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Adolescent Big Five personality and pubertal development: Pubertal hormone concentrations and self-reported pubertal
Alithe L Van den Akker1, Daniel A Briley2, Andrew D Grotzinger3
1Department of Child Development and Education, Research Priority Area Yield, University of Amsterdam.
Puberty may partly explain temporary dips in adolescent personality maturity, like conscientiousness and agreeableness. However, pubertal development is not the primary cause for these personality changes in early adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Adolescent Psychology
- Personality Science
Background:
- Early adolescence is marked by temporary decreases in conscientiousness and agreeableness, and increases in neuroticism, suggesting a dip in personality maturation.
- The role of puberty, a significant developmental milestone, in these personality shifts remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To replicate the observed dip in personality maturity during early adolescence.
- To investigate the associations between personality dimensions (Big Five) and pubertal development and timing.
- To determine if pubertal development explains the personality maturity dip.
Main Methods:
- Replicated personality maturity dip in a large sample (N=2640, ages 8-18).
- Examined associations between Big Five personality traits and pubertal development (hormonal assays: DHEA, testosterone, progesterone; self-reports) in a subset (n=1793).
- Utilized nonparametric moderation analyses (LOSEM) for complex age and sex interactions.
Main Results:
- Higher DHEA concentrations linked to lower conscientiousness and openness.
- Self-reported pubertal development correlated with lower extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness.
- Advanced pubertal timing associated with lower extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.
- All identified associations were small in magnitude.
Conclusions:
- Pubertal development may partially contribute to the dip in conscientiousness and agreeableness during early adolescence.
- Pubertal development is not the primary explanation for the observed dip in adolescent personality maturity.
- The personality maturity dip likely results from a cumulative effect of multiple small influences.
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