Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY
Volume 35, Issue 2, Pages 168-196Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1002/per.2275
Keywords
Big Five personality traits; life goals; life narratives; integrative framework for studying people; life-span development
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Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [P0BSP1_168915, CRSI11_130432, CRSII1_147614]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [CRSII1_147614, P0BSP1_168915, CRSI11_130432] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
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The study examined the interrelations between traits, goals, and narratives in personality development and found meaningful connections among these factors. Age played a role in influencing these relationships, particularly in narratives and among younger to middle-aged individuals.
According to the integrative framework for studying people, personality manifests and develops along three separate, but related, levels: the actor (e.g. traits), agent (e.g. goals), and author (i.e. narratives). Although these levels are thought to be conceptually interrelated, few studies have empirically examined such interrelations. To address this gap, the present study tested how traits, goals, and narratives are longitudinally related to each other and whether master motives (getting along and getting ahead) serve as helpful tools to structure these interrelations. Applying a developmental approach, we further explored these interrelations against the background of age-related effects. A sample of 141 participants (14-68 years,M = 35.40 years) completed self-reports on traits and goals at the beginning and end of a 2-year study. In between these measurements, participants took part in a life story interview that assessed narratives. We applied multilevel analyses and found that traits, goals, and narratives were meaningfully related to each other. Interactions with age occurred in less than 20% of the cases, emerged among the majority of variables (except for agreeableness and openness), were most pronounced for narratives and were mainly found among young and middle-aged participants. The findings are discussed in view of master motives. (c) 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology
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