Studying Changes in Life Circumstances and Personality: It's about Time

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maike Luhmann ◽  
Ulrich Orth ◽  
Jule Specht ◽  
Christian Kandler ◽  
Richard E. Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Life Circumstances

Most theories of personality development posit that changes in life circumstances (e.g. due to major life events) can lead to changes in personality, but few studies have examined the exact time course of these changes. In this article, we argue that time needs to be considered explicitly in theories and empirical studies on personality development. We discuss six notions on the role of time in personality development. First, people can differ before the event. Second, change can be non–linear and discontinuous. Third, change can be reversible. Fourth, change can occur before the event. Fifth, control groups are needed to disentangle age–related and event–related changes. Sixth, we need to move beyond examining single major life events and study the effects of non–normative events, non–events, multiple events, and minor events on personality. We conclude by summarizing the methodological and theoretical implications of these notions. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals De rol van grote levensgebeurtenissen bij langer doorwerken

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-38
Author(s):  
Karen Pak
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Job Resources ◽  
Job Fit ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Private Lives ◽  
Working Lives

SUMMARY Due to demographic trends organizations are challenged to extend the working lives of their employees. Therefore, research in to the extension of working lives is increasing. However, there are few empirical studies that study the role of major life events in this process. The goal of this article is to examine through which process major life events can influence the ability, motivation, and opportunity to continue working. To meet this goal 33 employees were interviewed. This article shows that major life events can have a major impact on the ability, motivation, and opportunity to continue working. Major life events can cause changes in the resources and demands that an individual faces. When these fluctuations lead to changes in person-job fit the ability, motivation, and opportunity to continue working are influenced. Employees who experience major life events in their private lives find it important to have access to accommodative practices, whereas employees who experience major life events at work find it important to have access to developmental and utilization practices. It is always important that employees who experience major life events receive sufficient job resources such as the support of colleagues and the supervisor, regardless of the type of life event that they experience.

Coping with major life events: the role of spirituality and self-transformation

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Les Lancaster ◽  
Jason Timothy Palframan
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life

What Drives Adult Personality Development? A Comparison of Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jule Specht ◽  
Wiebke Bleidorn ◽  
Jaap J. A. Denissen ◽  
Marie Hennecke ◽  
Roos Hutteman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Adult Personality ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

Increasing numbers of empirical studies provide compelling evidence that personality traits change across the entire lifespan. What initiates this continuing personality development and how does this development proceed? In this paper, we compare six theoretical perspectives that offer testable predictions about why personality develops the way it does and identify limitations and potentials of these perspectives by reviewing how they hold up against the empirical evidence. While all of these perspectives have received some empirical support, there is only little direct evidence for propositions put forward by the five–factor theory of personality and the theory of genotype → environment effects. In contrast, the neo–socioanalytic theory appears to offer a comprehensive framework that fits the empirical findings and allows the integration of other, more specialized, perspectives that focus on specific aspects of personality development like the role of time, systematic differences between categories of social roles or the active partake of the person himself or herself. We draw conclusions on the likely driving factors for adult personality development and identify avenues for future research. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology

The Social Origins of Depression and the Role of Meaning

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
George W. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Life Event ◽  
The Social ◽  
Role Based

This chapter discusses the role of social factors in ill health, with a particular focus on depression. Major life events increase the risk of most depressive disorders. In a longitudinal study carried out in the early 1980s of 400 mothers in Islington, 1 in 10 developed a depressive disorder within a year, and most of those had a severely threatening life event not long before. This chapter also summarises the three forms of meaning relevant for the aetiology of depression. First, the role-based meanings of severe events relate to traditional anthropological and sociological concerns. Second, the evolutionary-derived meanings show that the experience of humiliation following a severe event is critical in the development of depression. Finally, the memory-linked emotional schemas influence a person's vulnerability to events.

Identifying Imagoes: A Personality Exercise on Myth, Self, and Identity

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana S. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Self And Identity

To make personality psychology personally involving, I developed an exercise based on imagoes, the characters that McAdams (1985, 1993) argued dominate life storks and personal myths. An imago is an idealized and personified self-concept we form in early or midadulthood. Broader than roles played in daily life, imagoes serve a unifying function: to make our stories and myths coherent. While keeping a journal, students identify individual myths and major life events, and then they write about the imagoes most frequently used to make sense out of their lives.

Personality and perceptions of major life events: Implications for personality development

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Rakhshani ◽  
Richard E. Lucas ◽  
Brent Donnellan ◽  
Ina Fassbender ◽  
Maike Luhmann
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Big Five ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Personality Change ◽  
Big Five Personality ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Related Personality

Research about the associations between major life events and personality trait development is mixed. Work that evaluates perceptions of life events and how those perceptions are themselves associated with personality traits may help clarify the existing literature. We used a large student sample (N = 1509) to conduct exploratory analyses examining the associations among big five personality traits, different types of life events, a dimensional taxonomy of event characteristics, and beliefs about event-related personality change. Results suggested that (1) associations between personality and event perceptions are often nuanced; and (2) event perceptions were more predictive of beliefs about event-related personality change than were the big five. These findings indicate that event perceptions are not merely proxies for personality traits. This study highlights the importance of subjective event perceptions in the study of major life events and personality development.

scholarly journals The buffer role of psychological flexibility against the impact of major life events on depression symptoms

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soraia Fonseca ◽  
Inês A. Trindade ◽  
Ana Laura Mendes ◽  
Cláudia Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Psychological Flexibility ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Major Life Events ◽  
Major Life ◽  
The Impact
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