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Trends Over 45 Years In Personality Traits Among Older Populations.

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Trends Over 45 Years In Personality Traits Among Older Populations.

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Trends over 45 years in personality traits among older populations.

Francine Grodstein^1,2, Robert S Wilson^1,3, Eileen K Graham⁴

¹Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States.

The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences

|October 28, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Personality traits in older adults show shifts across birth cohorts, with later cohorts exhibiting lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness, suggesting personality is adaptable and impacts health.

Keywords:

personality secular trends

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Area of Science:

Gerontology
Personality Psychology
Longitudinal Studies

Background:

Personality traits are linked to well-being and health in aging populations.
Understanding personality changes over time is crucial for gerontological research.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine temporal trends in personality traits across different birth cohorts of older adults.
To investigate how personality characteristics evolve over a 45-year span.

Main Methods:

Utilized data from 3,000 older adults across seven birth cohorts (1905-1950) from community-based studies.
Assessed conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion using the NEO five-factor personality inventory components.

Main Results:

Later birth cohorts demonstrated significantly lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness.

Mean neuroticism decreased and conscientiousness increased across successive birth cohorts (p < .0001).

Trends for extraversion were not significant.

Conclusions:

Personality in older adults is subject to population-level shifts over time.
These findings suggest personality adaptability in aging, with potential implications for health outcomes.