Personality, Stability, Development, And Change Flashcards
Evidence for Stability
Studies have shown that personality traits remain relatively stable over time, with high correlations in trait scores measured a decade apart. For example, the correlation coefficient can be as high as r = .90.
Predicting Life Outcomes
Childhood personality ratings can predict adult life outcomes. For instance, children rated as “inhibited” tend to take longer to find stable romantic partners and jobs in adulthood.
Stability of Personality Disorders
Personality disorders tend to be stable throughout a person’s life, with therapy having limited impact on changing these conditions.
Causes of Stability
Several factors contribute to the stability of personality, including genetics, early life experiences, and environmental factors.
Birth Order
Birth order can influence personality traits. Firstborns may tend to be more conventional and supportive of traditional values, while laterborns might exhibit greater independence and open-mindedness.
Early Adverse Experiences
Negative childhood experiences, such as rejection or bullying, can have long-lasting effects on personality development, leading to difficulties in relationships and emotional well-being.
Person-Environment Transactions
People tend to seek out and create environments that align with their personality traits, which can further reinforce and stabilize those traits over time
Active person– environment transaction
Person seeks out compatible environments and avoids incompatible ones
Reactive person– environment transaction
Different people respond differently to the same situation
Evocative person– environment transaction
Aspect of an individual’s personality leads to behavior that changes the situations he or she experiences
Personality Trait Changes
When personality traits change, they often change together. Older adults tend to experience greater stability in their personality traits, primarily due to their more stable environments as they settle into their lives.
Cumulative Continuity Principle
Individual differences in personality tend to become more consistent as a person matures, with personality traits being relatively stable across the life span. This principle suggests that consistency increases with age.
Psychological Maturity
Psychological maturity involves behavioral consistency and traits that enable a person to fulfill adult roles. Adolescents with relatively mature personalities tend to undergo less change over the next decade, and recent research suggests that people worldwide may be becoming more psychologically mature.
Personality Development
Personality development refers to changes in an individual’s personality traits over time. It involves shifts in the mean level of traits as people age, reflecting differences between older and younger individuals.
Longitudinal Studies
Longitudinal studies track the same individuals over an extended period, measuring their personality traits multiple times. They offer a more comprehensive view of how personality develops and changes across the lifespan.
Maturity Principle of Development
The maturity principle suggests that traits associated with performing adult roles, such as conscientiousness and emotional stability, tend to increase with age. However, there may be limits to this principle in late old age.
Individual Differences in Personality Change
While there are consistent trends in mean-level personality changes across age groups, individual differences exist. Some people may show different patterns of personality change or experience minimal change over time.
William James and Personality Development
The traditional belief that personality “sets like plaster” after a certain age, often attributed to psychologist William James, has been challenged by research showing that personality traits continue to change over several decades.
Causes of Personality Development
Personality development is influenced by various factors, including physical development (e.g., IQ, linguistic ability, hormonal changes) and changes in social roles at different life stages.
Social Clock
The social clock represents societal expectations and pressures that dictate the timing of important life events. People who adhere to this clock receive social approval, while those who deviate may feel out of sync with society.
Development of Narrative Identity
Narrative identity involves the development of three aspects over time: seeing oneself as an actor, becoming an agent guided by goals and values, and becoming the author of one’s life story. This narrative provides a holistic view of a person’s life and can change in response to major life events.
Themes in Narrative Identity
Narrative identity can feature various themes, including “agency,” which emphasizes challenging oneself and accomplishing goals, and “redemption,” which involves finding positive outcomes in initially negative events. These themes can reflect an individual’s personality traits and impact behavior and habits.
Influence of Cultural Background on Narrative Identity
People from different cultural backgrounds may construct narrative identities differently. For example, nonimmigrant European-Canadians may focus on stable aspects, while Asian immigrants may emphasize how life events affect personality and future actions.
Goals Across the Life Span
Life goals evolve with age. In youth, goals center around future preparation, learning, career, and relationships. However, in old age (around 70 and beyond), priorities shift towards emotionally meaningful connections, regulating emotions, and avoiding troublesome interactions. These shifts in goals are influenced by one’s perspective on time and expectations of remaining life.
