Personality stability and change across the academic semester

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Personality exhibits both stability and change, particularly during transitional periods like college.
• Competing theories (Situational Perspective, Personality Stability, Maturity Principle) explain personality variation.
• Understanding short-term personality shifts in students is crucial for educational and psychological support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test hypotheses regarding student personality change during an academic semester.
• To examine experiences (academic, social, health, affective) associated with personality shifts.
• To compare situational, stability, and maturity principles of personality change in a college context.

Main Methods:

• Administered personality and experience measures to college students at the semester's start and two-thirds mark.
• Utilized a longitudinal design to track changes within individuals over the Fall semester.
• Compared observed personality changes against predictions from the Situational Perspective, Maturity Principle, and Personality Stability.

Main Results:

• Conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness scores decreased significantly over the semester.
• These personality changes aligned partially with the Situational Perspective but also included unpredicted decreases.
• Observed personality declines co-occurred with reduced subjective wellbeing, social support, and health behaviors.

Conclusions:

• Student personality traits, including those associated with maturity, can decline in the short term during the academic semester.
• These findings suggest that college students face significant adaptation challenges that may precede developmental growth.
• Further research is needed to understand the long-term implications of these semester-long personality and wellbeing fluctuations.