a relationship on traits (lower anxiousness, more self-confidence)
what are the most important traits conducive to living a long life
- high conscientiousness
- positive emotionality (extraversion)
- low levels of hostility
- low levels of neuroticism
why do people high in conscientiousness live longer
- engage in more health-promoting practices (good diet, exercise)
- refrain from engaging in drug use
- follow doctor orders and adhere to treatment plans
- less risk-taking/impulsive
why do people in in extraversion live longer
have lots of friends –> good social support network
why do people low in neuroticism live longer
- low hostility puts less stress on the heart/cardiovascular system
- better health behaviours (less smoking, etc.)
describe the outcomes of children with temper tantrums
- severe and frequent tantrums in boys associated with lower levels of education later in life, and lower status of first job, more frequent job changes
- explosive temper tantrums = lower military rank, higher rates of divorce
describe the results on whether choice in marriage partner results in personality stability/change
- similarity between spouses supports personality stability
- dissimilarity = personality instability
