Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-xnzsz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-26T06:08:56.457Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maturity and change in personality: Developmental trends of temperament and character in adulthood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2013

Kim Josefsson ,
Markus Jokela ,
C. Robert Cloninger ,
Mirka Hintsanen ,
Johanna Salo ,
Taina Hintsa ,
Laura Pulkki-Råback  and
Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen
Kim Josefsson
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Markus Jokela
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
C. Robert Cloninger
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
Mirka Hintsanen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Johanna Salo
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Taina Hintsa
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Laura Pulkki-Råback
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen*
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Psychology, Siltavuorenpenger 1A, P.O. Box 9, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland; E-mail: liisa.keltikangas-jarvinen@helsinki.fi.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We studied the developmental trends of temperament and character in a longitudinal population-based sample of Finnish men and women aged 20–45 years using the Temperament and Character Inventory model of personality. Personality was assessed in 1997, 2001, and 2007 (n = 2,104, 2,095, and 2,056, respectively). Mean-level changes demonstrated qualitatively distinct developmental patterns for character (self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence) and temperament (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence, and persistence). Character developed toward greater maturity, although self-transcendence decreased with age. However, self-transcendence was the strongest predictor of overall personality change. Cohort effects indicated lower level of self-transcendence and higher level of self-directedness and cooperativeness in younger birth cohorts. Regarding temperament, novelty seeking decreased and persistence increased slightly with age. Both high novelty seeking and high persistence predicted overall personality change. These findings suggest that temperament and character traits follow different kinds of developmental trajectories.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 713 - 727
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Agronick, G. S., & Duncan, L. E. (1998). Personality and social change: Individual differences, life path, and importance attributed to the women's movement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1545–1555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allport, G. W. (1951). Personality: A psychological interpretation. London: Constable & Company.Google Scholar
Allport, G. W. (1961). Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Andersson, J. O. (2008). Finland—Twelve points! Research on Finnish Society, 1, 59–69.Google Scholar
Bauer, J., & McAdams, D. (2004). Growth goals, maturity, and well-being. Developmental Psychology, 40, 114–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Block, J. (1995). A contrarian view of the 5-factor approach to personality description. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 187–215.Google Scholar
Carlin, J. B., Gurrin, L. C., Sterne, J. A. C., Morley, R., & Dwyer, T. (2005). Regression models for twin studies: A critical review. International Journal of Epidemiology, 34, 1089–1099.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A., Roberts, B. W., & Shiner, R. L. (2005). Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 453–484.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1993). Developmental psychopathology: Reactions, reflections, projections. Developmental Review, 13, 471–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Richters, J. E. (1997). Examining the conceptual and scientific underpinnings of research in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 189–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597–600.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (2002). A developmental psychopathology perspective on adolescence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 6–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2009). The past achievements and future promises of developmental psychopathology: The coming of age of a discipline. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 16–25.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (1987). A systematic method for clinical description and classification of personality variants—A proposal. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 573–588.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (2003). Completing the psychobiological architecture of human personality development: Temperament, character & coherence. In Staudinger, U. M. & Lindenberger, U. E. R. (Eds.), Understanding human development: Dialogues with lifespan psychology (pp. 159–182). Boston: Kluwer Academic.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (2004). Feeling good: The science of well-being. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (2006). Personality as a dynamic psychobiological system. In Widiger, T. A., Simonsen, E., Sirovatka, P. J., & Regier, D. A. (Eds.), Dimensional models of personality disorders: Refining the research agenda for DSM-V (pp. 73–76). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (2008). The psychobiological theory of temperament and character: Comment on Farmer and Goldberg (2008). Psychological Assessment, 20, 292–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cloninger, C. R. (2010). Personality and temperament: New and alternative perspectives. Focus, 8, 161–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Bayon, C., & Svrakic, D. M. (1998). Measurement of temperament and character in mood disorders: A model of fundamental states as personality types. Journal of Affective Disorders, 51, 21–32.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Przybeck, T. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Wetzel, R. D. (1994). The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Psychobiology of Personality.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 975–990.