Synonyms
Introduction and Definition
Personality stability refers to the extent to which personality traits remain the same with increasing age. Depending on what is exactly meant by same, four different types of personality stability can be distinguished: stability of the mean level of a trait, stability of the interindividual differences in a trait (rank-order stability), stability of personality profiles, and continuity of a trait construct. Stability can be empirically measured in longitudinal studies that assess the same individuals at different ages. A large body of such studies conducted at all ages and sometimes covering 50 years and more provide evidence for five principles of stability. Together, these principles are consistent with a model of personality – environment transaction that includes stabilizing genetic differences.
Types of Stability
Stability is the absence of change. Whereas change has a direction (increase or...
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Asendorpf, J. (2020). Personality Stability. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_1880
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