Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Personality Development”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,603 records · Page 89Linked to original sources
PubMed1991

Cynical hostility: developmental factors, psychosocial correlates, and health behaviors.

Examined potential differences between individuals with high and low Cook and Medley (1954) Hostility (Ho) scale scores in regard to (a) self-esteem and particular developmental experiences; (b) utilization of social support, experience of anger, and the manner in which anger is managed; and (c) potentially health-damaging behaviors. Individuals with high Ho scale scores were found to be low in covert self-esteem and reported behavior on the part of their parents that reflected (a) less genuine acceptance, (b) more interference in the person's desires as a child, and (c) more punitiveness. In addition, the results indicated that high Ho score individuals avoid seeking or accepting social support, experience anger that is excessive and that occurs in a wide variety of situations, and suppress expression of anger. Finally, it was found that hostile individuals tended to drink more alcohol and drive a car more frequently after drinking and to have greater relative weight.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Hardiness: a review of theory and research.

Although a large body of research on hardiness (a personality construct with dimensions of commitment, control, and challenge) has accumulated, several fundamental issues remain unresolved. Although there are several hardiness scales, the properties of these scales have not been compared. There is debate as to whether hardiness is one or several characteristics. Research studying the pathways through which hardiness exerts its effects has not been comprehensively evaluated. Whereas critics have argued that hardiness does not buffer stress, others have suggested that hardiness buffers for working adults, for males, and in prospective analyses. There is also growing concern that hardiness is related to neuroticism. A review of the literature supports the following conclusions: The Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS) has several advantages over alternative scales; DRS items form three factors that are consistent with hardiness theory; hardiness dimensions generally show low to moderate intercorrelations; the most common way of categorizing subjects as high or low in hardiness is not consistent with hardiness theory; hardiness does not buffer stress, and it does not buffer stress for working adults, for males, or in prospective analyses; both old and new hardiness scales inadvertently measure neuroticism. Recommendations for future research are provided.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1996

Age and sex differences in strategies of coping and defense across the life span.

Age and sex differences in the use of coping and defense strategies were examined in life-span sample of 381 individuals. Participants responded to 2 self-report measures assessing mechanisms of coping and defense and measures assessing their level of cognitive complexity. Older adults used a combination of coping and defense strategies indicative of greater impulse control and the tendency to positively appraise conflict situations. Adolescents and younger adults used strategies that were outwardly aggressive and psychologically undifferentiated, indicating lower levels of impulse control and self-awareness. Women used more internalizing defenses than men and used coping strategies that flexibly integrated intra-and interpersonal aspects of conflict situations. Taken together, findings provide evidence for the age- and sex-specific use of strategies of coping and defense, suggesting that men and women may face different developmental tasks in the process toward maturity in adulthood.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1988

EAS temperaments during the last half of the life span: twins reared apart and twins reared together.

In this first behavioral genetic study of personality in the last half of the life span, results are reported using the powerful adoption/twin design that compares identical and fraternal twins reared apart and identical and fraternal twins reared together. Traits studied were the EAS temperaments (emotionality, activity level, and sociability), traits that show substantial genetic influence in childhood. It was hypothesized that the EAS traits would also show significant genetic influence later in life and that most of the environmental variation would be nonshared--that is, twins reared together would show no greater resemblance for the EAS traits than twins reared apart. Both hypotheses are supported.

Adoption↗
PubMed1988

The relation between locus of control and coping in two contexts: age as a moderator variable.

We examined the relation between locus of control and coping as moderated by age and context. A total of 96 adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults were administered Lazarus's Ways of Coping questionnaire, a situation-specific controllability measure, a defensive coping questionnaire, and Levenson's Internality, Powerfulness of Others, and Chance global locus of control scales for challenging and threatening contexts. Age moderated the relation between locus of control and coping. Internality was positively related to escape-avoidance, hostile reaction, and self-blame for younger individuals and negatively related for older adults. A belief in powerfulness of others was positively related to planful problem-solving and self-controlling in older adults and negatively related for younger individuals. Finally, a belief in chance was positively related to distancing and self-controlling for older adults and negatively related for younger individuals. The implication that dimensions of control vary with age is discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1989

"You're only as old as you feel": self-perceptions of age, fears of aging, and life satisfaction from adolescence to old age.

