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Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Terracciano, A; McCrae, RR; Costa, PT
Published in: Journal of research in personality
February 2010

The stability of individual differences in personality traits is typically examined at the group level with test-retest correlations across two assessments. For 684 subjects (age range 17-76) we computed individual coefficients from three sequential assessments to evaluate intra-individual (i.e., within-person) change in stability over time. For both trait and profile (ipsative) stability, results indicate that intra-individual stability increases up to age 30 and then plateaus. Neither demographic variables (sex, ethnicity, education, and secular trends), nor the standing on the five major dimensions of personality, were predictors of change in trait stability. Contrary to results from studies of adolescents, personality "maturity" was unrelated to personality stability in adulthood. These findings support the notion that personality stability plateaus early in adulthood.

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Published In

Journal of research in personality

DOI

ISSN

0092-6566

Publication Date

February 2010

Volume

44

Issue

1

Start / End Page

31 / 37

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1503 Business and Management
 

Citation

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Terracciano, A., McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2010). Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(1), 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.09.006
Terracciano, Antonio, Robert R. McCrae, and Paul T. Costa. “Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age.Journal of Research in Personality 44, no. 1 (February 2010): 31–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.09.006.
Terracciano A, McCrae RR, Costa PT. Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age. Journal of research in personality. 2010 Feb;44(1):31–7.
Terracciano, Antonio, et al. “Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age.Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 44, no. 1, Feb. 2010, pp. 31–37. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2009.09.006.
Terracciano A, McCrae RR, Costa PT. Intra-individual Change in Personality Stability and Age. Journal of research in personality. 2010 Feb;44(1):31–37.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of research in personality

DOI

ISSN

0092-6566

Publication Date

February 2010

Volume

44

Issue

1

Start / End Page

31 / 37

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Psychology
  • 5205 Social and personality psychology
  • 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
  • 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
  • 1702 Cognitive Sciences
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1503 Business and Management