Chapter 5 Larsen
Personality dispositions over time: stability,
coherence and change
Conceptual Issues: Personality Development, Stability
Coherence, and Change
What is personality development?
Personality development Are continuities, consistencies, and stabilities in people over
time and the ways in which people change over tie
iost iiportant foris of stability are rank order stability, mean level stability, and
personality coherence
Rank order stability
Rank order stability is the iaintenance of individual position within a group
If people tend to maintain their positions on dominance or extraversion relatve to
the other ieibers of their group over tie, then there is high rank order stability to
that personality characteristc
Mean level stability
Constancy of level or mean level stability
If the average level of liberalisi or conservatsi in a population reiains the saie
with the increasing age of that populaton, the populaton exhibits high iean level
stability on that characteristcc
if people tend as a group to get increasingly conservatve as they get older—then
that populaton is dis-playing mean level change
Personality coherence
A iore coiplex fori of personality developient involves changes in the manifestatons
(Fori) of a traitc
For example, a 8-year old dominant boy (through bv. Shoutngg would express their
trait dominance with 20 years other (through bv. Persuasion by arguments)
The act manifestations have all changed, but soiething critcal has reiained the
saie—the overall level of dominant acts
A fori of personality developient is Personality coherence maintaining rank order in
relaton to other individuals but changing the manifestatons of the trait
Personality change
Personality change has two defning qualites
First, the changes are typically internal to the person, not ierely changes in the
external surroundings, such as walking into another rooic
, Second, the changes are relatively enduring over time, rather than being ierely
teiporaryc
Three levels of analysis
We can exaiine personality over time at three levels of analysis:
the populaton as a whole,
group diferences within the populaton, and
individual diferences within groups
Population level
This level of personality developient deals with the changes and constancies that apply
more or less to everyonec
For example, almost everyone in the populaton tends to increase in sexual
motvaton at puberty.
Group difference levels
Soie changes over tie affect different groups of people diferently
Sex differences are one type of group diferencesc
o For example, females go through puberty, on average, two years earlier than
males.
Other group diferences include cultural or ethnic group differences
Individual differences level
Personality psychologists also focus on individual differences in personality developient
Personality stability over time
Stability of temperament during infancy
Mary Rothbart exaiined six factors of temperament, using a ieasure coipleted by the
infants' caregivers:
1c Activity level: the infant's overall iotor actvity, including ari and leg ioveientsc
2c Smiling and laughter: How iuch does the infant siile or laugh?
3c Fear: the infant's distress and reluctance to approach novel stiulic
4c Distress to limitations: the child's distress at being refused food, being dressed, being
confned, or being prevented access to a desired obeectc
5c Soothability: the degree to which the child reduces stress, or calis down, as a result of
being soothedc
6c Duration of orienting: the degree to which the child sustains atenton to obeects in the
absence of sudden changesc
,Infants who tend to score high at one tie period on actvity level, siiling and laughter, and
the other personality traits, also tend to score high on these traits at later time periods
Actvity level and smiling and laughter tend to show higher levels of stability over tie than
the other personality traits
Personality traits tend to becoie more stable toward the end of infancy (froi 9 to 12
ionths)
There were also other iiportant results…
First, stable individual differences appear to eierge very early in life, when they can
be assessed by observersc
Second, for iost teiperaient variables, there are moderate levels of stability over
tie during the frst year of lifec
Third, the stability of teiperaient tends to be higher over short intervals of tie
than over long intervals of tie—a fnding that occurs in adulthood as wellc
Fourth, the level of stability of teiperaient tends to increase as infants iature
Stability during childhood
An Actigraph records motion of children
Actvity level in childhood can be validly assessed through both observatonal
eudgients and actvity recordings froi the actoieters
actvity level shows moderate stability during childhoodc
Stability coefcients the correlatons between the same measures obtained at two different
points in time (also called test-retest reliability coefcients)c
As a general rule, the longer the tie between testnggs, the lower the stability
coefcient
Validity coefcients the correlatons between diferent ieasures of the same trait obtained
at the same time
Longitudinal studies which exaiine the saie group of individuals over tie are ooen
conducted to exaiine developient, changes and stability of traits
showed that parents perception of child’s temperament such as positve afect
(ieasured by siiling and laughing) can predict parents extraversion
Showed that parents view of higher activity level in their child predicts a decrease
in parental neurotcisi
o Conversely, parents ratng of their own personality affects the ratngs given to
their child
Children teiperaient developient can be afected by adults – and vice versa
, Rank order stability in adulthood
The traits of Neurotcism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientousness all
show moderate to high levels of stabilityc The average correlaton across these traits, scales,
and tie intervals is roughly +.65c
4 /5 (emotonal stability, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeablenessg peak around 40-60
years
o These decrease froi 60 – with the excepton of Conscientousness
It has been reported that peaks in consistency occur differently according to the trait
being investgated
o Extraversion peaks earlier & it begins to decrease than agreeableness
Rely on self-report
Moderate to high rank order stability
Personality dispositons whether the standard big fve or other dispositons, show
ioderate to considerable high rank order stability over tie in adulthood
Personality consistency tends to increase with increasing age
For example, the average personality consistency during the teenage years was +0.47
jumps to +0.57 in the 20th jumps to +0.63 during 30th etc.
