of work: Most studies of age differences in personality have been conducted in the United States using self-report measures. For this project, two studies were conducted across cultures using observer ratings of personality. In the first, we obtained both self-reports and informant ratings of the same individuals in Russia (N = 800) and the Czech Republic (N = 705). In both cultures, the same pattern of age differences was found: Neuroticism, Extraversion, and Openness declined across the lifespan, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increased. Informant data generally replicated self-report findings, although the effects were weaker. In the second study we gathered college students' ratings of an anonymous target, either 18-21 or 40+ years old, in 50 cultures, from Iceland to Ethiopia. Adults were rated as higher than college-age targets on Conscientiousness and lower on Extraversion and Openness in most cultures. Age differences on Neuroticism and Agreeableness were much weaker. Although there are still some unexplained differences between self-report and informant rating methods of assessing personality, the data overall demonstrate that age differences are universal, supporting the hypothesis that personality change is part of the intrinsic maturation of the human species.
| Terracciano, Antonio; McCrae, Robert R (2007) Perceptions of Americans and the Iraq Invasion: Implications for Understanding National Character Stereotypes. J Cross Cult Psychol 38:695-710 |
| Terracciano, Antonio; McCrae, Robert R; Costa Jr, Paul T (2006) Longitudinal trajectories in Guilford-Zimmerman temperament survey data: results from the Baltimore longitudinal study of aging. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 61:P108-16 |
| Terracciano, Antonio; Costa Jr, Paul T; McCrae, Robert R (2006) Personality plasticity after age 30. Pers Soc Psychol Bull 32:999-1009 |
| Costa Jr, Paul T; McCrae, Robert R (2006) Age changes in personality and their origins: comment on Roberts, Walton, and Viechtbauer (2006). Psychol Bull 132:26-8 |
| McCrae, Robert R; Terracciano, Antonio; Personality Profiles of Cultures Project (2005) Universal features of personality traits from the observer's perspective: data from 50 cultures. J Pers Soc Psychol 88:547-61 |
| Terracciano, Antonio; McCrae, Robert R; Brant, Larry J et al. (2005) Hierarchical linear modeling analyses of the NEO-PI-R scales in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Psychol Aging 20:493-506 |
| McCrae, Robert R; Terracciano, Antonio (2005) Personality profiles of cultures: aggregate personality traits. J Pers Soc Psychol 89:407-25 |
| Costa Jr, Paul T; Bagby, R Michael; Herbst, Jeffrey H et al. (2005) Personality self-reports are concurrently reliable and valid during acute depressive episodes. J Affect Disord 89:45-55 |
| Terracciano, A; Abdel-Khalek, A M; Adam, N et al. (2005) National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures. Science 310:96-100 |
| Weiss, Alexander; Costa Jr, Paul T; Karuza, Jurgis et al. (2005) Cross-sectional age differences in personality among medicare patients aged 65 to 100. Psychol Aging 20:182-5 |
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