Personality development among the Japanese elderly: A ten-year longitudinal study on a sentence completion test

Abstract

To investigate stability or change in personality, we administered a sentence completion test to the Japanese elderly twice in 1976 and 1986. Positive and negative changes and stability were observed. Positive family (children and spouse) image increased with advance in age. Positive responses in the dimension of relationships with friends showed predominance of women over men. With respect to self-concept, the past self changed from objective to positive. The present and physical self maintained positive responses, while the future self and the attitude of living shifted from objective to negative.

Achievements of the Koganei Study

“…The accomplishments of the longitudinal interdisciplinary study for 15 years (70‐year‐olds) made researchers and decision‐makers recognize the significance and the feasibility of this kind of research in gerontologic fields. It has also proven that longitudinal studies are feasible even if they include questionnaires from psychology and sociology 9–11 . Research results contributed to the launch of new longitudinal research project (TMIG‐LISA), which was planned to last at least 10 years (1991–2001) 7,8 The term of funding research grants is confined to 3 years in most cases in Japan.…”