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Personality development across adolescence and young adulthood: The role of life transitions and self-concept clarity
de Moor,E. L. Nelemans,S. A. Becht,A. I. Meeus,W. H. J. Branje,S.
de Moor,E. L.
Nelemans,S. A.
Becht,A. I.
Meeus,W. H. J.
Branje,S.
Abstract
Personality develops across the lifespan, but most development occurs in adolescence and young adulthood. Life transitions to new social roles may be important drivers of mean-level personality development. The present study examined mean-level personality development in adolescence and young adulthood, and the role of the transition to tertiary education and working life therein in a sample of Dutch young people that were followed across 14 years (N = 497, Age(W1) = 13.03 years). We explored whether young people's self-concept clarity moderated these associations. Our hypotheses and analytical plan were pre-registered. Findings from Latent Growth Models showed support for maturation in personality across adolescence and young adulthood, but not a maturity dip. Having the role of employee was associated with higher conscientiousness, but no associations were found of the transition to tertiary education and the transition to work with mean-level development of any of the personality traits. Self-concept clarity did not moderate the role of transitions in mean-level personality development. Our findings suggest that socialization effects may not explain associations between life transitions and personality development in adolescence and young adulthood.
Description
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Elisabeth L. de Moor and Susan Branje were supported by a grant from the European Research Council (ERC-CoG INTRANSITION-773023). Data of the RADAR (Research on Adolescent Development And Relationships) study were used (https://doi.org/10.17026/dans-zrb-v5wp). RADAR has been financially supported by main grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (GB-MAGW 480-03-005, GB-MAGW 480-08-006), Stichting Achmea Slachtoffer en Samenleving (SASS), the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research to the Consortium Individual Development (CID; 024.001.003), a grant of the European Research Council (ERC-2017-CoG—773023 INTRANSITION), and various other grants from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, VU University Amsterdam, and Utrecht University. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Initial ethical approval for the project was gained from the medical ethical committee of the University Medical Center in Utrecht (the Netherlands, project number: #05/159-K).
Date
2023
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Research Projects
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Keywords
adolescence, young adulthood, big five personality traits, life transitions, self-concept clarity, BIG 5 PERSONALITY, MEAN-LEVEL, TRAIT CHANGE, FIT INDEXES, R PACKAGE, EVENTS, MODELS, PERSPECTIVES, ASSOCIATIONS, METAANALYSIS
Citation
de Moor, E L, Nelemans, S A, Becht, A I, Meeus, W H J & Branje, S 2023, 'Personality development across adolescence and young adulthood : The role of life transitions and self-concept clarity', European Journal of Personality, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 587-604. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070221119782