Individual differences are accentuated during periods of social change: the sample case of girls at puberty.
The emergence of new behaviors and the reorganization of psychological structures are often attributed to critical events and crises in the life course. A fundamentally different perspective is offered: Potentially disruptive transitions produce personality continuity, not change. The behavioral responses of adolescent girls to the onset of menarche was studied in a longitudinal study of an unselected birth cohort. Predictions from 3 rival hypotheses about the relation between pubertal change and social psychological change were first tested: the stressful change, off time, and early-timing hypotheses. The results supported the early-timing hypothesis. Whether stressful, early menarche generated new behavioral problems or accentuated premenarcheal dispositions was then tested. The results supported an accentuation model: Stressful transitions accentuated behavioral problems among girls who were predisposed to behavioral problems earlier in childhood. Speculations are offered for a broader theory about the role of individual differences in the life course.
Caspi
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Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
Moffitt
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D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008572:Menarche / Q000523:psychology; D010553:Personality Development; D011627:Puberty / Q000523:psychology*; D012922:Social Change