Personality Development Beyond the Mean: Do Life Events Shape Personality Variability, Structure, and Ipsative Continuity?. (16th July 2020)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Personality Development Beyond the Mean: Do Life Events Shape Personality Variability, Structure, and Ipsative Continuity?. (16th July 2020)
- Main Title:
- Personality Development Beyond the Mean: Do Life Events Shape Personality Variability, Structure, and Ipsative Continuity?
- Authors:
- Jackson, Joshua J
Beck, Emorie D - Editors:
- Lucas, Richard
- Abstract:
- Abstract: Objectives: Life experiences are thought to prompt changes in personality. However, existing studies find few replicable mean-level changes in personality following life events. The focus on mean-level change may obscure other types of personality change that are not routinely studied in the context of life events. These are variability in response, structural, and ipsative change. Methods: The current proposal examines whether major life events (e.g., divorce and job loss) affect these 3 understudied types of personality trait change using 3 waves of Big Five trait data in a large-scale, representative longitudinal study (German Socioeconomic Panel Study, N = 16, 368). Structural equation models compare those who had an event to their prior self and a control group who did not experience the event. Results: Life events were found to have mostly null or small effects on variability in response, structural, and ipsative change. Across 2 types of tests for variability in response, few replications occurred. The only consistent effect across 3 types of change was for mental health events, which served to increase variance in all Big Five traits and increase consistency in ipsative profiles. Discussion: Life events tend not to affect these novel metrics of personality trait change. The one exception of mental health events is consistent with previous literature on mean-level change. Overall, life events do not appear to by major catalysts of personality change,Abstract: Objectives: Life experiences are thought to prompt changes in personality. However, existing studies find few replicable mean-level changes in personality following life events. The focus on mean-level change may obscure other types of personality change that are not routinely studied in the context of life events. These are variability in response, structural, and ipsative change. Methods: The current proposal examines whether major life events (e.g., divorce and job loss) affect these 3 understudied types of personality trait change using 3 waves of Big Five trait data in a large-scale, representative longitudinal study (German Socioeconomic Panel Study, N = 16, 368). Structural equation models compare those who had an event to their prior self and a control group who did not experience the event. Results: Life events were found to have mostly null or small effects on variability in response, structural, and ipsative change. Across 2 types of tests for variability in response, few replications occurred. The only consistent effect across 3 types of change was for mental health events, which served to increase variance in all Big Five traits and increase consistency in ipsative profiles. Discussion: Life events tend not to affect these novel metrics of personality trait change. The one exception of mental health events is consistent with previous literature on mean-level change. Overall, life events do not appear to by major catalysts of personality change, regardless of how change is defined. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Journals of gerontology. Volume 76:Number 1(2021)
- Journal:
- Journals of gerontology
- Issue:
- Volume 76:Number 1(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 76, Issue 1 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 76
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0076-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 20
- Page End:
- 30
- Publication Date:
- 2020-07-16
- Subjects:
- Consistency -- Ipsative -- Life events -- Longitudinal -- Personality development
Geriatrics -- Periodicals
Gerontology -- Periodicals
Aged -- Periodicals
Aging -- Periodicals
Psychology, Social -- Periodicals
305.26 - Journal URLs:
- https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology ↗
http://psychsoc.gerontologyjournals.org/ ↗
http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/ ↗
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1093/geronb/gbaa093 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1079-5014
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 4995.099100
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 15255.xml