Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · 2010 · 1.2K citations · 108 references
EducationHuman DevelopmentPsychologyAdolescent DevelopmentDevelopmental PsychologyPersonality PsychologyAge DifferencesGender DifferencesPersonality TraitsPsychosocial DevelopmentTrait StructureTrait TheoryAdult Personality TrajectoriesAge-related Personality DifferencesBig Five Personality ModelBig Five Personality TraitsLife Span Personality DevelopmentLifespan Personality DevelopmentPersonality FacetsTrait Development Across The Lifespan
The study tested hypotheses on mean‑level age differences in the Big Five domains and ten facet traits across ages 10–65. It analyzed a cross‑sectional sample of 1,267,218 participants recruited online. Results revealed that late childhood and adolescence are key periods, with pronounced age trends that differ from adult patterns, gender differences emerging, negative psychosocial maturity trends during adolescence versus positive trends in adulthood, and distinct facet‑level trajectories underscoring the importance of facet‑level research.
Hypotheses about mean-level age differences in the Big Five personality domains, as well as 10 more specific facet traits within those domains, were tested in a very large cross-sectional sample (N = 1,267,218) of children, adolescents, and adults (ages 10-65) assessed over the World Wide Web. The results supported several conclusions. First, late childhood and adolescence were key periods. Across these years, age trends for some traits (a) were especially pronounced, (b) were in a direction different from the corresponding adult trends, or (c) first indicated the presence of gender differences. Second, there were some negative trends in psychosocial maturity from late childhood into adolescence, whereas adult trends were overwhelmingly in the direction of greater maturity and adjustment. Third, the related but distinguishable facet traits within each broad Big Five domain often showed distinct age trends, highlighting the importance of facet-level research for understanding life span age differences in personality.
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