Personality Trait Changes in Adolescence: A Literature Review

1473

Abstract

This review summarizes the outcomes of empirical studies on the changes in the average level of the Big Five personality traits over adolescence. Most data indicate that openness, conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion increase in adolescence, while neuroticism decreases. Normative changes in the level of per- sonality traits in this period reflect the development of psychological maturity and adaptation in adolescents and are interlocked with the solution of main developmental tasks of that age. In some cases, though, negative patterns may arise (usually in early and middle adolescence), reflecting the specific difficulties of the adoles- cent years. Normative changes in personality traits are grounded in biological maturation, socialization and contextual factors. Adolescence is a sensitive period for the formation of both adaptive and non-adaptive devel- opmental patterns.

General Information

Keywords: adolescents, personality traits, Big Five, changes in average level, normative changes

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Akhmetova O.A., Slobodskaya E.R. Personality Trait Changes in Adolescence: A Literature Review. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2013. Vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 36–43. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Gudman R., Skott S. Detskaia psikhiatriia. [Child Psychiatry]. — Moscow: "Triada-X", 2008 — 405 p.
  2. Psikhologiia podrostka. Polnoe rukovodstvo. [Psychology teenager. Complete Guide]. Pod obshchei redak- tsiei A.A. Reana. — St. Petersburg.: Praim-EVROZNAK, 2008. — 504 p.
  3. Allik J., Laidra K., Realo A., Pullmann H. Personality development from 12 to 18 years of age: Changes in mean lev- els and structure of traits // Eur. J. Pers. 2004. V. 18. № 6, P. 445—462.
  4. Branje S.J., van Lieshout C.F., Gerris J.R.M. Big Five per- sonality development in adolescence and adulthood // Eur. J. Pers. 2007. V. 21, P. 45—62.
  5. Caspi A., Shiner R.L. Personality development // Handbook of child psychology. Social, emotional, and person- ality development. 2006. V. 3. pp. 300—365. New York: Wiley.
  6. Casey B.J., Jones R.M., Hare T.A. The Adolescent Brain // Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2008. V. 1124, P. 111—126.
  7. Corr P.J., Matthews G. The Cambridge handbook of per- sonality psychology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009. — 850 p.
  8. Costa P.T.Jr., McCrae R.R., Martin A.T. Incipient adult personality: the NEO-PI-3 in middle school-aged children // BRIT J DEV PSYCHOL. 2008. V. 26. № 1, P. 71—89.
  9. Crosnoe R., Johnson M.K. Research on adolescence in the twenty-first century // Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2011. V. 37, P. 439—460.
  10. DeFruyt F., Bartels M., Van Leeuwen K.G. et al. Five types of personality continuity in childhood and adoles- cence // JPSP. 2006. V. 91. №3, P. 538—552.
  11. Hong R.Y., Paunonen S.V. Personality traits and health- risk behaviours in university students // Eur. J. Pers. 2009. V. 23. № 8, P. 675—696.
  12. Jones S.E., Miller J.D., Lynam D.R. Personality, antiso- cial behavior, and aggression: a meta-analytic review // J Crim Justice. 2011. V. 39, P. 329—337.
  13. Klimstra T.A., Hale W.W., Raaijmakers Q.A. et al. Maturation of personality in adolescence // JPSP. 2009. V. 96, P. 898—912.
  14. Kotov R., Gamez W., Schmidt F., Watson D. Linking "big" personality traits to anxiety, depressive, and substance use disorders: A meta-analysis // Psychological Bulletin. 2010. V. 136, P. 768—821.
  15. Markon K.E. Hierarchies in the structure of personality traits // Social and Personality Psychology Compass. 2009. V. 3, P. 812—826.
  16. McAdams D.P., Olson B.D. Personality development: continuity and change over the life course // Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2010. V. 61, P. 517—542.
  17. McCrae R.R., Costa P.T. Jr., Terracciano A. et al. Personality trait development from age 12 to age 18: longitu- dinal, cross-sectional, and cross-cultural analyses // J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002. V. 83. № 6, P. 1456—1468.
  18. Мerenakk L., Harro M., Kiive E. et al. Association between substance use, personality traits, and platelet MAO activity in preadolescents and adolescents // Addictive behaviors. 2003. V.28. № 8, P. 1507—1514.
  19. Miller J.D., Lynam D.R., Jones S. Externalizing behavior through the lens of the five-factor model: a focus on agreeableness and conscientiousness // J Pers Assess. 2008. V. 90. № 2, P. 158—164.
  20. Ozer D., Benet-Martinez V. Personality and the predic- tion of consequential outcomes // Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2006. V. 57, P. 401—421.
  21. Pullmann H., Raudsepp L., Allik J. Stability and change in adolescents' personality: A longitudinal study // Eur. J. Pers. 2006. V. 20. № 6, 447—459.
  22. Roberts B.W., Walton K.E., Viechtbauer W. Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies // Psychological Bulletin. 2006. V. 132, P. 3—25.
  23. Ruiz M.A., Pincus A.L., Schinka J.A. Externalizing pathology and the five-factor model: A meta-analysis of per- sonality traits associated with antisocial personality disorder, substance use disorder, and their co-occurrence // J Pers Disord. 2008. V. 22, P. 365—388.
  24. Rutter M., Taylor E. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (4th edn.) — Blackwell Science Ltd, 2006. — 1209 p.
  25. Sherry A., Henson R.K., Lewis J.G. Evaluating the appropriateness of college-age norms for use with adolescents on the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised // Assessment. 2003. V. 10, P. 71—78.
  26. Slobodskaya H.R., Akhmetova O.A. Personality devel- opment and problem behavior in Russian children and adoles- cents // Int. J. Behavioral Development. 2010. V. 34. № 5, P. 441—451.
  27. Smetana J.G., Campione-Barr N., Metzger A. Adolescent development in interpersonal and societal contexts // Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2006. V. 57, P. 255—284.
  28. Somerville L.H., Jones R.M., Casey B.J. A time of change: Behavioral and neural correlates of adolescent sensitivity to appetitive and aversive environmental cues // Brain and Cognition. 2010. V. 72, P. 124—133.
  29. Soto C. J., John O. P., Gosling S. D., Potter J. Age differ- ences in personality traits from 10 to 65: Big Five domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample // JPSP. 2011. V. 100, P. 330—348.
  30. Spear L.P. Rewards, aversions and affect in adoles- cence: Emerging convergences across laboratory animal and human data // Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 2011. V. 1, P. 390—403.
  31. Steinberg L. A dual systems model of adolescent risk- taking // Dev Psychobiol. 2010. V. 52, P. 216—224.
  32. Steinberg L. Cognitive and affective development in adolescence // Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2005. V. 9. № 2, P. 69—74.
  33. Steinberg L., Morris A.S. Adolescent development // Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2001. V. 52, P. 83—110.

Information About the Authors

Olga A. Akhmetova, Researcher at the Scientific Research Institute of Physiology, Siberean Department of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: o.akhmetova@physiol.ru

Elena R. Slobodskaya, Doctor of Psychology, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Chief Researcher, Federal StateBbudgetary Scientific Institution "Research Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine", Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: hslob@physiol.ru

Metrics

Views

Total: 3181
Previous month: 9
Current month: 7

Downloads

Total: 1473
Previous month: 4
Current month: 5