We examined differences in subjective age identification from adolescence to old age and the relation between subjective age and fears about one's own aging and life satisfaction. Using a questionnaire format, 188 men and women from 14 to 83 years of age made judgments about how old they felt, looked, acted, and desired to be. Respondents also answered questions about their personal fears of aging and present life satisfaction. Results revealed that individuals in their teens held older subjective age identities, whereas during the early adult years, individuals maintained same age identities. Across the middle and later adult years, individuals reported younger age identities, and women experienced younger age identities than men across these adults years. Results also revealed that discrepancies between subjective and actual age were associated with personal fears of aging and life satisfaction, especially in younger men and women.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Goal instability and later life adjustment.

A series of analyses on the goal instability personality construct, as measured by the Goal Instability Scale (GIS), was conducted to establish the construct validity of goal instability as it relates to older adults. This construct was derived from Heinz Kohut's psychology of the self. The sample consisted of a total of 157 voluntary early retirees representing a cross section of worker types from a manufacturing industry. In the first analysis, a series of confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesis that the 10-item GIS measures a unitary construct. In the second analysis, GIS was found to be similar across age groups. These findings enhance the conceptual clarity of the goal instability construct and its relevance with regard to older adults. Goal instability may represent 1 negative aspect of a quest for self-continuity.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Gender differences in affiliation and instrumentality across adulthood.

This secondary data analysis tests the hypothesis that gender differences decline across adulthood. Six measures tapping 3 dimensions of affiliation and instrumentality were selected from the cross-sectional sample surveys of The Quality of American Life (1971) and Americans View Their Mental Health (1976). In both studies, approximately 2,200 adults who had been selected from probability samples of households in the continental United States were interviewed. For each measure, the variance explained by age, sex, and Age x Sex interaction terms was compared with the variance explained by age and sex alone. The addition of the interaction terms does not significantly increase the R2 for any of the measures, arguing against a late-life convergence of men's and women's orientations. Although the release from active parenting has been proposed as a basis for declining gender differentiation, limiting the analyses to respondents with children does not change this conclusion.

Achievement↗
PubMed1992

Curiosity and stimulation seeking across the adult life span: cross-sectional and 6- to 8-year longitudinal findings.

Giambra (1977-1978, 1979-1980) found that 2 scales of the Imaginal Processes Inventory measuring curiosity (i.e., information seeking) did not change across the adult life span, but 2 measuring stimulation seeking (i.e., boredom) for external stimulation need significantly decreased with age. In this study, these outcomes were replicated (1,356 men and 1,080 women 17 to 92 years old). In addition, a 6- to 8-year longitudinal repeat was obtained on 222 men and 124 women. Significant longitudinal declines were obtained for the stimulation-seeking measures. Furthermore, women showed an increase in impersonal-mechanical curiosity and a decline in interpersonal curiosity, though the amount of change was modest. Men were unchanged on both curiosity measures. Gender differences in longitudinal changes apparently reflected effects of socialization as well as tendencies toward displaying increased androgyny with advancing age.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Vulnerability and resilience to combat exposure: can stress have lifelong effects?

The purpose of this study was to examine whether appraisals of desirable and undesirable effects of military service mediated the effect of combat stress on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in later life in 1,287 male veterans, aged 44-91 years (M = 63.56, SD = 7.46), 40% of whom had been in combat. The men reported more desirable effects of military service (e.g., mastery, self-esteem, and coping skills) than undesirable ones; both increased linearly with combat exposure (r = .17 and .33, p < .001, respectively). Path analysis revealed that the appraisals were independent and opposite mediators, with undesirable effects increasing and desirable effects decreasing the relationship between combat exposure and PTSD, even controlling for depression and response style. Although lifelong negative consequences of combat exposure were observed, perceiving positive benefits from this stressful experience mitigated the effect.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2002

The influence of adult attachment styles on the association between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms.

This study tested the hypothesis that attachment styles moderate the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms among husbands and wives. In a sample of 91 married couples, ratings of the anxious-ambivalent attachment style moderated the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms for both husbands and wives. Additionally, ratings of the secure attachment style moderated the relationship between marital adjustment and depressive symptoms for wives, with a trend for husbands. These findings suggest a relationship between insecurity and a predisposition to depressive symptoms in marital relationships.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Reactive personality-environment transactions and adult developmental trajectories.

