Personality
throughout the
Lifespan
Michael Hoerger
Pervasiveness of Personality
Personality
• Definitions:
• A person’s relatively enduring patterns of
behavior, thoughts, and feelings
• Style of viewing and interacting with the world
• Often measured with surveys
• Highly debated in the 1960s and 1970s
• Interaction of…
• Individual and situation
• Genes and environment
• Conscious and unconscious
Trait
High
Low
Neuroticism
(N)
Negative mood,
irritable, worried
Calm, relaxed,
even tempered
Extraversion
(E)
Social, assertive, Independent,
energetic
like being alone
Openness to
Experience (O)
Artistic, liberal,
adventurous
Conventional,
conservative
Agreeableness
(A)
Cooperative,
trusting
Argumentative,
skeptical
Conscientiousness Disciplined,
hard-working
(C)
Procrastinating,
disorganized
C
us
n
es
s
ss
es
s
ne
nn
ab
le
tio
re
e
on
sc
ie
n
Ag
O
pe
er
si
on
ro
tic
is
m
Ex
tra
v
eu
%
N
100
75
Bush
Kerry
50
25
0
C
us
n
es
s
ss
es
s
ne
nn
ab
le
tio
re
e
on
sc
ie
n
Ag
O
pe
er
si
on
ro
tic
is
m
Ex
tra
v
eu
%
N
100
75
50
25
0
C
us
n
es
s
ss
es
s
ne
nn
ab
le
tio
re
e
on
sc
ie
n
Ag
O
pe
er
si
on
ro
tic
is
m
Ex
tra
v
eu
%
N
100
75
50
25
0
Temperament
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Highly heritable aspects of personality,
evident even early in life
Rythmicity: predictability of behavior
patterns, especially eating and sleeping
Emotionality: pleasant or unpleasant,
intensity and duration of reactions
Activity: energy level
Distractibility: ability to ignore distractors
Sociability: tendency to approach/ avoid
Norms of Reaction
• Definition: expected pattern of
development, given a specific environment
• Temperament interacts with environmental
influences in adaptive or harmful ways
Personality Disorders
• Style of personality that is inflexible,
extreme, and causes impaired
functioning
• Examples:
• Schizotypal: unusual beliefs, socially
isolated
• Dependent: needs a relationship, can’t
make own decisions
• Antisocial Personality Disorder: impulsive,
manipulative, aggressive
Characteristic Adaptations
• Personality can be difficult to change,
especially for personality disorders
• Rather than trying to modify traits, often
psychologists focus on “characteristic
adaptations” or how those traits are
used
• Example for disagreeableness:
• Criminal who breaks many laws
• Lawyer who argues and debates
Lifespan Perspective
• Childhood personality influenced by family
• Niche picking: in adulthood, people choose
environments more suitable to their genes
• People report large changes in personality
(though changes tend to be small)
• Changes tend to be adaptive
• Early to late adulthood: ↓N, ↓E, ↓O, ↑A, ↑C
• Criminality tends to decline after age 45
Demographic Differences
• Gender: females score higher than
males on N and A
• Gender convergence: Masculinity and
femininity tend to fluctuate with
changing family roles; older adults
become more androgynous
• Birth Order: no differences!
Personality Correlates
• Good Health: low Hostility (aspect of A)
• Achievement: high C
• Political Views: high levels of education
related to liberalism (aspect of O)
• Psychological Well-being: high E, low N
• Assertiveness (aspect of E) may be key for
reducing stress; involves expressing one’s
feelings and needs, while still respecting
others
Michael Hoerger
To cite this lecture:
• Hoerger, M. (2007, April 11). Personality
throughout the Lifespan. Presented at a
PSY 220 lecture at Central Michigan
University.