PSYC10004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Old Age, Convergent Validity, Implicit-Association Test
29 Jun 2018
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PSYC10004 Mind, Brain & Behaviour 2
LECTURE 25 (9.1) – Personality Change
Can personality change?
“In most of us, by the age of 30, the character has set like plaster”
(William James)
Personality essentially fixed in adulthood, according to many
theorists
oTrait theory: traits stable by definition
oBio approaches: innate tendencies
oPsychoanalysis: childhood determinism
Michel et al. (1990)
o4 y/o participants completed delay of gratification task
oRe-examined 11 - 14 y later
oDelay as a child associated with:
Greater playfulness
Greater stress tolerance
Better SAT scores
oMarshmallow test
Bring kids into lab furnished with plate, mirror, table, chair, bell
Ask kid if the marshmallows look nice, would they prefer 1 or 2
Leave them to wait in the room unsupervised, not to touch it
Results: puzzlement, temptation, giving in
oEvidence for stability
Longitudinal studies of personality
Correlating personality scales across time allows measure of rank
order stability
Costa & McCrae
~0.65 correlations for Big 5 over 20yr period after age 30
If someone above average on a factor at 30, 83% chance of it being above
average at 50
oStability increases with age
Rank-order stability increases over time
Meta-analysis by Roberts & DelVecchio (2000)
Calculated re-test correlations over 7yrs at different ages
oCauses of stability:
Genetic influences; environmental chanelling; environmental
selection; freedom from disruptive life changes; psychological resources; identity formation
oSense of stability
Rank-order stability relates to peoples’ position in relation to peers;
compatible with mean-level change
oEvidence for mean-level change (Srivastava et al 2003)
Large web-based survey, examining 2 tests of James’ claim
Hard plaster view: personality change stops at 30
oMean scores on personality tests should plateau
Soft plaster view: personality change slows at 30
oMean scores decelerate with increasing age
Found substantial mean-level change in adulthood (21-60)
1
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PSYC10004 Mind, Brain & Behaviour 2
Agreeableness: increase after 30
Conscientiousness: increases but plateaus after 30
Neuroticism: decreases only in women
Openness: decreases
Extraversion: increases (men), decreases (women)
oMean-level change causes
May reflect changing life circumstances, social roles & expectations
Mills College longitudinal study
Women who became mothers between university & 27 became: more
responsible; tolerant; feminine; less sociable & self-accepting than childless peers
Roberts et al 2003 (young people = 18 - 26)
Work attainment associated with: increased self-confidence, sociability;
decreased anxiety
oPersonality change in early adulthood transition
During transition to adulthood, young people generally become:
More agreeable; more conscientious; less neurotic
Soto et al. (2011)
Educational challenges in transition from school to university:
Associated with growth in Conscientiousness
Bleidorn (2012)
oTransition to 1st intimate partner relationship associated with:
Lasting reductions in N & shyness
Never & Lehnart (2007)
oInternational sojourns for university students
Raise A & O
Zimmerman & Neyer (2013)
Historical change
Kinds of stability referring to individual lives
Cross-temporal meta-analysis compared mean attribute levels across
time
oJean Twenge uni samples
Self-esteem increases; E rises; N/anxiousness rises
External attribution rises
Women’s assertiveness rises
1930s - 1950s; 1970s – now
Women’s assertiveness falls
1950s – 1970s
oPersonality may respond to cultural change
Different life stages may have different preoccupations
Themes might not correspond to trait changes, but reflected in how
traits expressed
Erik Erikson & “8 stages” of humankind
oPsychological stages extend & broaden Freud’s psychosexual stages
oEach stage has central theme/challenge
oLife stages
2
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Document Summary
In most of us, by the age of 30, the character has set like plaster (william james) theorists o o o o o o o o order stability average at 50. Personality essentially fixed in adulthood, according to many. 4 y/o participants completed delay of gratification task. Bring kids into lab furnished with plate, mirror, table, chair, bell. Ask kid if the marshmallows look nice, would they prefer 1 or 2. Leave them to wait in the room unsupervised, not to touch it. Correlating personality scales across time allows measure of rank. ~0. 65 correlations for big 5 over 20yr period after age 30. If someone above average on a factor at 30, 83% chance of it being above o o. Calculated re-test correlations over 7yrs at different ages. Genetic influences; environmental chanelling; environmental selection; freedom from disruptive life changes; psychological resources; identity formation o. Rank-order stability relates to peoples" position in relation to peers; compatible with mean-level change.