The possibility, which is based on the concept of reactive personality-environment transactions, that individuals learn different things from the same experience as a function of personality differences may help explain individual differences in adult developmental trajectories. In an analogue, longitudinal design, business students were taught about stock market investing, and they engaged in 5 practice investment sessions. Although all participants earned the same returns on their investments, they varied in the expectancies they formed about stock investing as a function of their personality status. As anticipated, behavioral inhibition (heightened sensitivity to punishment) facilitated formation of negative investing expectancies and antagonized formation of positive investing expectancies, and behavioral activation (heightened sensitivity to reward) facilitated formation of positive investing expectancies and antagonized formation of negative investing expectancies. Differential learning in a task that approximated skill acquisition for a developmental transition implies that personality may help shape individual developmental trajectories in the adult years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Relationship of core self-evaluations to goal setting, motivation, and performance.

A newly developed personality taxonomy suggests that self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and neuroticism form a broad personality trait termed core self-evaluations. The authors hypothesized that this broad trait is related to motivation and performance. To test this hypothesis, 3 studies were conducted. Study 1 showed that the 4 dispositions loaded on 1 higher order factor. Study 2 demonstrated that the higher order trait was related to task motivation and performance in a laboratory setting. Study 3 showed that the core trait was related to task activity, productivity as measured by sales volume, and the rated performance of insurance agents. Results also revealed that the core self-evaluations trait was related to goal-setting behavior. In addition, when the 4 core traits were investigated as 1 nomological network, they proved to be more consistent predictors of job behaviors than when used in isolation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The cultural mosaic: a metatheory for understanding the complexity of culture.

Workforce population trends have increased the numbers and kinds of culturally diverse people who work together. Researchers in organizational behavior have often examined culture through values; however, cultural values can be based on collections of people other than traditional nation states. A cultural mosaic is presented as a framework to identify demographic, geographic, and associative features underlying culture. An individual's unique collage of multiple cultural identities yields a complex picture of the cultural influences on that person. Developments in chaos and complexity theories are proposed as a theoretical base for study on the complexity of culture at the individual level. Additional developments in network theory serve as a theoretical base for cultural research at the group level. The cultural mosaic is described as a complex system with localized structures, linking cultural tiles in ordered and chaotic ways. Research propositions examining multiple cultural identities at individual and group levels are discussed.

Cooperative Behavior↗
PubMed2004

Personality disorder traits during adolescence and relationships with family members during the transition to adulthood.

Data from the Children in the Community Transitions Study, a prospective longitudinal investigation, were used to examine the association between adolescent personality disorder (PD) traits and conflict with family members during the transition to adulthood. PD traits at mean age 16 years were associated with elevated contact and conflict with family members between ages 17 and 27 years after Axis I disorders were controlled. There was a significant association between frequent contact and elevated conflict with family members. Both declined gradually during the transition to adulthood. Reduced family contact was associated with reduced family conflict, particularly among individuals who had numerous PD traits during adolescence. Among individuals who had a high level of family conflict during adolescence, reduced family contact between ages 17 and 22 years was associated with a subsequent reduction in conflict with family members between ages 22 and 27 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Cognitive changes, critical sessions, and sudden gains in cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression.

Using an independent cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) data set, the authors replicated T. Z. Tang and R. J. DeRubeis' (1999) discovery of sudden gains--sudden and large decreases in depression severity in a single between-session interval. By incorporating therapy session transcripts, the authors of this study improved the reliability of the Patient Cognitive Change Scale to .75 and found that these CBT sudden gains were also preceded by substantial cognitive changes in the pregain sessions.

Awareness↗
PubMed2005

Validity of sudden gains in acute phase treatment of depression.

The authors examined the validity of sudden gains identified with T. Z. Tang and R. J. DeRubeis's (1999) method in 2 clinical data sets that involved treatment of major depressive disorder (N=227). Sudden gains replicated among self- and clinician reports of depressive symptoms and predicted better psychosocial functioning at the acute phase treatment end point, in support of their validity. However, sudden gains occurred with roughly the same moderate frequency in pill placebo and pharmacotherapy with clinical management as in cognitive therapy. Furthermore, sudden gains predicted more depressive symptoms and negative failure attributions in longitudinal follow-up of responders to acute phase cognitive therapy. On the basis of these findings, the authors conceptualize sudden gains as one of several possible patterns of acute phase treatment response.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2005

Sudden gains in cognitive therapy for depression: a replication and extension.

Of 76 clients receiving 8-20 sessions of cognitive therapy (CT) in a joint university and a national health service clinic, 31 experienced sudden gains that appeared very similar to those first reported in clinical trials of CT by T. Z. Tang and R. J. DeRubeis (1999) and subsequently replicated in other studies. The sudden gains appeared less stable in the present study's more routine clinical practice settings than they were in the clinical trials. Life events did not appear to account for sudden gains.

Adaptation, Psychological↗