PAOP L5 - Lecture notes 5 PDF

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Personality and Offending

PAOP L5

EVIDENCE FOR PERSONALITY STABILITY ACROSS THE LIFESPAN AND INTO OLD AGE Personality & Stability: Can personality change in adulthood? 1. Mischel (1968) personality traits did not truly exist so could not change. Arguably problematic position (long-term continuity of personality, and predictive validity of personality traits in areas of work, marriage, and health) 2. Personality is stable in adulthood (Stable personality at age 30) 3. Personality traits continue to develop up to midlife and old age Traditional belief that personality does not change Stability: ■ Is the factor structure the same over time? ■ Does an individual’s place in the rank order of personality stay the same over time? ■ Does an individual’s score stay stable over time? ■ Does a population’s or sample’s score stay stable over time?

Rank order personality- Scores change over time, but the rank order of individuals within the sample stays the same. Roberts & DelVecchio (2000): Meta analysis, 152 studies Rank order consistency of personality traits from Meta analysis (N = 152 studies, 3217 test-retest coefficients) When younger a lot of movement in stability More consistent in rank order position as they age 50 onwards high level of consistency Relatively high levels of consistency across the life course, but still leaving room for change to occur adulthood.

Figure 1: Population estimates of mean consistency across age categories (in years) with 95% confidence level estimates.

Intra-individual stability personality- Individuals own score can remain stable over time.

Personality and Offending

PAOP L5

Mroczek & Spiro (2003): Intra-individual change in personality traits (N = 1,663) Normative Ageing Study (Boston) most were veterans from WWII or Korea recruited in early 1960s aged 43-91 (Mean age 63; SD = 8) ALL MALE sample. Six administrations of the EPQ-R (Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire)across 12 years. Analysed using individual growth modelling. Extraversion and Neuroticism were regressed onto linear, quadratic and cubic functions of age. Intraclass correlation between 0 and 1. If ICC = 1, personality would be completely stable and any variation would be due to between subjects effects. Baseline model: Extraversion ICC = .72 (consistency) Neuroticism ICC = .67 (less consistency) Overall trajectories of Extraversion and Neuroticism with standard error bars Mean level stability personality: Group’s score remains stable over time (may be some individual level variability) Roberts et al (2006): Mean-level change in personality traits from Meta analysis (N = 92 studies) Very little change in social vitality, a lot more change in dominance up until 40-50, more stable in emotional stability, increases in contentiousness, openness to experience increases up until 20 then stabilises Caution: The longitudinal studies included have not tracked individuals from birth to death. The change shown here is most likely the maximal estimate of personality trait change.

Harris et al (2016): Found old data in lab room in Scotland Stability of personality from 14 – 77 Participant selection flowchart. Mean IQ is included in brackets for each group of five or more. Those 174 who completed the questionnaire (and the 131 who completed the telephone interview) had higher cognitive ability scores as children and were rated by teachers as more dependable than the population as a whole (Deary & Brett, 2015). Cog ability in metal survey in 1947, mean score of those still alive and taking part on study was higher At 14 (in 1950), assessed by teachers on:  Self-confidence,  Perseverence,  Stability of Moods,  Conscientiousness,

