Youth Rebellion increases resilience

Study: Personality development takes place at a high age similar to that during youth

09/30/2014

In old age, personality development still takes place. This is confirmed by a German-American study in which data from more than 23,000 study participants from Germany and Australia were analyzed, which were surveyed in the period from 2005 to 2009. According to the results of the study, the personality of people in adulthood grows to the same age as 30 years of age, compared to the age of about 70 years. In no other phase of life, these changes are so clear.

Personality development is highest in young adults and the elderly
Personality development takes place during the entire life and is even as intense in old age as during the young adulthood to 30 years. This is the conclusion reached by Jule Specht from the Free University Berlin, Maike Luhmann from the University of Cologne and Christian Geiser from the Utah State University in the context of their investigation. The researchers evaluated data based on long-term studies „Socio-Economic Panel "(SOEP) and „Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA Survey).

„Our study disproves psychologists' view that the personality stabilizes more and more in the course of life. "The psychologist and her colleagues evaluated the data of more than 23,000 people interviewed in the German and Australian long-term studies It turned out that the greatest changes in personality occur in young adulthood up to the age of 30 and at the age of about 70. In no other phase of life are these changes so strong.

„Taken together, these results show that in the two nations studied here, the personality types were very consistent in terms of gender, age and time“, the researchers write in the journal „Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in which the research was published.

Undercontrolled personality often develops into resilient personalities
As young adults, especially people with the so-called undercontrolled personality type make a major change, which is noticeable by a low conscientiousness and low tolerance. „About 40 percent of young adults in Germany have an undercontrolled personality, "reports Specht. „But from the age of about 30, many of these young rebels are maturing into resilient personalities. "Resilience in psychology means mental resilience, the ability to cope with crises and use them for development." Resilient personalities, according to Specht, are more capable a high self-esteem and suffer less often from mental illness. „Their personality is generally more stable than that of under- or over-controlled men and women. "At age 30, only about 20 percent of people in Germany belong to the undercontrolled personality type, and around 50 percent are resilient personality types at this age.

From the age of 70, a strong personality development begins again
As one of the most surprising results of the investigation, the researchers call the realization that the personality changes significantly from the age of 70 years. For example, up to 25 percent of people of a personality type at this age make a significant change. „Unlike the young adults, however, the personality changes in the elderly do not follow a typical pattern of maturation. "The psychologist reported that there were a number of different personality changes, but the researchers have not yet found an explanation for them exclude. „Health changes, grandparenthood and retirement seem to play a surprisingly small role in this, "says Sprecht, who is currently studying the impact of changes in everyday life and attitudes to life. (Ag)