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Abstract
In this review, we evaluate four topics in the study of personality development where discernible progress has been made since 1995 (the last time the area of personality development was reviewed in this series). We (a) evaluate research about the structure of personality in childhood and in adulthood, with special attention to possible developmental changes in the lower-order components of broad traits; (b) summarize new directions in behavioral genetic studies of personality; (c) synthesize evidence from longitudinal studies to pinpoint where and when in the life course personality change is most likely to occur; and (d) document which personality traits influence social relationships, status attainment, and health, and the mechanisms by which these personality effects come about. In each of these four areas, we note gaps and identify priorities for further research.
Key Words personality dynamics, temperament, longitudinal methods, individual differences
THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY: DEVELOPMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS
Both child psychologists and adult personality researchers study individual differences, but historically the two groups have done so within different research traditions. Child psychologists have focused on temperament traits, the behavioral consistencies that appear early in life, that are frequently but not exclusively emotional in nature, and that have a presumed biological basis (Shiner 1998). Researchers studying adults have focused on personality traits, which encompass a broader range of individual differences in thinking, feeling, and behaving. The last decade has been a vibrant, productive period in the study of the links between early temperament and later personality (Graziano 2003). From the point of view of this emerging developmental science of personality, childhood temperament should be conceptualized with an eye toward adult personality structure, and adult personality should be understood in light of its childhood antecedents.
The conceptual distinctions between temperament and personality traits have been challenged by recent empirical work demonstrating similarities between the two domains of individual differences (McCrae et al. 2000). Temperament traits by definition appear earlier, and they tend to be more narrow, lower-level traits. However, like temperament traits, nearly all personality traits show moderate genetic influence (Bouchard & Loehlin 2001), and individual differences in "personality traits" have been identified in nonhuman animals (Gosling 2001). Like personality traits, temperament traits are not immune from experience. Behavioral genetic studies have established that individual differences...