Personality and Offending

PAOP L5

 Originality,  Desire to Excel Also assessed childhood IQ At 77 assessed by self and nominated other (person who knew them very well) on: Dependability 1. Personality using the International Personality Item Pool (IPIP) measures FFM traits, 2. Mental well being 3. Satisfaction with life 4. Verbal and non-verbal IQ 5. Dementia diagnosis Study showed little stability from childhood to old age apart from Conscientiousness and Stability of Mood (C and N). Previous studies have personality stability over 40 or 50 years, from:  Childhood to middle age (Hampson & Goldberg, 2006; Edmonds et al, 2013),  Early to late adulthood (Soldz & Valliant, 1999), and  Middle to older age (Leon et al, 1979). The Harris et al (2016) was a 63 year gap. The lack of stability may due to significant changes in life circumstances, and reduction in physical health and cognitive ability in older age (Weiss et al 2005). Few if any studies have incorporated late childhood and adolescence AND old age decline (i.e. TWO periods of major developmental and life circumstance instability). Older age sample homogeneity may have reduced variance leading to appearance of personality instability Limitations: Small older age sample (too small to detect effect). Older age sample may not be representative Only two data points 14, 77 and so curvilinear function of personality stability may not be seen. Why do these personality changes occur? 1. The essentialist perspective – genetic differences result in personality change over time (universal age changes and factor structure of personality). 2. The contextualist perspective - environmental factors change personality 3. The sociogenomic perspective (model of person–environment transactions) combining the essentialist and contextualist approaches (Roberts & Jackson, 2008), CONSIDER LIFE EVENTS AND ILLNESS ON PERSONALITY Impacts of health on later personality? Mueller et al (2016): Berlin Ageing study (N = 1232, 65-88 years old) Aim: To examine relationships between overall morbidity and specific indicators of physical health and cognitive functioning ➢ personality traits and their changes. Measured: (Three waves of personality data (2009, 2012, 2013–2014) and one wave of health data (mostly collected between wave 1 and 2)

Personality and Offending

PAOP L5

Personality: Short German version of the Big Five (BFI-S). Morbidity: index based on a weighted sum of moderate to severe, physical illnesses, including cardiovascular, cancer and metabolic diseases. Grip strength: average force ( /3) applied to a hand dynamometer. Perceptual speed: Digit Symbol subtest of the Wechsler o Adult Intelligence Test (WAIS; Wechsler, 1955) to assess perceptual o speed. Analysis: 1. Changes in personality over time. 2. Associations of personality trait levels and changes with morbidity, grip strength, and perceptual speed (and controlled for age, sex and education). Results 1: From T1, significant personality change across the study was: -0.19 SD for neuroticism, -0.10 SD for conscientiousness 0.09 SD for extraversion, 0.08 SD for openness. No significant mean-level changes were found for agreeableness Each trait displayed significant individual differences in intercepts (levels) and rates of change (slope). 95% of sample had slope parameters (change) of: -0.33 to 0.23, for neuroticism -0.18 to 0.22 for extraversion -0.18 to 0.22 openness -0.19 to 0.21 agreeableness -0.22 to 0.18 conscientiousness Results 2: • Higher morbidity and lower grip strength were associated with higher N at the last assessment • Worse grip strength was correlated with lower levels of O, attenuated increases in E, decreases in A and accelerated declines in C. • Lower perceptual speed associated with higher levels of N lower levels of C Morbidity, grip strength, and perceptual speed were associated with later life personality trait levels, Grip strength was related to rates of change in personality. Results confirm and extend the work of others. Limitations • Only one wave of health data so can’t draw inferences about the temporal ordering of personality–health effects. • Analyses were based on very brief and global Big Five factors (3 items per trait). • Serious and physical illness rather than self reported symptoms or mental health considered. • Role of intervening factors such as social support, health behaviours not examined here. Sensory deficits and personality change? Mottus, Johnson & Deary (2011)

Personality and Offending

PAOP L5

2 cohorts aged 69 and 79. The 79 year old cohort had a steeper decline in Extraversion. Roberts et al (2006) Social vitality decreased from 60-70 Neuroticism decreased with age. Caspi et al (2005) Maturity causes the decline in Neuroticism? but what happens in the very old? Berg & Johansson (2014) examined impact of health and (especially) vision and hearing impairments on personality (Extraversion and Neuroticism). N = 408 part of Swedish OCTO-Twin study completed EPI at four time points across 6 years (age 80-98). Those with more education and better self-rated (general) heath had higher Extraversion scores. Those with impaired hearing had a sharper decline in Extraversion. General health, age, vision, or sex were not related to decline in Extraversion. Impacts of life events on later personality? Specht et al (2011): German SOEP of the German Institute for Economic Research: An ongoing longitudinal survey of Germans. Study investigated changes in the Big Five personality traits and life events in 14,718 Germans (7,719 women) mean age 47.21 years (SD 16.28, range 16– 82) in 2005 (follow up each year until 2009). Measures: Big Five BFI-S from 2005. Life Events (0 = didn’t happen, 1 = did happen) from 2006. The variance of the slope in each Model was significant (.33...