Study: Personality is Set for Life by First Grade
Cleveland Leader
August 7, 2010
According to a new study, our personalities remain pretty much the same throughout our lives, from early childhood and on into old age. Results of the study show that personality traits observed in children as young as first graders are a strong predictor of adult behavior.
Study author Christopher Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside, says:
"We remain recognizably the same person. This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts."
To conduct the study, Nave used data from a 1960s study of 2,400 ethnically diverse schoolchildren in grades 1 through 6 in Hawaii. Researchers compared the teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later. Researchers looked at four personality attributes: talkativeness, adaptability, impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior.
What researchers discovered is that the talkative students tended to show an interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control situations and exhibit a high degree of intelligence as adults. Children who rated low in verbal fluency (talkativeness), were observed as adults that give up when faced with obstacles, exhibit an awkward interpersonal style, and who seek advice from others.
Children who rated highly adaptable tended, by middle age, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were as adults observed to say negative things about themselves, seek advice, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Students who rated as impulsive were included to display a wide range of interest, be talkative as adults and speak loudly. Students who were deemed less impulsive tended to be timid or fearful, kept others at a distance, and expressed insecurity as adults.
Lastly, children who ranked low on self-minimizing, or being humble to the point of minimizing one's importance, tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters, and exhibit condescending behavior as adults. Those students who were characterized as self-minimizing were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity as adults.
Previous studies have shown that personalities can change, but that it is a very difficult undertaking.
This study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Cleveland Leader
August 7, 2010
According to a new study, our personalities remain pretty much the same throughout our lives, from early childhood and on into old age. Results of the study show that personality traits observed in children as young as first graders are a strong predictor of adult behavior.
Study author Christopher Nave, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Riverside, says:
"We remain recognizably the same person. This speaks to the importance of understanding personality because it does follow us wherever we go across time and contexts."
To conduct the study, Nave used data from a 1960s study of 2,400 ethnically diverse schoolchildren in grades 1 through 6 in Hawaii. Researchers compared the teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews of 144 of those individuals 40 years later. Researchers looked at four personality attributes: talkativeness, adaptability, impulsiveness and self-minimizing behavior.
What researchers discovered is that the talkative students tended to show an interest in intellectual matters, speak fluently, try to control situations and exhibit a high degree of intelligence as adults. Children who rated low in verbal fluency (talkativeness), were observed as adults that give up when faced with obstacles, exhibit an awkward interpersonal style, and who seek advice from others.
Children who rated highly adaptable tended, by middle age, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were as adults observed to say negative things about themselves, seek advice, and exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.
Students who rated as impulsive were included to display a wide range of interest, be talkative as adults and speak loudly. Students who were deemed less impulsive tended to be timid or fearful, kept others at a distance, and expressed insecurity as adults.
Lastly, children who ranked low on self-minimizing, or being humble to the point of minimizing one's importance, tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters, and exhibit condescending behavior as adults. Those students who were characterized as self-minimizing were likely to express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and express insecurity as adults.
Previous studies have shown that personalities can change, but that it is a very difficult undertaking.
This study will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
