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

Luhmann, Maike; Orth, Ulrich; Specht, Jule; Kandler, Christian; Lucas, Richard E.

doi:10.1002/per.1951

Cited by 244 publications

(300 citation statements)

References 105 publications

(144 reference statements)

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“…Indeed, research has shown that traits can predict the occurrence of life experiences (Luhmann, Orth, Specht, Kandler, & Lucas, 2014;Specht et al, 2011). For example, being very sociable in young adulthood increases the probability of starting the first romantic relationship (Neyer & Lehnart, 2007).…”

Section: Life Experiences and Personality Trait Change In "Natural" Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

Allemand

Flückiger

2017

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration

102

117

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There is a recent debate in the field of personality development whether and how personality traits can be modified or changed over short periods of time. Whereas traditional positions highlight the relative stability of personality traits in adulthood, recent research investigates intentional personality trait change, that is, desires and attempts to change personality traits. The main goal of the present article is to connect recent activities and intervention efforts in personality psychology with psychotherapy process-outcome research. More specifically, we argue that 4 empirically derived common change factors in psychotherapy research might provide some useful heuristic principles for personality change interventions in normal population that do not particularly suffer from personality disorders. We discuss the implications of the use of these principles to change personality traits and suggest some ideas for future research and practice. There is a recent debate in the field of personality development whether and how personality traits can be modified or changed over short periods of time. Whereas traditional positions highlight the relative stability of personality traits in adulthood, recent research investigates intentional personality trait change, that is, desires and attempts to change personality traits. The main goal of the present paper is to connect recent activities and intervention efforts in personality psychology with psychotherapy process-outcome research. More specifically, we argue that four empirically derived common change factors in psychotherapy research might provide some useful heuristic principles for personality change interventions in normal population that do not particularly suffer from personality disorders. We discuss the implications of the use of these principles to change personality traits and suggest some ideas for future research and practice.

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Section: Life Experiences and Personality Trait Change In "Natural" Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

Allemand

Flückiger

2017

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration

102

117

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“…Moreover, although the sample sizes of the present research were not small, in future research larger samples would be desirable because this also would facilitate the sampling of rare events. In addition, larger samples would allow the use of propensity score matching (Rosenbaum & Rubin, 1983;Thoemmes & Kim, 2011), a method that can strengthen the validity of causal conclusions about the effects of life events in observational studies (see also Luhmann, Orth, Specht, Kandler, & Lucas, 2014).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the analyses, we operationalized selection effects as the predictive effect of self-esteem and narcissism measured at one of the assessments (e.g., Wave 1) on the occurrence of stressful life events in a subsequent period (e.g., the interval between Wave 1 and Wave 2). Socialization effects have been defined as the prospective effect of life events on change in a personality construct Specht et al, 2014), consistent with how socialization effects have been tested in previous research (e.g., Headey & Wearing, 1989;Lüdtke et al, 2011;Magnus et al, 1993;Specht et al, 2011). In the analyses, we operationalized socialization effects as the predictive effect of the occurrence of stressful life events during a time interval (e.g., the period between Wave 1 and Wave 2) on the level of a personality construct at a later point in time (e.g., self-esteem or narcissism at Wave 2) controlling for the previous level of the construct (i.e., the Wave 1 levels of self-esteem and narcissism).…”

Section: The Present Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Selection effects have been defined as the prospective effect of a personality construct on the occurrence of life events Specht et al, 2014) and previous research on personality and life events has tested for selection effects consistent with this definition (e.g., Headey & Wearing, 1989;Lüdtke et al, 2011;Magnus et al, 1993;Specht et al, 2011). In the analyses, we operationalized selection effects as the predictive effect of self-esteem and narcissism measured at one of the assessments (e.g., Wave 1) on the occurrence of stressful life events in a subsequent period (e.g., the interval between Wave 1 and Wave 2).…”

Section: The Present Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Self-esteem, narcissism, and stressful life events: Testing for selection and socialization.

Orth¹,

Luciano²

2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

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We examined whether self-esteem and narcissism predict the occurrence of stressful life events (i.e., selection) and whether stressful life events predict change in self-esteem and narcissism (i.e., socialization). The analyses were based on longitudinal data from 2 studies, including samples of 328 young adults (Study 1) and 371 adults (Study 2). The effects of self-esteem and narcissism were mutually controlled for each other and, moreover, controlled for effects of depression. After conducting the study-level analyses, we meta-analytically aggregated the findings. Self-esteem had a selection effect, suggesting that low self-esteem led to the occurrence of stressful life events; however, this effect became nonsignificant when depression was controlled for. Regardless of whether depression was controlled for or not, narcissism had a selection effect, suggesting that high narcissism led to the occurrence of stressful life events. Moreover, stressful life events had a socialization effect on self-esteem, but not on narcissism, suggesting that the occurrence of stressful life events decreased self-esteem. Analyses of trait–state models indicated that narcissism consisted almost exclusively of perfectly stable trait variance, providing a possible explanation for the absence of socialization effects on narcissism. The findings have significant implications because they suggest that a person’s level of narcissism influences whether stressful life events occur, and that self-esteem is shaped by the occurrence of stressful life events. Moreover, we discuss the possibility that depression mediates the selection effect of low self-esteem on stressful life events.

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“…Some of these differences between studies might be due to differences in sample composition, design and timing of measurement. For example, 2-wave longitudinal designs are restricted to linear change models whereas studies with multiple assessments can model nonlinear or discontinuous trajectories (Luhmann, Orth, Specht, Kandler, & Lucas, 2014). Moreover, personality changes in first-time parents might be better captured at more specific levels of personality than the broad Big Five traits, such as self-control.…”

Section: Previous Research On Parenthood and Personality Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Stability and Change in Self-Control during the Transition to Parenthood

Scheppingen¹,

Denissen²,

Bleidorn³

2018

Preprint

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Self-control is associated with a variety of positive life outcomes, including relationship satisfaction, health, educational achievement, and avoiding criminal behavior. A largely unanswered question concerns the extent to which self-control changes across the lifespan and in response to major life events. The present research used prospective 4-wave data from 539 Dutch individuals to examine the self-control trajectory of first-time parents (n = 246) as compared to individuals who did not have children during the research period (n = 293). New parents (especially mothers) reported higher levels of self-control before birth (i.e., during pregnancy), as compared to nonparents. New mothers showed significant nonlinear decreases in self-control, which were especially strong from pregnancy until six months after childbirth. New fathers’ self-control remained largely stable. Furthermore, pregnancy-related stress was associated with lower self-control levels during pregnancy in both first-time mothers and fathers. Higher levels of work-family conflict and family-related stress were associated with lower self-control after childbirth in new fathers, but not in new mothers. These results indicate that major life transitions may be linked to changes in adult self-control. Discussion focuses on the implications of the results for theory and research on the development of self-control in adulthood.

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

Cited by 244 publications

References 105 publications

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

Changing personality traits: Some considerations from psychotherapy process-outcome research for intervention efforts on intentional personality change.

Self-esteem, narcissism, and stressful life events: Testing for selection and socialization.

Stability and Change in Self-Control during the Transition to Parenthood

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