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Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Costa, PT; Herbst, JH; McCrae, RR; Siegler, IC
Published in: Assessment
December 2000

Although developmental theories and popular accounts suggest that midlife is a time of turmoil and change, longitudinal studies of personality traits have generally found stability of rank order and little or no change in mean levels. Using data from 2,274 men and women in their 40s retested after 6 to 9 years, the present study examined two hypotheses: (a) that retest correlations should be no higher than about .60 and (b) that there should be small decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness, and small increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. The study also explored the effects of recalled life events on subsequent personality scores. Results did not support the first hypothesis; uncorrected retest correlations uniformly exceeded .60. This was true for all personality traits, including facets of Agreeableness and Conscientiousness not previously included in longitudinal studies. The hypothesized decreases in Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness were found, but Conscientiousness showed a small decrease instead of the predicted increase. Life events in general showed very little influence on the levels of personality traits, although some effects were seen for changes in job and marital status that warrant further research.

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Published In

Assessment

DOI

ISSN

1073-1911

Publication Date

December 2000

Volume

7

Issue

4

Start / End Page

365 / 378

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Personality Inventory
  • Personality
  • North Carolina
  • Middle Aged
  • Marital Status
  • Male
  • Life Change Events
  • Humans
  • Human Development
 

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Costa, P. T., Herbst, J. H., McCrae, R. R., & Siegler, I. C. (2000). Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events. Assessment, 7(4), 365–378. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319110000700405
Costa, P. T., J. H. Herbst, R. R. McCrae, and I. C. Siegler. “Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events.Assessment 7, no. 4 (December 2000): 365–78. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319110000700405.
Costa PT, Herbst JH, McCrae RR, Siegler IC. Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events. Assessment. 2000 Dec;7(4):365–78.
Costa, P. T., et al. “Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events.Assessment, vol. 7, no. 4, Dec. 2000, pp. 365–78. Pubmed, doi:10.1177/107319110000700405.
Costa PT, Herbst JH, McCrae RR, Siegler IC. Personality at midlife: stability, intrinsic maturation, and response to life events. Assessment. 2000 Dec;7(4):365–378.
Journal cover image

Published In

Assessment

DOI

ISSN

1073-1911

Publication Date

December 2000

Volume

7

Issue

4

Start / End Page

365 / 378

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Personality Inventory
  • Personality
  • North Carolina
  • Middle Aged
  • Marital Status
  • Male
  • Life Change Events
  • Humans
  • Human Development