Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Stability and change in personality

“They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom”

Confucius, Analects

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Lecture contents

Stage theories of personality development Freud Erikson

• Types and indices of change or stability

• Illustrative longitudinal studies

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Stage theories of development

• Criteria especially associated with particular stages.

• Stages typically occur within given time limits.

• Fixed typical sequence or progression through stages.

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Freud’s psychosexual stages

Oral (<2) Oral and Narcissistic

personalities

Anal (2-4) Anal personalities

Phallic (4-5) Oedipus/Electra complex

(Latency)

Genital (13-ish) Genital (healthy)

personality

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Oral Personality: Receiving or giving

Oral Incorporative

• Over-indulged

• “Swallow anything”

• Optimistic

• Gullible

• Passive

Oral Aggressive

• Frustrated

• “Biting remarks”

• Pessimistic

• Suspicious

• Manipulative

Narcissistic• Fully egocentric

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Anal personality: Withholding or giving

Anal Retentive

• Frustration

• Controlled

• Stingy

• Orderly

• Meticulous

• Precise

Anal Expulsive

• Overindulgence

• Expressive

• Overly generous

• Messy

• Dirty

• Vague

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development

Positive outcome(If not excessive)

Negative outcome

0-1 1. Trust Mistrust

1-3 2. Autonomy Shame and doubt

3-6 3. Initiative Guilt

6-11 4. Industry Inferiority

Adolescence 5. Identity Identity confusion

Young adulthood

6. Intimacy Isolation

Middle adulthood

7. Generativity Stagnation

Old age 8. Integrity Despair

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Critique of stage theories of development

+ Useful in describing usual time and sequence of (especially key stages in) development

+ Useful in identifying ‘sensitive periods’ in which effects may be especially lasting or resistant to change

+ Useful to list characteristics difficult to notice by their absence

- Usual time and sequence of development rarely universal

- Much change incremental and non-progressive

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

What is personality change?

“What about you would have to change for you no longer to consider yourself to be you?”

Pervin (2003, p. 196)

Absolute and relative change

Quantitative and qualitative change

Continuous and discontinuous change

Genotypic (latent) and phenotypic (expressive) change

Percevied (or measured) and actual change

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Type and indices of continuity and change

Differential Individual differences Correlation

Absolute Absolute criteria Comparisons of group means

Structural Among patterns of variables within samples across time Comparison of covariation patterns across factor analyses

Ipsative Structural continuity or change at individual level (e.g., Block, 1971)

Coherence Among latent characteristics

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Three illustrative longitudinal studies

• Magnusson’s Swedish Study of Individual Development and Adjustment (IDA)

• Jack Block’s Lives through time (1971)

• The Minnesota Parent-Child Project

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Magnusson’s Swedish Study of IDA (1965+): Girls

• Early-maturing, relative to late-maturing, girls, at 15:

More multiple drunkenness More conflict with adults Less interested in school and career More focused on social relationships (often with older people)

• Most behavioural and social differences reduced or gone by adulthood, but:

Married earlier Had kids earlier Left school and started work earlier

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Magnusson’s Swedish Study of IDA (1965+): Boys

• Relative to boys with poor peer-relations at 13, boys who were also aggressive and hyperactive at 13:

Low levels of adrenaline in urine at 13 Indicates low physiological reactivity Thus, indicates low perceptions of stress and threat

Increased risk of later alcohol problems Increased risk of later persistent criminality

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Jack Block’s Lives through time (1971)

• Variety of data, in different formats

• California Adult Q-Set (CAQ) to Q-sort, e.g., interviews, on personality traits (e.g., talkative, skeptical, needy).

• Differential (individual difference) stability from Jnr-high to 30s Sample mean correlation ( .75 between Jnr. and Snr. High) masks

great individual range (-.01 to 1.00)

• Sex differences Males greater narrowing of interests and humour into adulthood Females greater ambition and sympathising into adulthood

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

Attachment styles (Bowlby; Ainsworth)

Securely attached

Insecurely attatched:

Anxious-avoidant

Anxious-resistent

(Anxious-disorganised)

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality

The Minnesota Parent-Child Project (1974+)

Sroufe and colleagues

• Individual differences: Relative to insecurely attached, securely attached preschoolers:

(‘Traits’) Less dependent Greater ego-resilience

(‘Social responsiveness’) More active participation with peer group Greater empathy Better response to social rebuff

(‘Social elicitation’) Elicited ‘warm’ behaviour from teachers

Tom FarsidesATP PAID 6: Stability and Change in Personality