The long-term stability of self-esteem: Its time-dependent decay and nonzero asymptote

How stable are individual differences in self-esteem? We examined the time-dependent decay of rank-order stability of self-esteem and tested whether stability asymptotically approaches zero or a nonzero value across long test–retest intervals. Analyses were based on 6 assessments across a 29-year period of a sample of 3,180 individuals aged 14 to 102 years. The results indicated that, as test–retest intervals increased, stability exponentially decayed and asymptotically approached a nonzero value (estimated as .43). The exponential decay function explained a large proportion of variance in observed stability coefficients, provided a better fit than alternative functions, and held across gender and for all age groups from adolescence to old age. Moreover, structural equation modeling of the individual-level data suggested that a perfectly stable trait component underlies stability of self-esteem. The findings suggest that the stability of self-esteem is relatively large, even across very long periods, and that self-esteem is a trait-like characteristic.

How large are actor and partner effects of personality on relationship satisfaction? The importance of controlling for shared method variance

Previous research suggests that the personality of a relationship partner predicts not only the individual’s own satisfaction with the relationship but also the partner’s satisfaction. Based on the actor–partner interdependence model, the present research tested whether actor and partner effects of personality are biased when the same method (e.g., self-report) is used for the assessment of personality and relationship satisfaction and, consequently, shared method variance is not controlled for. Data came from 186 couples, of whom both partners provided self- and partner reports on the Big Five personality traits. Depending on the research design, actor effects were larger than partner effects (when using only self-reports), smaller than partner effects (when using only partner reports), or of about the same size as partner effects (when using self- and partner reports). The findings attest to the importance of controlling for shared method variance in dyadic data analysis.

Personality factors in elementary school children: Contributions to academic performance over and above executive functions?

Unique contributions of Big Five personality factors to academic performance in young elementary school children were explored. Extraversion and Openness (labeled “Culture” in our study) uniquely contributed to academic performance, over and above the contribution of executive functions in first and second grade children (N = 446). Well established associations between Conscientiousness and academic performance, however, could only be replicated with regard to zero-order correlations. Executive functions (inhibition, updating, and shifting), for their part, proved to be powerful predictors of academic performance. Results were to some extent dependent on the criterion with which academic performance was measured: Both personality factors had stronger effects on grades than on standardized achievement tests, whereas the opposite was true for executive functions. Finally, analyses on gender differences revealed that Extraversion and Openness/Culture played a more dominant role in girls than in boys, but only regarding grades.

Type D Personality, Self-Efficacy, and Medication Adherence Following an Acute Coronary Syndrome

Objective: To assess the relationship among Type D personality, self-efficacy, and medication adherence in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods: The study design was prospective and observational. Type D personality, self-efficacy for illness management behaviors, and medication adherence were measured 3 weeks after hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome in 165 patients (mean [standard deviation] age = 61.62 [10.61] years, 16% women). Self-reported medication adherence was measured 6 months later in 118 of these patients. Multiple linear regression and mediation analyses were used to address the study research questions. Results: Using the original categorical classification, 30% of patients with acute coronary syndrome were classified as having Type D personality. Categorically defined patients with Type D personality had significantly poorer medication adherence at 6 months (r = j0.29, p G .01). Negative affectivity (NA; r = j0.25, p = .01) and social inhibition (r = j0.19, p = .04), the components of Type D personality, were associated with medication adherence 6 months after discharge in bivariate analyses. There was no evidence for the interaction of NA and social inhibition, that is, Type D personality, in the prediction of medication adherence 6 months after discharge in multivariate analysis. The observed association between NA and medication adherence 6 months after discharge could be partly explained by indirect effects through self-efficacy in mediation analysis (coefficient = j0.012; 95% bias-corrected and accelerated confidence interval = j0.036 to j0.001). Conclusions: The present data suggest the primacy of NA over the Type D personality construct in predicting medication adherence. Lower levels of self-efficacy may be a mediator between higher levels of NA and poor adherence to medication in patients with coronary heart disease.

