Transcript Do People Grow and Mature from Adolescence to Young

Personality Psychology
Brent W. Roberts
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
What is Personality?
Broadly speaking it has to do with how each of
us is:
•
•
•
Different from everyone else
•
Similar to some people
•
The same as all humanity
Specifically….
Distal causes
Units of Analysis
Fulcrum of assessment
Distal causes
Traits
Gene
s
PhysioLogical
Mechanisms
Big Five
Positive & Negative Affect
Attachment Styles
Motives & Values
Society/
Culture
Reputation:
Observations
Unconscious
processes
Goals
Interests
Life tasks
Roles:
Status
Affiliation
Intimacy
Abilities
g
Verbal, Spatial,
Quantitative
Identity:
Narratives
Stories
Significant memories
Scripts
Ideological settings
Self-reports
Conscious,
subjective
experience
How did you get your personality?



Genes?
Experience?
Both?
Heritability of Personality Traits
1.
2.
3.
Most personality traits have a heritability between .3 to
.5
Personality is only weakly influenced by “shared” family
environment (social class, child-rearing styles, religion,
etc.)
Personality is more strongly affected by nonshared
environment (accidents, sibling interaction, influences
outside of family).
a.
b.
c.
d.
Effects replicate for Monozygotic twins raised apart.
Average personality trait correlation among adopted siblings is
near zero.
Average personality trait correlation between parents and
adoptive children is often near zero.
Average personality trait correlation between parents and
biological offspring is very small.
Moving from behavior genetics to the
genome.
1.
Are there specific genes that affect personality?
a.
2.
3.
Wrong question.
Correct question: How do genes interact with
environments to determine personality (Caspi et al.,
2002 & 2003)?
Are you a delinquent?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Don’t conform to social norms
Break laws
Dishonest
Violent & aggressive
Consistent irresponsibility
Low agreeableness and conscientiousness
What are the genetic and
environmental links?
1.
2.
3.
MAOA gene. Encodes the MAOA enzyme
which metabolizes neurotransmitters such as
norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine.
Low MAOA activity is associated with elevated
aggression.
Childhood maltreatment is associated with
delinquency in adolescence.
Caspi et al., (2002).
1.
Examined interaction between genetic
variation in MAOA gene (low and high
activity) and childhood maltreatment on
delinquency.
a.
b.
c.
MAOA gene was unrelated to delinquency.
Boys who had the low activity gene who were severely
maltreated committed more delinquent acts in
adolescence (violent offenses, antisocial personality
disorder).
Boys who had high activity gene who were severely
maltreated committed no more delinquent acts than
boys who were not maltreated.
Percent diagnosed with conduct disorder
as an adolescent
90
80
70
60
50
No Maltreatment
Severe Maltreatment
40
30
20
10
0
Low MAOA activity
High MAOA activity
Why should we care?

Because who we are determines what we do….
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
Children who were rated as more conscientious when they were 8 lived
longer than their counterparts (Friedman et al., 2003).
People who are more conscientious as adolescents experience higher
levels of occupational success by age 50 (Judge et al., 1999).
People who are more conscientious in college have more children and
fewer divorces at age 40 (Roberts & Bogg, 2004).
People who are more anxious at age 18 had lower relationship
satisfaction across different relationships at age 21 and age 26 (Robins
et al., 2002).
People who are more creative in college experience higher levels of
success in creative occupations 30 years later (Helson, Roberts, &
Agronick, 1995).
Now that you have a personality are you
done developing?

No.
How much mean-level change do personality traits
demonstrate across the life course?
Roberts & Walton (under review)

98 longitudinal studies that tracked mean-level changes in
personality traits in 104 different samples.

47,340 participants that ranged in age from 10 to 101.
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d-scores were used to estimate change.

M2-M1/SDp
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in Social Vitality
Change in Social Vitality
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
*
*
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
10 to 18 to 22 to 30 to 40 to 50 to 60 to 70 +
18 (10) 22 (15) 30 (22) 40 (11) 50 (16) 60 (8) 70 (6) (6)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Change in Social Dominance
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in Social
Dominance
0.5
*
0.4
0.3
*
*
*
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
10 to 18 18 to 22 22 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 50+ (4)
(5)
(9)
(14)
(6)
(5)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in Agreeableness
Change in Agreeableness
0.5
*
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
10 to 18 18 to 22 22 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 50 to 60 60+
(17)
(11)
(17)
(9)
(11)
(5)
(5)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Change in Conscientiousness
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in
Conscientiousness
0.5
*
0.4
0.3
*
*
0.2
0.1
*
0
-0.1
-0.2
10 to 18 18 to 22 22 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 50 to 70 60 +
(15)
(17)
(21)
(9)
(10)
(8)
(4)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in Emotional
Stability
Change in Emotional
Stability
0.5
*
0.4
0.3
0.2
*
*
*
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
10 to 18 to 22 to 30 to 40 to 50 to 60 to
18 (19) 22 (15) 30 (31) 40 (15) 50 (21) 60 (10) 70 (8)
70+
(8)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Meta-Analytic Estimates of Change in Openness to
Experience
*
Change in Openness
0.4
0.3
*
0.2
0.1
*
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
10 to 18 to 22 to 30 to 40 to 50 to 60 to 70+
18 (11) 22 (37) 30 (12) 40 (8) 50 (7) 60 (4) 70 (4) (4)
Roberts & Walton (under review)
Aggregate Change in Personality Traits
Across the Life Course
1.3
1.1
0.9
0.7
0.5
0.3
0.1
-0.1
-0.3
-0.5
-0.7
Openness
Emotional Stability
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Social Dominance
Social Vitality
10 to 18 to 22 to 30 to 40 to 50 to 60 to 70+
18 22 30 40 50 60 70
Why should we care about this?


In a follow-up to their earlier work, Friedman et
al., found that childhood conscientiousness and
adult conscientiousness predicted longevity
independent of one another.
The changes we experience in adulthood may
have significant consequences for our health and
well-being.
What causes us to change in adulthood?

Social Investment Hypothesis:

Personality changes arise through experiences in universal
tasks of social living, such as establishing one’s social
position in society through one’s work or forming long-term
bonds through the creation of a family unit in young
adulthood (Helson, Kwan, John, & Jones, 2002).
The Social Investment Hypothesis
Involvement
In work at age 26
Percentage of
Time married
From 43 to 52
Smoking
Marijuana at
Age 43
.25*
Increases in Constraint
From 18 to 26
.18*
Increases in Responsibility
From 43 to 52
.34*
Decreases in Responsibility
From 21 to 43
Conclusions

Personality is an exciting, complex, and dynamic
field

Behavior genetics

Genomics

Development

Health & Longevity