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (2006). Can personality assessment predict future depression? A twelve-month follow-up of 631 subjects. Journal of Affective Disorders, 92, 35–44.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, N. M., & Svrakic, D. M. (1997). Role of personality self-organization in development of mental order and disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 881–906.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., & Zohar, A. H. (2011). Personality and the perception of health and happiness. Journal of Affective Disorders, 128, 24–32.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Zohar, A. H., & Cloninger, K. M. (2010). Promotion of well-being in person-centered mental health care. Focus, 8, 165–179.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R., Zohar, A. H., Hirschmann, S., & Dahan, D. (in press). The psychological costs and benefits of being highly persistent: Personality profiles distinguish mood disorders from anxiety disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders.Google Scholar
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1982). An approach to the attribution of aging, period, and cohort effects. Psychological Bulletin, 92, 238–250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coward, D. D., & Reed, P. G. (1996). Self-transcendence: A resource for healing at the end of life. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 17, 275–288.Google Scholar
Donnellan, M. B., Conger, R. D., & Burzette, R. G. (2007). Personality development from late adolescence to young adulthood: Differential stability, normative maturity, and evidence for the maturity–stability hypothesis. Journal of Personality, 75, 237–263.Google Scholar
Donnellan, M. B., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2010). Groundhog day versus Alice in Wonderland, red herrings versus swedish fishes, and hopefully something constructive: A reply to comments. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 103–108.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farmer, R. F., & Goldberg, L. R. (2008a). Brain modules, personality layers, planes of being, spiral structures, and the equally implausible distinction between TCI-R “temperament” and “character” scales: Reply to Cloninger (2008). Psychological Assessment, 20, 300–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farmer, R. F., & Goldberg, L. R. (2008b). A psychometric evaluation of the revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and the TCI-140. Psychological Assessment, 20, 281–291.Google Scholar
Ferguson, C. J. (2010). A meta-analysis of normal and disordered personality across the life span. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 659–667.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frick, P. J., & Viding, E. (2009). Antisocial behavior from a developmental psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 1111–1131.Google Scholar
Gillespie, N. A., Cloninger, C. R., Heath, A. C., & Martin, N. G. (2003). The genetic and environmental relationship between Cloninger's dimensions of temperament and character. Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 1931–1946.Google Scholar
Hansenne, M., Delhez, M., & Cloninger, C. R. (2005). Psychometric properties of the Temperament and Character Inventory—Revised (TCI-R) in a Belgian sample. Journal of Personality Assessment, 85, 40–49.Google Scholar
Heath, A. C., Cloninger, C. R., & Martin, N. G. (1994). Testing a model for the genetic-structure of personality—A comparison of the personality systems of Cloninger and Eysenck. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 762–775.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helson, R., & Wink, P. (1987). 2 conceptions of maturity examined in the findings of a longitudinal-study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 531–541.Google Scholar
Herbst, J. H., Zonderman, A. B., McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (2000). Do the dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory map a simple genetic architecture? Evidence from molecular genetics and factor analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1285–1290.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hogan, R., & Roberts, B. W. (2004). A socioanalytic model of maturity. Journal of Career Assessment, 12, 207–217.Google Scholar
Hopwood, C. J., Donnellan, M. B., Blonigen, D. M., Krueger, R. F., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., et al. (2011). Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: A three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 545–556.Google Scholar
Jokela, M., Hintsa, T., Hintsanen, M., & Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L. (2010). Adult temperament and childbearing over the life course. European Journal of Personality, 24, 151–166.Google Scholar
Jokela, M., Kivimaeki, M., Elovainio, M., & Keltikangas-Jaervinen, L. (2009). Personality and having children: A two-way relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 218–230.Google Scholar
Josefsson, K., Cloninger, C. R., Hintsanen, M., Jokela, M., Pulkki-Råback, L., & Keltikangas-Järvinen, L. (2011). Associations of personality profiles with various aspects of well-being: A population-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 133, 265–273.Google Scholar
Kääriäinen, K., Ketola, K., Niemelä, K., Palmu, H., & Salomäki, H. (2009). Facing diversity: The Evangelical Lutheran church of Finland from 2004 to 2007. Tampere, Finland: Church Research Institute.Google Scholar
Keller, H., Lamm, B., Abels, M., Yovsi, R., Borke, J., Jensen, H., et al. (2006). Cultural models, socialization goals, and parenting ethnotheories. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 155–172.Google Scholar
Klimstra, T. A., Hale, W. W. III, Raaijmakers, A. W., Branje, S. J. T., & Meeus, W. H. J. (2009). Maturation of personality in adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 898–912.Google Scholar
Lodi-Smith, J., & Roberts, B. W. (2007). Social investment and personality: A meta-analysis of the relationship of personality traits to investment in work, family, religion, and volunteerism. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 68–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucas, R. E., & Donnellan, M. B. (2011). Personality development across the life span: Longitudinal analyses with a national sample from Germany. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 847–861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luedtke, O., Roberts, B. W., Trautwein, U., & Nagy, G. (2011). A random walk down university avenue: Life paths, life events, and personality trait change at the transition to university life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 620–637.Google Scholar
