W10: Personality change Flashcards
Implications of Personality stability
Psychological practice
Criminology
Clinical Psychology
Employee selection
Attitudes towards self-improvement
Making good decisions in life
Will you be ‘the same’ in 2o years?
Will someone you want to marry be ‘the same’ in 20 years?
different type of stability
S5
Rank-order stability:
moderate-high and increases over the lifespan
- genetic n environmental effects
mean-level change:
occurs throughout the lifespan
-Differs by trait
-Changes appear to approach -‘psychosocial maturity’
-Evidence for genetic/ universal maturation factors
-Also, environment effects (e.g., life transitions)
Individual change:
- Significant, unique events/experiences
- People don’t expect to change, but do
- Evidence of anticipatory change
- People can volitionally decide change their personalities
Rank-order stability
Costa & McCrae (1994)
Test-retest correlations ~ 0.65 for the big five traits over multiple studies (up to 30 year periods)
Indicates that, if one is above average on a trait at 30, the probability of being so at 50 is 83% (5:1 odds)
Rank order stability
Roberts & DelVecchio (2000)
Test-retest correlations indicating rank-order stability :
1) Are relatively high
2) Increase with age ( ~ 0.41 in childhood to ~ 0.55 at age 30, to ~ 0.70 between ages 50 and 70).
3)Decrease as the test-retest interval increases:
~.55 over a 1 year period, ~.25 over a 40 year period
4) Trait general, i.e., do not vary across:
- Big Five traits
- Assessment method
- Gender
What influences stability (3)
Genetic influences:
Probabilistic influences of genes on behaviour/experience
Environmental channeling:
‘Settling down’: increased stability in environment, friends, routine etc
Environmental selection:
We seek environments that match, support, and maintain our traits
Influences on stability:
Genetics
Longitudinal twin studies
McGue et al., 2003
70-90% of stability owing to genetic factors
70% of change owing to environmental factors
environment also contributes to stability:
Kandler et al. (2010)
Genetic effect on stability ~ .95
Environmental effect on stability ~ .50
Influences on stability:
Environmental channelling…
Caspi & Herbener (1990)
126 continuously married couples given personality assessments in 1970 and 1981
Rank order stability was higher for couples with more similar personalities
.41 vs .58
Influences on stability:
Environmental selection…
(3) choose
Assortive mating—
Trait correlations between romantic partners and friends, up to r = .35
May be under-estimated due to the ‘reference group effect’
Migration:
People prefer to live among people with similar personalities, values, interests.
Vocational choice:
People gravitate toward educational and vocational career paths that ‘fit’ their personality
Mean level personality change
Costa & McCrae (1994)
Big 5
O, E & N drop over adult years
A and C rise over adult years
There is therefore a general tendency for people to become nicer, more responsible, more set in their ways, less outgoing, and more stable…
Mean level personality change
Roberts et al. (2006) summary:
Extraversion components show different change trajectories
Social Vitality slowly declines
Social Dominance rises until ~40
Agreeableness and Conscientiousness rise steadily
Emotional Stability shows decelerating rises
Openness plateaus in early adulthood and declines gently in later adulthood
Change tends to be positive: “Psychosocial Maturity”
Robins & Mroczek (2009)
Uni students (4 years) Negative affect drops and positive affect rises through adulthood
Change tends to be positive: “Psychosocial Maturity”
What influences mean-level change?
1) Genetic influences
2) Environmental effects
Genetic influences Evolved ‘maturation processes’ “Developmental tasks” - E and O more helpful around reproductive age - C more helpful during parenting
Environmental effects
- Major life transitions / stages / role shifts
- Historical events
What influences mean-level change?
1) Genetic influences
Loehlin (1993)
Personality change scores correlated higer for MZ twins.
Genetic ‘switches’ may be partially responsible for systematic patterns of change
However, Hopwood et al., (2011):
For conscientiousness: genetic effect > environment effect
For neuroticism: only a significant environment effect
(Minimal change observed for other traits)
What influences mean-level change?
2) Environmental effects
Cross-cultural comparisons
McCrae et al. 1999
If environments drive mean-level change, then change patterns should differ across markedly different environments
McCrae et al. 1999
Key conclusions
E, A, O, C very similar to US samples
N a bit inconsistent – decreased only in Germany and South Korea
Data are suggestive of Universal Maturation
there might be evidence of cross-species Universal Maturation
mean-level change
Major life transitions: Transition to work
Major life transitions: Transition to work
Roberts, 1997:
Greater participation in the workforce associated with increases in ‘agency’ (part of E: social dominance)
Potentially contributes toward typical mean level changes
mean-level change
cohort effects?
personality influenced by broad historical / societal shifts
Might be difficult to detect
Jean Twenge’s ‘generation me’ study (cohort effects?)
Inflated self-esteem, egotism, and expectations of the future
problems:
Sampling issues (not representative)
Over-estimation of effect sizes (individual vs aggregated scores)
Trzesniewski & Donnellan, 2010
At attempt to confirm ‘generation me’
No evidence for inflations in self-esteem / egotism
Moderate increases in educational aspirations, and decreases in concerns about social problems (rs ~.20)
All other trends were very small (rs ~.10)
Conclusion: Little support for any marked cohort effect during this period
Generational change
A new cohort hypothesis…
iGen
Total parental/adult supervision creates heightened vulnerabilities in adulthood
Purportedly explains…
- Trigger warnings
- Micro-aggressions
- ‘Moral panic’
Generational change
summary
Every generation expresses concerns about the qualities of the next generation
Robust evidence for cohort effects on personality has proven elusive
Beliefs about personality change
What about people’s beliefs and intuitions about personality change?