Effects of Motive-Oriented Therapeutic Relationship in a Ten-Session General Psychiatric Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Motive-oriented therapeutic relationship (MOTR) was postulated to be a particularly helpful therapeutic ingredient in the early treatment phase of patients with personality disorders, in particular with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The present randomized controlled study using an add-on design is the first study to test this assumption in a 10-session general psychiatric treatment with patients presenting with BPD on symptom reduction and therapeutic alliance. Methods: A total of 85 patients were randomized. They were either allocated to a manual-based short variant of the general psychiatric management (GPM) treatment (in 10 sessions) or to the same treatment where MOTR was deliberately added to the treatment. Treatment attrition and integrity analyses yielded satisfactory results. Results: The results of the intent-to-treat analyses suggested a global efficacy of MOTR, in the sense of an additional reduction of general problems, i.e. symptoms, interpersonal and social problems (F 1, 73 = 7.25, p < 0.05). However, they also showed that MOTR did not yield an additional reduction of specific borderline symptoms. It was also shown that a stronger therapeutic alliance, as assessed by the therapist, developed in MOTR treatments compared to GPM (Z 55 = 0.99, p < 0.04). Conclusions: These results suggest that adding MOTR to psychiatric and psychotherapeutic treatments of BPD is promising. Moreover, the findings shed additional light on the perspective of shortening treatments for patients presenting with BPD.

Cross-cultural analysis of type D (distressed) personality in 6222 patients with ischemic heart disease: a study from the International HeartQoL Project

BACKGROUND Type D (distressed) personality, the conjoint effect of negative affectivity (NA) and social inhibition (SI), predicts adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and is assessed with the 14-item Type D Scale (DS14). However, potential cross-cultural differences in Type D have not been examined yet in a direct comparison of countries. AIM To examine the cross-cultural validity of the Type D construct and its relation with cardiovascular risk factors, cardiac symptom severity, and depression/anxiety. METHODS In 22 countries, 6222 patients with ischemic heart disease (angina, 33%; myocardial infarction, 37%; or heart failure, 30%) completed the DS14 as part of the International HeartQoL Project. RESULTS Type D personality was assessed reliably across countries (αNA>.80; αSI>.74; except Russia, which was excluded from further analysis). Cross-cultural measurement equivalence was established for Type D personality at all measurement levels, as the factor-item configuration, factor loadings, and error structure were not different across countries (fit: CFI=.91; NFI=.88; RMSEA=.018), as well as across gender and diagnostic subgroups. Type D personality was more prevalent in Southern (37%) and Eastern (35%) European countries compared to Northern (24%) and Western European and English-speaking (both 27%) countries (p<.001). Type D was not confounded by cardiac symptom severity, but was associated with a higher prevalence of hypertension, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, and depression. CONCLUSION Cross-cultural measurement equivalence was demonstrated for the Type D scale in 21 countries. There is a pan-cultural relationship between Type D personality and some cardiovascular risk factors, supporting the role of Type D personality across countries and cardiac conditions.

Personality and Memory in Old Age

We examined the impact of personality on episodic memory performance in a sample of 287 healthy adults aged 68-95 years. Extraversion and neuroticism were assessed with a standardized personality inventory. Episodic memory was assessed with an everyday task. Results from regression analyses controlling for the effects of age, gender, and education show that higher extraversion and lower neuroticism are associated with higher episodic memory performance. In addition, the strength of the correlations between neuroticism and episodic memory declined with increasing age in a male sub-sample, revealing an interaction between age and neuroticism.

Psychological adaptation to spousal loss in old age: The role of personality

Spousal loss is an inevitable critical life event for most individuals in old age, mostly associated with a negative impact on various well-being measures, ie. lower life satisfaction, higher rates of loneliness and depressive symptoms compared to married peers. While the negative effects on well-being are well documented in literature, the modifying factors accounting for the large variability in adaptation to loss are discussed controversially. The potential relevance of personality in the adaptation process has rarely been examined and findings regarding the role of time since loss are contradictory. Based on a vulnerability-stress-model this contribution aims a) to compare psychological well-being of bereaved individuals with married counterparts and b) to investigate the protective effects of different personality traits (Big Five, resilience), and the role of time since loss for adaptation in terms of life satisfaction, loneliness and depression. Data from a questionnaire study about the loss of a spouse in middle and old age in the German- and French-speaking parts of Switzerland are reported. The study is part of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES (Swiss National Science Foundation). The sample consists of 351 widowed persons (39% men, widowed since 0 - 5 years), and 605 married controls (50% men), aged 60 - 89 years. Group comparisons reveal the detrimental effect of spousal bereavement on all indicators of psychological adaptation. Results from hierarchical regression analyses show furthermore, that the effect of spousal loss on all psychological outcomes is moderated by personality traits. Separate analyses with the group of bereaved individuals suggest, that the protective effect of personality varies by the time passed since loss. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the variability in psychological adaptation to spousal loss in old age and give hints for counselling practice.