Personality dispositions over time: stability,
coherence and change
Conceptual Issues: Personality Development, Stability
Coherence, and Change
What is personality development?
Personality development Are continuities, consistencies, and stabilities in people over
time and the ways in which people change over tie
iost iiportant foris of stability are rank order stability, mean level stability, and
personality coherence
Rank order stability
Rank order stability is the iaintenance of individual position within a group
If people tend to maintain their positions on dominance or extraversion relatve to
the other ieibers of their group over tie, then there is high rank order stability to
that personality characteristc
Mean level stability
Constancy of level or mean level stability
If the average level of liberalisi or conservatsi in a population reiains the saie
with the increasing age of that populaton, the populaton exhibits high iean level
stability on that characteristcc
if people tend as a group to get increasingly conservatve as they get older—then
that populaton is dis-playing mean level change
Personality coherence
A iore coiplex fori of personality developient involves changes in the manifestatons
(Fori) of a traitc
For example, a 8-year old dominant boy (through bv. Shoutngg would express their
trait dominance with 20 years other (through bv. Persuasion by arguments)
The act manifestations have all changed, but soiething critcal has reiained the
saie—the overall level of dominant acts
A fori of personality developient is Personality coherence maintaining rank order in
relaton to other individuals but changing the manifestatons of the trait
Personality change
Personality change has two defning qualites
First, the changes are typically internal to the person, not ierely changes in the
external surroundings, such as walking into another rooic
, Second, the changes are relatively enduring over time, rather than being ierely
teiporaryc
Three levels of analysis
We can exaiine personality over time at three levels of analysis:
the populaton as a whole,
group diferences within the populaton, and
individual diferences within groups
Population level
This level of personality developient deals with the changes and constancies that apply
more or less to everyonec
For example, almost everyone in the populaton tends to increase in sexual
motvaton at puberty.
Group difference levels
Soie changes over tie affect different groups of people diferently
Sex differences are one type of group diferencesc
o For example, females go through puberty, on average, two years earlier than
males.
Other group diferences include cultural or ethnic group differences
Individual differences level
Personality psychologists also focus on individual differences in personality developient
Personality stability over time
Stability of temperament during infancy
Mary Rothbart exaiined six factors of temperament, using a ieasure coipleted by the
infants' caregivers:
1c Activity level: the infant's overall iotor actvity, including ari and leg ioveientsc
2c Smiling and laughter: How iuch does the infant siile or laugh?
3c Fear: the infant's distress and reluctance to approach novel stiulic
4c Distress to limitations: the child's distress at being refused food, being dressed, being
confned, or being prevented access to a desired obeectc
5c Soothability: the degree to which the child reduces stress, or calis down, as a result of
being soothedc
6c Duration of orienting: the degree to which the child sustains atenton to obeects in the
absence of sudden changesc
,Infants who tend to score high at one tie period on actvity level, siiling and laughter, and
the other personality traits, also tend to score high on these traits at later time periods
Actvity level and smiling and laughter tend to show higher levels of stability over tie than
the other personality traits
Personality traits tend to becoie more stable toward the end of infancy (froi 9 to 12
ionths)
There were also other iiportant results…
First, stable individual differences appear to eierge very early in life, when they can
be assessed by observersc
Second, for iost teiperaient variables, there are moderate levels of stability over
tie during the frst year of lifec
Third, the stability of teiperaient tends to be higher over short intervals of tie
than over long intervals of tie—a fnding that occurs in adulthood as wellc
Fourth, the level of stability of teiperaient tends to increase as infants iature
Stability during childhood
An Actigraph records motion of children
Actvity level in childhood can be validly assessed through both observatonal
eudgients and actvity recordings froi the actoieters
actvity level shows moderate stability during childhoodc
Stability coefcients the correlatons between the same measures obtained at two different
points in time (also called test-retest reliability coefcients)c
As a general rule, the longer the tie between testnggs, the lower the stability
coefcient
Validity coefcients the correlatons between diferent ieasures of the same trait obtained
at the same time
Longitudinal studies which exaiine the saie group of individuals over tie are ooen
conducted to exaiine developient, changes and stability of traits
showed that parents perception of child’s temperament such as positve afect
(ieasured by siiling and laughing) can predict parents extraversion
Showed that parents view of higher activity level in their child predicts a decrease
in parental neurotcisi
o Conversely, parents ratng of their own personality affects the ratngs given to
their child
Children teiperaient developient can be afected by adults – and vice versa
, Rank order stability in adulthood
The traits of Neurotcism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientousness all
show moderate to high levels of stabilityc The average correlaton across these traits, scales,
and tie intervals is roughly +.65c
4 /5 (emotonal stability, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeablenessg peak around 40-60
years
o These decrease froi 60 – with the excepton of Conscientousness
It has been reported that peaks in consistency occur differently according to the trait
being investgated
o Extraversion peaks earlier & it begins to decrease than agreeableness
Rely on self-report
Moderate to high rank order stability
Personality dispositons whether the standard big fve or other dispositons, show
ioderate to considerable high rank order stability over tie in adulthood
Personality consistency tends to increase with increasing age
For example, the average personality consistency during the teenage years was +0.47
jumps to +0.57 in the 20th jumps to +0.63 during 30th etc.