Part of ‘implicit personality theory’: laypeople’s understandings of traits and trait structure
May impact on our decision making – choices now might be influence by how much we expect to change
Beliefs about personality change
Haslam et al. (2007)
Beliefs about normative mean level personality change through the lifespan are reasonably accurate
Findings:
1) Beliefs about normative mean level personality change through the lifespan are reasonably accurate
2) People believe that personality changes less with age…
People may underestimate the extent to which their own personality will change in the future
“end of history illusion”
The “end of history illusion” : the tendency to believe that we are ‘complete’ when we are always ‘works in progress’ -> underestimating our personality change
Implications for decision-making:
Marriage, tattoos, house purchases, career choice
Quoidbach et al., 2013 (studies 1)
details:
test beliefs of Personality
Then assigned to 1 of 2 conditions
Reporter: complete for yourself 10 years ago
Predictor: complete for yourself in 10 years time
Computed average of absolute difference in all big five trait scores to index predicted change and reported change…
Replication studies conducted, adding other attributes (values and interests)
predicted -> always close to 0
reported -> biggest change is value than preference than personality
=> cons: may not remember accurately -> Study 2
=> r u show we can report what we have 10 years from now?
Quoidbach et al., 2013 (studies 2-3) -> replications?
Results
Inaccurate predictions/fallible memories (cannot remember)
Contrasted the remembered and predicted changes in personality to actual changes in personality in a separate longitudinal sample
Actual personality change was identical to the reported change in the ‘reporter’ condition,
but
substantially larger than predicted change in the ‘predictor’ condition..
Individual change:
role of unique experiences
The Big Five vary across individuals in direction and rate of change.
Individual change:
Has important consequences
Health
changes in conscientiousness predict changes in health:
- Mediated by changes in ‘health promoting behaviours’
Changes in neuroticism predict mortality:
high and increasing neuroticism predicting an earlier death
Individual change:
Transition to work (again)
Roberts et al., 2003
We each have different experiences during these transitions
~1000 young adults follows up for ~10 years
Personality predicted positive work experiences (occupational attainment and financial security)
But, positive work experiences also predicted changes in personality (increased E, decreased N)
Individual change:
Does travel ‘broaden the mind’?
University students on ‘study abroad’ for 1 or 2 semesters (N = 527) vs control students (N = 607)
Selection effects:
Short term: higher E and C
Long term: higher E and O
Effects of travel
Increases in O and A
Decreases in N
Further observations/comments
C : short term travel; career aspirations?
O : long term travel; seeking greater immersion?
For O and N, personality change was mediated by increases in ‘relationship gains’
Greater tolerance/understanding and social support?
Individual Change:
Do clinical interventions change personality?
Lasting changes especially for decreased neuroticism, and (to a lesser extent) increased extraversion
No moderating role for kind of therapy (e.g., pharmacological, cognitive behavioural etc)
Non-linear impact of therapy duration:
<1 month: minimal effects
Dose-dependent effect up until ~8 months
Greater effects for some presenting problems than others (e.g., anxiety vs. substance use)
Anticipating vs. responding to life events?
Do we (knowingly or unknowingly) change our personalities in anticipation of life events?
Denissen et al., 2018:
Details and results
9-year prospective study (~6,000 participants) Surveyed on life events every month Examined personality change before and after reports of Employment Unemployment Marriage Childbirth Divorce
Surprisingly, most personality change effects were in anticipation of a major life event
e.g., Transition to work (again!)
Increases in conscientiousness and openness prior to employment
Can we choose to change?
(2)
Free traits’ and ‘Personal Projects’
Distribution Density Hypothesis
Free traits’ and ‘Personal Projects’
Little (2000):
From acting ‘out of character’, to resolving to become more social/kind/disciplined etc
Distribution Density Hypothesis
Fleeson (2001): Traits are ‘merely’ distributions of states
Introverts often act extraverted,
Are we motivated to act counterdispositionally?
Can we choose to change?
We change our personality states to pursue goals
McCabe & Fleeson, 2012 :
Extraversion and goal pursuit
10-day Experience sampling study (N = 47)
Most of the variance in state extraversion was predicted by momentary goals:
e.g., to attract attention; engage in leadership; make a positive impression; form friendships; have fun
Later extension to conscientiousness… (McCabe & Fleeson, 2016)
Can we choose to change?
Can we do it long term?
Volitional Personality Change
Hudson & Fraley, 2015
Questions:
Do people want to change? - Yes
~90% of people want to change their personality in some way
on average increased E, O, A, C and decreased N
‘psychosocial maturity’
Do people change as desired? - Yes
Was the change large?
.02 standard deviations per month (averaged across traits/studies)
Equates to > 4 SDs over 20 years!
How do they change?
Counter-dispositional behaviour:
Maybe personal identity
Can we choose to change?
Volitional Personality Change
Hudson & Fraley, 2015
How do they change?
Fake it till u make it
Counter-dispositional behaviour:
Goals ->personality states -> change in traits
For E, A and N only
Maybe personal identity
But also personal identity?
Goals -> change in traits (self report) -> personality states
For E, C and N only
NB: No mediators identified for changes in openness
