Self-perceptions of stability and change in personality at midlife: the UNC Alumni Heart Study.

Journal Article (Journal Article)

The finding of personality stability in adulthood may be counterintuitive to people who perceive a great deal of change in their own personality. The purpose of this study is to determine whether self-reported perceived changes in personality are associated with actual changes based on a 6- to 9-year follow-up of 2,242 middle-aged male and female participants of the UNC Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS). Respondents completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory on two occasions and were asked to reflect back over a 6-year period and assess changes in their personality. The majority of respondents (n = 1,177; 52.5%) reported they had "stayed the same," while 863 (38.5%) reported they had "changed a little" and 202 (9%) reported they had "changed a good deal." Coefficients of personality profile agreement computed to evaluate global personality change for the three perceived change groups were essentially equivalent. Further, directional analyses of domain-specific changes in personality showed that perceived changes were weak predictors of residual gain scores. In an absolute sense, perceptions of stability or change were discordant in 8 of 15 (53%) comparisons. Self-perceptions of change are not an adequate substitute for objective assessments.

Full Text

Duke Authors

Cited Authors

  • Herbst, JH; McCrae, RR; Costa, PT; Feaganes, JR; Siegler, IC

Published Date

  • December 2000

Published In

Volume / Issue

  • 7 / 4

Start / End Page

  • 379 - 388

PubMed ID

  • 11151963

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 1073-1911

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1177/107319110000700406

Language

  • eng

Conference Location

  • United States