Developmental Perspectives on

Personality

Psy 215
February 8, 2017
Overview

n  Childhood personality
q  Definitions/structure
n  Types of continuity
n  Mechanisms of Continuity
n  Spotlight on research
Defining Personality in Childhood and
Adolescence
n  Temperament versus Personality
q  Temperament = biological in nature; appears early
in life
q  Temperament develops into later personality,
which is more complex and broadly-defined
q  No clear understanding of how temperament traits
develop into later personality traits
Measurement of Temperament and
Personality
n  Numerous frameworks exist to measure
temperament
n  Adult personality primarily uses 3- or 5-factor
model
n  Two recent attempts to provide
comprehensive personality taxonomy for
children
q  Halverson et al. (2003) – empirical study
q  Shiner & Caspi (2003) – integrative literature
review
A comprehensive personality taxonomy
for childhood
n  These two attempts converged on a model
that includes 4 of the 5 factors in the FFM
q  Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness,
and Agreeableness
q  Some questions about Openness
n  When does it emerge developmentally?
n  Is it relevant to psychopathology?
n  Convergence between these two studies may
provide framework for children’s
personalities
TYPES OF CONTINUITY
Personality Continuity

How do you explain the ways people change

across development?
Types of continuity
n  Differential
q  consistency of individual differences within a
sample
q  individual retains relative position
q  evaluated by correlation coefficient
Personality Continuity

Types of continuity
n  Absolute
q  constancy in quantity or amount over time
q  typically assessed by group mean changes over time
q  in general, little change
n  When does adult personality particularly stabilize?
q  Around 30-years-old
q  decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness
q  increases in Conscientiousness and Agreeableness
n  These differences are seen between college students and
“adults”
Personality Continuity

Types of continuity
n  Structural

q  persistence of correlational patterns among

variables over time
q  invariant factor structure
q  Is the structure of personality the same?
Personality Continuity

Types of continuity
n  Ipsative

q  continuity in the configuration of variables within

an individual across time
q  correlate Q-sorts over time
q  range from -.44 to .92, from childhood to
adolescence, some people change a great deal,
whereas others change little
Personality Continuity

Types of continuity
n  Coherence
q  continuity of inferred genetic attribute presumably
underlies diverse phenotypic behaviors
q  “heterotypic continuities”
q  conceptual, rather than literal continuity
q  E.g., as a child you get into a lot of trouble for
fighting with other children – as an adult, have
problems with alcohol use
n  Continuity?
MECHANISMS OF
CONTINUITY
Mechanisms of Continuity

n  Environmental influences
q  stability of environment leads to stability in
personality
q  question: maybe environmental continuity
is byproduct of personality continuity?
Mechanisms of Continuity

Person-environment transactions
n  Reactive

q  everyone extracts a subjective psychological

environment from surroundings, and this shapes
personality development
q  Examples:
n  some children misperceive aggressive intentions in their
peers
n  Some children are more sensitive to punishment
Mechanisms of Continuity

Person-environment transactions
n  Evocative

q  individuals evoke distinctive reactions from others,

based on their personality
q  person reacts back in “mutually interlocking
evocative transaction”
q  Examples:
n  aggressive children shape responses of adults; Tx
implications
n  “difficult” temperament
n  Imagine you work at a daycare…
Mechanisms of Continuity

Person-environment transactions
n  Proactive

q  friendship formation and mate selection

q  the influence of peers
n  are we similar because they influence us, or
n  do we select similar peers in the first place
Mechanisms of Continuity

Person-environment transactions
n  Proactive

q  friendship formation and mate selection

q  the influence of peers
n  are we similar because they influence us, or
n  ** we select similar peers in the first place
Mechanisms of Continuity

Person-environment transactions
n  Proactive

q  friendship formation and mate selection

q  the influence of peers
n  are we similar because they influence us, or
n  ** we select similar peers in the first place
q  people who marry similar partners are more likely
to show continuity over time
n  Assortative mating
AND HOW DO WE CHANGE?
Mechanisms of Change

n  Responding to contingencies
n  Watching Oneself
n  Watching Others
n  Listening to Others
SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH
Consistency Meta-Analysis

Rank-order stability, only

n  focuses on relative placement of individuals within a
sample
Identified studies
n  measured personality
n  non-clinical
n  test-restest greater than one year
Consistency Meta-Analysis

n  3,217 rank-order consistency coefficients

n  Consistency increased until ages 50-59,
when it peaked
n  Pattern holds even when controlling for
length of study
n  Type of trait measured did not matter
Summary of Research

1.  Evidence for both continuity and

discontinuity
2.  Even when there is continuity, it may be
difficult to make predictions
Summary of Research

3. Continuity is greater during short periods

n  meta-analysis demonstrates this

n  “sleeper effects” may exist (relationships

may take time appear)
4. Continuity is greater for temperament-like
traits
n  personality traits are more stable than
attitudes and beliefs
Summary of Research

5. Conclusions may depend on measures used

and type of continuity considered
n  measures are frequently improved, but how
does improved version compare with
original?
n  with so many kinds of continuity, the research
lacks a focus
Summary of Research

6. Little research on boundary conditions

n  for any trait, there are limits to how much it
can change
n  change may be easier at certain times

n  we need more process-oriented research on

change and stability
Next time..

n  Exam 2