TY - JOUR
T1 - Childhood Personality Foreshadows Adult Personality and Life Outcomes Two Decades Later
AU - Shiner, Rebecca L.
AU - Masten, Ann S
AU - Roberts, Jennifer M.
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - In a normative sample of 205 children ages 8-12, tracked into adulthood, we examined the predictive links between four childhood personality traits - Mastery Motivation, Academic Conscientiousness, Surgency, and Agreeableness - and adult personality and adaptation 20 years later. Personality demonstrated modest to moderate continuity over those two decades and showed significant predictive validity for success in adult life, including academic attainment, work competence, rule-abiding versus antisocial conduct, and romantic and friend relationships. Results indicated that personality shows coherent patterns over time in terms of both stability and linkages to adaptive behavior. Explicating the processes underlying such patterns is the next frontier for a truly developmental science of personality.
AB - In a normative sample of 205 children ages 8-12, tracked into adulthood, we examined the predictive links between four childhood personality traits - Mastery Motivation, Academic Conscientiousness, Surgency, and Agreeableness - and adult personality and adaptation 20 years later. Personality demonstrated modest to moderate continuity over those two decades and showed significant predictive validity for success in adult life, including academic attainment, work competence, rule-abiding versus antisocial conduct, and romantic and friend relationships. Results indicated that personality shows coherent patterns over time in terms of both stability and linkages to adaptive behavior. Explicating the processes underlying such patterns is the next frontier for a truly developmental science of personality.
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U2 - 10.1111/1467-6494.7106010
DO - 10.1111/1467-6494.7106010
M3 - Article
C2 - 14633061
AN - SCOPUS:0344719421
SN - 0022-3506
VL - 71
SP - 1145
EP - 1170
JO - Journal of personality
JF - Journal of personality
IS - 6
ER -