Age Differences in Big Five Behavior Averages and Variabilities Across the Adult Lifespan: Moving Beyond Retrospective Global Summary Accounts of Personality

摘要

In three intensive cross-sectional studies, age differences in behavior averages and variabilities were examined. Three questions were posed: Does variability differ among age groups? Does the sizable variability in young adulthood persist throughout the lifespan? Do past conclusions about trait development, based on trait questionnaires, hold up when actual behavior is examined? Three groups participated: younger adults (18-23 years), middle-aged adults (35-55 years), and older adults (65-81 years). In two experience-sampling studies, participants reported their current behavior multiple times per day for one or two week spans. In a third study, participants interacted in standardized laboratory activities on eight separate occasions. First, results revealed a sizable amount of intraindividual variability in behavior for all adult groups, with standard deviations ranging from about half a point to well over one point on 6-point scales. Second, older adults were most variable in Openness whereas younger adults were most variable in Agreeableness and Emotional Stability. Third, most specific patterns of maturation-related age differences in actual behavior were both more greatly pronounced and differently patterned than those revealed by the trait questionnaire method. When participants interacted in standardized situations, personality differences between younger adults and middle-aged adults were larger, and older adults exhibited a more positive personality profile than they exhibited in their everyday lives.