Patient-reported outcomes in borderline personality disorder.

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) refers to measures that emphasize the subjective view of patients about their health-related conditions and behaviors. Typically, PROs include self-report questionnaires and clinical interviews. Defining PROs for borderline personality disorder (BPD) is particularly challenging given the disorder's high symptomatic heterogeneity, high comorbidity with other psychiatric conditions, highly fluctuating symptoms, weak correlations between symptoms and functional outcomes, and lack of valid and reliable experimental measures to complement self-report data. Here, we provide an overview of currently used BPD outcome measures and discuss them from clinical, psychometric, experimental, and patient perspectives. In addition, we review the most promising leads to improve BPD PROs, including the DSM-5 Section III, the Recovery Approach, Ecological Momentary Assessments, and novel experimental measures of social functioning that are associated with functional and social outcomes.

EEG microstates during resting represent personality differences

We investigated the spontaneous brain electric activity of 13 skeptics and 16 believers in paranormal phenomena; they were university students assessed with a self-report scale about paranormal beliefs. 33-channel EEG recordings during no-task resting were processed as sequences of momentary potential distribution maps. Based on the maps at peak times of Global Field Power, the sequences were parsed into segments of quasi-stable potential distribution, the 'microstates'. The microstates were clustered into four classes of map topographies (A-D). Analysis of the microstate parameters time coverage, occurrence frequency and duration as well as the temporal sequence (syntax) of the microstate classes revealed significant differences: Believers had a higher coverage and occurrence of class B, tended to decreased coverage and occurrence of class C, and showed a predominant sequence of microstate concatenations from A to C to B to A that was reversed in skeptics (A to B to C to A). Microstates of different topographies, putative "atoms of thought", are hypothesized to represent different types of information processing.The study demonstrates that personality differences can be detected in resting EEG microstate parameters and microstate syntax. Microstate analysis yielded no conclusive evidence for the hypothesized relation between paranormal belief and schizophrenia.

Developmental tasks as a framework to study personality development in adulthood and old age

Research consistently shows that personality development is a lifelong phenomenon, with mean-level and rank-order changes occurring in all life phases. What happens during specific life phases that can explain these developmental patterns? In the present paper, we review literature linking personality development in different phases of adulthood to developmental tasks associated with these phases. Building on previous work, we describe several categories of developmental tasks that are present in all phases of adulthood. However, the specific tasks within these categories change across adulthood from establishing new social roles in early adulthood to maintaining them in middle adulthood and preventing losses in old age. This trajectory is reflected in mean-level changes in personality, which indicates development towards greater maturity (increases in social dominance, conscientiousness, and emotional stability) in early and middle adulthood, but less so at the end of life. Importantly, developmental tasks are not only associated with mean-level changes, but the way in which people deal with these tasks is also related to rank-order changes in personality. We provide an outlook for future research on how the influence of historical time on the normativeness of developmental tasks might be reflected in personality development.

Studying changes in life circumstances and personality: It's about time

Most theories of personality development posit that changes in life circumstances (e.g. due to major life events) can lead to changes in personality, but few studies have examined the exact time course of these changes. In this article, we argue that time needs to be considered explicitly in theories and empirical studies on personality development. We discuss six notions on the role of time in personality development. First, people can differ before the event. Second, change can be non-linear and discontinuous. Third, change can be reversible. Fourth, change can occur before the event. Fifth, control groups are needed to disentangle age-related and event-related changes. Sixth, we need to move beyond examining single major life events and study the effects of non-normative events, non-events, multiple events, and minor events on personality. We conclude by summarizing the methodological and theoretical implications of these notions.

What drives adult personality development? A comparison of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence

Increasing numbers of empirical studies provide compelling evidence that personality traits change across the entire lifespan. What initiates this continuing personality development and how does this development proceed? In this paper, we compare six theoretical perspectives that offer testable predictions about why personality develops the way it does and identify limitations and potentials of these perspectives by reviewing how they hold up against the empirical evidence. While all of these perspectives have received some empirical support, there is only little direct evidence for propositions put forward by the five-factor theory of personality and the theory of genotype→environment effects. In contrast, the neo-socioanalytic theory appears to offer a comprehensive framework that fits the empirical findings and allows the integration of other, more specialized, perspectives that focus on specific aspects of personality development like the role of time, systematic differences between categories of social roles or the active partake of the person himself or herself. We draw conclusions on the likely driving factors for adult personality development and identify avenues for future research.