Important Adulthood Transitions Predicted By Childhood Personality Traits
Posted Oct 03 2008 12:52pm
This research is fascinating, and I think studies like this have only scratched the surface of what we will eventually be able to determine about people based on personality and other biologically-influenced traits. The study, a 19-year longitudinal project, examined whether children's personality traits (in this case, whether the child was characterized as "Resilient," "Overcontrolled," or "Undercontrolled") could have a predictive influence on certain adult transitional activities, such as leaving home, establishing a romantic relationship, and obtaining part-time work. The authors found, unsurprisingly, that the resilient kids were able to engage in the transitional behaviors earlier. From the article:
The 19-year longitudinal study illustrated that childhood personality types were meaningfully associated with the timing of the transitions. Resilient males were found to leave their parents' house approximately one year earlier than overcontrolled or undercontrolled children. Overcontrolled boys took more than a year longer than others in finding a romantic partner. Resilient boys and girls were faster in getting a part-time job than their overcontrolled and undercontrolled peers.
I recommend you read the whole thing, especially because they discuss how they classified the children into each of the three categories. What will be interesting as research in this area moves forward is to see what life experiences impact personality formation (another area that is simply ripe for examination, beyond the severe environmental influences, such as abuse, neglect, etc.), as well as possible interactive impacts.
This research is fascinating, and I think studies like this have only scratched the surface of what we will eventually be able to determine about people based on personality and other biologically-influenced traits. The study, a 19-year longitudinal project, examined whether children's personality traits (in this case, whether the child was characterized as "Resilient," "Overcontrolled," or "Undercontrolled") could have a predictive influence on certain adult transitional activities, such as leaving home, establishing a romantic relationship, and obtaining part-time work. The authors found, unsurprisingly, that the resilient kids were able to engage in the transitional behaviors earlier. From the article:
I recommend you read the whole thing, especially because they discuss how they classified the children into each of the three categories. What will be interesting as research in this area moves forward is to see what life experiences impact personality formation (another area that is simply ripe for examination, beyond the severe environmental influences, such as abuse, neglect, etc.), as well as possible interactive impacts.