Understanding conscientiousness across the life course: An economic perspective.

Conti, Gabriella; Heckman, James J.

doi:10.1037/a0036426

Cited by 52 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Put into a broader perspective, our findings lend further support to the relevance of conscientiousness and its facets (of which grit is one), which are increasingly recognized as potent predictors of academic success and life success more broadly [18,34,64]. In view of the mostly correlational nature of extant evidence, it remains to be seen whether grit and its relatives from the conscientiousness family have a truly causal effect on academic and career success, and whether they are indeed amenable to interventions (for critical discussions, see [11,30,65]).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Grit (effortful persistence) can be measured with a short scale, shows little variation across socio-demographic subgroups, and is associated with career success and career engagement

Lechner

Danner²,

Rammstedt

2019

PLoS ONE

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Grit (effortful persistence) has received considerable attention as a personality trait relevant for success and performance. However, critics have questioned grit’s construct validity and criterion validity. Here we report on two studies that contribute to the debate surrounding the grit construct. Study 1 (N = 6,230) examined the psychometric properties of a five-item grit scale, covering mainly the perseverance facet, in a large and representative sample of German adults. Moreover, it investigated the distribution of grit across sociodemographic subgroups (age groups, genders, educational strata, employment statuses). Multiple-group measurement models demonstrated that grit showed full metric, but only partial scalar, invariance across all sociodemographic subgroups. Sociodemographic differences in the levels of grit emerged for age, education, and employment status but were generally small. Study 2 investigated how grit relates to career success (income, job prestige, job satisfaction) and career engagement (working overtime, participation in continuing professional development courses, attitudes toward lifelong learning) in an employed subsample (n = 2,246). When modeled as a first-order factor, grit was incrementally associated with all indicators of career success and especially of career engagement (.08 ≤ β ≤ .75)—over and above cognitive ability and sociodemographic characteristics. When modeled as a residual facet of conscientiousness, grit largely retained its criterion validity for success but only partly for engagement (–.14 ≤ β ≤ .61). Our findings offer qualified support for the psychometric quality of the short grit scale and suggest that grit may provide some added value in predicting career outcomes. We critically discuss these findings while highlighting that grit hardly differs from established facets of conscientiousness such as industriousness/perseverance.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Grit (effortful persistence) can be measured with a short scale, shows little variation across socio-demographic subgroups, and is associated with career success and career engagement

Lechner

Danner²,

Rammstedt

2019

PLoS ONE

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“…Following these pathways, the IAM provides a reason for why conscientiousness develops across time (Jackson et al, 2009). Indeed, psychological (Friedman, Kern, Hampson, & Duckworth, 2014; Roberts & Jackson, 2008; Roberts et al, 2008; Shanahan et al, 2014) and economic theory (Borghans, Duckworth, Heckman, & ter Weel, 2008; Conti & Heckman, 2014) has presented the foundation for why and how conscientiousness may develop over time. However, to date, little work has attempted to integrate the two components into a generative narrative for future research, much less do so across different important life domains.…”

Section: The Invest-and-accrue Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the terminology and discussion above, the IAM presents the potential for taking a more “economic” perspective on conscientiousness by borrowing many financially laden terms. The overlap is more than terminological, as economists have recently begun to incorporate personality constructs in their models (Borghans et al, 2008; Conti & Heckman, 2014; Heckman, 2007), and personality psychologists have begun to adopt economic constructs and considerations, exemplified by a special issue in Personality and Individual Differences (see Ferguson, Heckman, & Corr, 2011). Economists have become intrigued by conscientiousness as a “non-cognitive” promoter of success across multiple domains, indicating that it reflects an important latent skill that predicts performance above and beyond cognitive ability, demographic factors and other individual differences constructs favored by economists such as locus of control (e.g., Conti & Heckman, 2014).…”

Section: The Invest-and-accrue Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Invest-and-Accrue Model of Conscientiousness

Hill

Jackson

2016

Review of General Psychology

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The current review synthesizes and builds from the extant literature to help explain how and why conscientiousness predicts a vast array of positive life outcomes. Toward this end, we present the Invest-and-Accrue model of conscientiousness, which describes conscientiousness as a disposition toward “investing” in ways that allow for future success. The value of this model is made apparent in its applicability across different life domains, as well as its potential for describing how individuals can change on conscientiousness throughout the life span. Moreover, the model can help explain why conscientiousness is relatively unique from other Big Five traits in its ability to predict positive life outcomes seemingly in any domain. In sum, this model should prove valuable for researchers across psychological disciplines, by providing an organizing framework from which to make connections across findings in personality, social, developmental, organizational, and educational psychology.

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“…and research suggest that the development of personality may be part of an ongoing, transactional process (Conti & Heckman, 2014;Roberts et al, 2003;); yet, no prospective, longitudinal empirical studies we are aware of have tested this hypothesized transactional process using the three generational design and multiinformant approach used in the current study. Specifically, we tested the utility of the interactionist model (IM) in explaining the transactions between negative traits and social and economic circumstances over time and across generations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic status, parenting investments, and negative personality traits over time and across generations.

Martin¹,

Donnellan²

2021

Developmental Psychology

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The current investigation tested predictions from the interactionist model (IM) of socioeconomic influences on the development of negative personality traits with respect to feelings of alienation and low well-being. The model tested proposed that lower family socioeconomic status would lead to fewer parenting and material investments in the next generation adolescent, which in turn would be associated with higher levels of adolescent negative personality traits. The IM also predicted a transactional process in which adolescent negative personality attributes would then deter future socioeconomic success during adulthood which, in turn, would hinder adult development in terms of greater feelings of alienation and diminished well-being. Analyses with a cohort of 347 adolescents followed for over 20 years produced findings consistent with these predictions. Moreover, additional analyses with 282 of the third generation children of these cohort members demonstrated that this same process was being replicated in the third generation. The findings suggest reciprocal or transactional influences that promote the development of negative personality attributes and accumulating personal, economic and social advantages over time and generations.

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Understanding conscientiousness across the life course: An economic perspective.

Abstract: We discuss recent developments in the literature on the role of conscientiousness on healthy aging within an economic framework that helps to systematize and interpret the existing evidence.

Cited by 52 publications

References 69 publications

Grit (effortful persistence) can be measured with a short scale, shows little variation across socio-demographic subgroups, and is associated with career success and career engagement

Grit (effortful persistence) can be measured with a short scale, shows little variation across socio-demographic subgroups, and is associated with career success and career engagement

The Invest-and-Accrue Model of Conscientiousness

Socioeconomic status, parenting investments, and negative personality traits over time and across generations.

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