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Age differences in personality: evidence from a nationally representative Australian sample.
Richard E Lucas1, M Brent Donnellan
1Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. lucasri@msu.edu
Developmental Psychology
|August 26, 2009
Summary
Personality traits show significant age-related shifts. Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness decline with age, while Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increase, with medium to large effect sizes observed in this Australian study.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Background:
- Understanding age-related changes in personality is crucial for developmental psychology.
- Previous research has yielded mixed findings on personality development across the lifespan.
- The Big Five personality traits (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness) provide a robust framework for studying personality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits.
- To investigate the direction and magnitude of age-related changes in personality.
- To explore potential nuances in age differences at the item level of personality descriptors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a nationally representative sample of 12,618 Australians aged 15-84.
- Employed cross-sectional analysis to compare personality trait scores across different age groups.
- Conducted item-level analysis to examine specific personality descriptors.
Main Results:
- Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Openness showed significant negative associations with age.
- Agreeableness and Conscientiousness demonstrated significant positive associations with age.
- Effect sizes for age-related differences between the youngest and oldest participants were generally medium to large.
Conclusions:
- Personality traits exhibit distinct patterns of change across the adult lifespan.
- Nuanced age differences may exist at the level of specific personality facets, potentially explaining inconsistent findings in prior research.
- Further item-level investigations are recommended to refine our understanding of personality development and aging.
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