Maitland, S. B., Nyberg, L., Bäckman, L., Nilsson, L., & Adolfsson, R. (2009). On the structure of personality: Are there separate temperament and character factors? Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 180–184.Google Scholar
Martinotti, G., Mandelli, L., Di Nicola, M., Serretti, A., Fossati, A., Borroni, S., et al. (2008). Psychometric characteristic of the Italian version of the Temperament and Character Inventory—Revised: Personality, psychopathology, and attachment styles. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 49, 514–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McAdams, D. P., & Olson, B. D. (2010). Personality development: Continuity and change over the life course. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 517–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mulder, R. T., & Joyce, P. R. (1997). Temperament and the structure of personality disorder symptoms. Psychological Medicine, 27, 99–106.Google Scholar
Neyer, F. J., & Lehnart, J. (2007). Relationships matter in personality development: Evidence from an 8-year longitudinal study across young adulthood. Journal of Personality, 75, 535–568.Google Scholar
Ojala, M. (2000). Parent and teacher expectations for developing young children: A cross-cultural comparison between Ireland and Finland. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 8, 39–61.Google Scholar
Pelissolo, A., Mallet, L., Baleyte, J. M., Michel, G., Cloninger, C. R., Allilaire, J. F., et al. (2005). The Temperament and Character Inventory—Revised (TCI-R): Psychometric characteristics of the French version. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 112, 126–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raitakari, O. T., Juonala, M., Ronnemaa, T., Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L., Rasanen, L., Pietikainen, M., et al. (2008). Cohort profile: The cardiovascular risk in young Finns study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 37, 1220–1226.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Caspi, A., & Moffitt, T. E. (2001). The kids are alright: Growth and stability in personality development from adolescence to adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 670–683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 3–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, B. W., & Helson, R. (1997). Changes in culture, changes in personality: The influence of individualism in a longitudinal study of women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 641–651.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., & Mroczek, D. (2008). Personality trait change in adulthood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 31–35.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 1–25.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Wood, D., & Caspi, A. (2008). The development of personality traits in adulthood. In John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Pervin, L. A. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 375–398). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Roberts, B. W., Wood, D., & Smith, J. L. (2005). Evaluating five factor theory and social investment perspectives on personality trait development. Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 166–184.Google Scholar
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it—Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.Google Scholar
Ryff, C. D. (1991). Possible selves in adulthood and old-age—A tale of shifting horizons. Psychology and Aging, 6, 286–295.Google Scholar
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.Google Scholar
Schulenberg, J. E., Sameroff, A. J., & Cicchetti, D. (2004). The transition to adulthood as a critical juncture in the course of psychopathology and mental health. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 799–806.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smits, I. A. M., Dolan, C. V., Vorst, H. C. M., Wicherts, J. M., & Timmerman, M. E. (2011). Cohort differences in Big Five personality factors over a period of 25 years. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 1124–1138.Google Scholar
Soto, C. J., John, O. P., Gosling, S. D., & Potter, J. (2011). Age differences in personality traits from 10 to 65: Big Five domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 330–348.Google Scholar
Specht, J., Egloff, B., & Schmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality across the life course: The impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 862–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Srivastava, S., John, O., Gosling, S., & Potter, J. (2003). Development of personality in early and middle adulthood: Set like plaster or persistent change? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1041–1053.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stallings, M. C., Hewitt, J. K., Cloninger, C. R., Heath, A. C., & Eaves, L. J. (1996). Genetic and environmental structure of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire: Three or four temperament dimensions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 127–140.Google Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., & Kunzmann, U. (2005). Positive adult personality development—Adjustment and/or growth? European Psychologist, 10, 320–329.Google Scholar
Svrakic, D. M., Whitehead, C., Przybeck, T. R., & Cloninger, C. R. (1993). Differential-diagnosis of personality-disorders by the 7-factor model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 991–999.Google Scholar
Terracciano, A., Costa, P. T. Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (2006). Personality plasticity after age 30. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 999–1009.Google Scholar
Trouillet, R., & Gana, K. (2008). Age differences in temperament, character and depressive mood: A cross-sectional study. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 15, 266–275.Google Scholar
Tulviste, T., Mizera, L., De Geer, B., & Tryggvason, M. (2007). Child-rearing goals of Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish mothers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 48, 487–497.Google Scholar