Age differences in personality structure revisited: Studies in validity, stability, and change.
Construct validity and longitudinal stability evidence for three cluster dimensions of personality identified as Anxiety, Extraversion, and Openness is examined in a sample of adult males. Correlations with Allport-Vernon-Lindsay Value scales, Cornell Medical Index scores, Eysenck E and N scales, and factors from the SVIB are presented in support of the interpretation of the three clusters. Nine-year longitudinal evidence of stability is presented for Anxiety and Extraversion scores. Previous evidence for change in the structure of Openness to Experience is reconsidered in the light of eleven-year longitudinal data. While the earlier structural differences were not longitudinally replicated, a pattern of external correlates provided evidence for validity of an Openness dimension. Finally, the structural approach to personality development is illustrated by examining the differing relations between field-dependence and tendermindedness in younger and older men.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D001007:Anxiety; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012945:Social Values