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Personality trait change in three sub-Saharan countries: Normative development and life events
Peter Haehner1, Luzelle Naudé2, Christopher J Hopwood1
1Department of Psychology, University of Zurich.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|October 16, 2025
Summary
Personality traits Agency and Communion showed moderate stability but decreased significantly in African young adults. Life events influenced and were influenced by personality changes, suggesting environment-driven development generalizes across cultures.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Personality Science
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
Background:
- Personality development research is predominantly from Western countries.
- Limited understanding of cross-cultural generalizability of personality trait changes.
- Need for research on personality development in diverse global contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine personality development in young adults from Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa.
- Investigate rank-order stability and mean-level changes in personality traits.
- Explore the interplay between life events and personality trait changes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Africa Long Life Study (N = 2,301).
- Assessed personality development over 1-2 years using the Big Two traits: Agency and Communion.
- Employed open-ended questions to identify significant life changes and their association with personality shifts.
Main Results:
- Agency and Communion demonstrated moderate rank-order stability (r = .38–.55) over 1 year.
- Both Agency and Communion traits significantly decreased across the study period, contrary to expectations.
- Personality trait levels predicted life events, and life events, in turn, predicted personality trait changes.
Conclusions:
- Findings partially align with and diverge from Western personality development studies.
- Personality development insights are not universally generalizable across cultures.
- Environment-driven personality trait changes may be a universal mechanism of development.
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