P8

• Mean-level change refers to changes in a group's average scores over time. It examines whether, for instance, the average scores of a group of individuals on a certain personality trait change significantly from one point in time to another
• Factors such as maturation, cultural processes, and normative life changes can contribute to mean-level changes in personality
• Research indicates that personality traits show distinct patterns of change with age.
• Traits such as Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Social Dominance tend to increase, especially in young adulthood
• Openness and Social Vitality may increase in adolescence but decrease in old age
• Agreeableness may not increase much from adolescence to middle age but shows an increase at 50 and 60 years
• Intra-individual variability examines whether the personality traits of an individual remain stable or change over the years
• Intra-individual variability involves giving personality tests to individuals at multiple points in time and correlating each person's scores from one time point with scores from another
• Intra-individual variability differs from differential stability as it correlates the actual scores rather than the rank order
• Carol Dweck argued that personality is based on beliefs about the self and that it is possible to change personality by changing these beliefs. For example, beliefs about intelligence can influence personality traits. Those who believe their intelligence is malleable tend to be more open to learning, resilient after failure, and willing to face challenges
• Personality is closely related to health and longevity. People with high levels of Conscientiousness and low levels of Neuroticism tend to live longer. Agreeableness is linked to lower risk for heart disease. Neuroticism is associated with lower mental and physical health. Conscientious individuals engage in healthier behaviors, while those high in Neuroticism may engage in high-risk health behaviors
• About 40 to 60% of the variance in personality types is heritable, suggesting a genetic influence. Studies comparing monozygotic and dizygotic twins show higher correlations in personality scores for monozygotic twins, providing evidence for the heritability of personality traits
• Environmental influences in personality development are more prominent in adulthood, especially during periods of role transitions. Different cohorts may show different mean levels of personality traits due to changing social values and practices
• Reactive transactions occur when individuals react to or interpret experiences in a way consistent with their personality or self-concept. If a friend calls you 2 days after your birthday to congratulate you and have a nice long chat, you can either interpret it as meaning that you are not important enough to be called on your birthday or that you are so important that your friend waited 2 days until there was time for a long talk. Either reaction would tend to perpetuate your established way of thinking about yourself
• Evocative transactions involve behaviors that elicit reactions from others confirming one's personality or self-concept. People who have low self-esteem often reject compliments or friendship and, as a result, end up even more convinced that they are not valued by others.
• Proactive transactions occur when individuals select roles and environments aligning with their personalities. If you are low on extraversion, you will probably not make career decisions that put you into a job that involves working directly with people. Not only will you be happier in a more solitary work environment, but this choice will also serve to maintain your introverted traits.
• Manipulative transactions involve strategies to change the environment by causing changes in others. E.g., an extraverted manager who is transferred into a quiet office and proceeds to motivate his coworkers to be more outgoing = the manager is creating an environment that serves to reinforce his or her own personality traits
• Erikson's Stage Theory emphasizes the gradual emergence of a sense of identity through eight crises or dilemmas over a lifetime. The stages include trust versus mistrust, identity versus role confusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus self-absorption and stagnation, and ego integrity versus despair
• Each stage, or dilemma, in Erikson’s stage theory emerges as the person is challenged by new relationships, tasks, or demands. Each stage is defined by a pair of opposing possibilities, such as trust versus mistrust, or integrity versus despair. Successful resolution involves finding a balance between opposing possibilities at each stage
•  Four dilemmas describe adulthood: identity versus role confusion, intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus self-absorption and stagnation, ego integrity versus despair