Published in

SAGE Publications, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5(21), p. 290-296, 2012

DOI: 10.1177/0963721412452557

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Nature and Nurture in Personality Development

Journal article published in 2012 by Christian Kandler ORCID
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

Full text: Unavailable

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The stability of interindividual differences (i.e., rank-order continuity) in personality traits tends to increase with age until it plateaus in middle adulthood and finally decreases in old age. Rank-order continuity also tends to decrease as the time intervals between occasions of personality assessment increase, irrespective of age. These patterns show that personality development is a lifelong process. Yet the sources of these patterns are unknown. Theories suggest that personality continuity and change may result from environmentally mediated processes of identity development due to age-graded social roles and individual life experiences, but also from biological maturation. Genetically informative longitudinal studies across different age cohorts allow a differentiated picture of genetic and environmental sources. In this article, I give a short overview of the genetic and environmental contributions to rank-order continuity and change in neuroticism and extraversion. Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to personality continuity and change, but genetic factors affect rank-order change only in younger decades of life, whereas environmental influences appear to represent a lifelong source of interindividual differences in personality development.