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ERIC Number: ED229710
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982-Aug
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Stability of Personality Characteristics throughout Adulthood.
Field, Dorothy
Although it is commonly considered that personality characteristics are stable over long periods of time, some recent theorists have questioned this view. In order to examine a number of personality, social, and family oriented characteristics, 44 women were interviewed three times (at young adulthood, middle age and young old age) over a 40 year time span. In a small and partial replication 28 men were interviewed on two occasions. Psychologists also rated subjects on a number of personal characteristics e.g., health, energy, worrisomeness, brutality, and cognitive problems, several times during the course of the study. Data analyses indicated that stability of child and family oriented dimensions of personal/social characteristics (marital adjustment, family emotional tone, child resented/favored) was high over all time comparisons. Marital adjustment was consistent for the women but not for the men. Consistency in discipline and in the emotional tone of the family showed the highest across-time associations; the child-resented dimension, however, showed a strong negative correlation. Stability was also evident in the personal dimensions. Young adult-middle age correlations were strong for energy as they were for health, nervous stability, and brutality. These correlations for the 15, 23, and 40 year intervals indicate evidence for the stability of the personal/social dimensions of personality over adulthood. (AG)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A