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Stereotypes of age differences in personality traits: universal and accurate?

Chan W 1 , Mccrae RR , De Fruyt F 2 , Jussim L 3 , Löckenhoff CE 4 , De Bolle M 2 Show all authors , Costa PT 1 , Sutin AR 1 , Realo A 5 , Allik J 5 , Nakazato K 6 , Shimonaka Y 7 , Hřebíčková M 8 , Graf S 8 , Yik M 9 , Brunner-Sciarra M 10 , De Figueroa NL 11 , Schmidt V 11 , Ahn CK 12 , Ahn HN 13 , Aguilar-Vafaie ME 14 , Siuta J 15 , Szmigielska B 15 , Cain TR 16 , Crawford JT 17 , Mastor KA 18 , Rolland JP 19 , Nansubuga F 20 , Miramontez DR 21 , Benet-Martínez V 22 , Rossier J 23 , Bratko D 24 , Marušić I 25 , Halberstadt J 26 , Yamaguchi M 26 , Knežević G 27 , Martin TA 28 , Gheorghiu M 29 , Smith PB 30 , Barbaranelli C 31 , Wang L 32 , Shakespeare-Finch J 33 , Lima MP 34 , Klinkosz W 35 , Sekowski A 35 , Alcalay L 36 , Simonetti F 36 , Avdeyeva TV 37 , Pramila VS 38 , Terracciano A 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 National Institute on Aging
  • 2 Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University
  • 3 Department of Psychology, Rutgers University
  • 4 Department of Human Development, Cornell University
  • 5 Department of Psychology, University of Tartu
  • 6 Faculty of Social Welfare, Iwate Prefectural University
  • 7 Department of Human Studies, Bunkyo Gakuin University
  • 8 Institute of Psychology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
  • 9 Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
  • 10 Faculty of Psychology, Cayetano Heredia University
  • 11 Department of Psychology, University of Buenos Aires
  • 12 Department of Education, Pusan National University
  • 13 Department of Psychology, Ewha Womans University
  • 14 Department of Psychology, Tarbiat Modares University
  • 15 Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University
  • 16 School of Cognitive Science, Hampshire College
  • 17 Department of Psychology, The College of New Jersey
  • 18 School of General Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
  • 19 UFR STAPS, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defence
  • 20 Institute of Psychology, Makerere University
  • 21 Office of Institutional Research and Planning, San Diego Community College District
  • 22 Department of Political and Social Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University
  • 23 Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne
  • 24 Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb
  • 25 Institute for Social Research in Zagreb
  • 26 Department of Psychology, University of Otago
  • 27 Department of Psychology, Belgrade University
  • 28 Department of Psychology, Susquehanna University
  • 29 School of Psychology, Queens University
  • 30 School of Psychology, University of Sussex
  • 31 Department of Psychology, La Sapienza University
  • 32 Department of Psychology, Peking University
  • 33 School of Psychology and Counseling, Queensland University of Technology
  • 34 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Science, University of Coimbra
  • 35 Department of Psychology, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin
  • 36 Escuela de Psicologia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
  • 37 Graduate School of Professional Psychology, University of St. Thomas
  • 38 Department of Psychology, Andhra University
J Pers Soc Psychol, 2012 Dec;103(6):1050-1066.
PMID: 23088227 DOI: 10.1037/a0029712

Abstract

Age trajectories for personality traits are known to be similar across cultures. To address whether stereotypes of age groups reflect these age-related changes in personality, we asked participants in 26 countries (N = 3,323) to rate typical adolescents, adults, and old persons in their own country. Raters across nations tended to share similar beliefs about different age groups; adolescents were seen as impulsive, rebellious, undisciplined, preferring excitement and novelty, whereas old people were consistently considered lower on impulsivity, activity, antagonism, and Openness. These consensual age group stereotypes correlated strongly with published age differences on the five major dimensions of personality and most of 30 specific traits, using as criteria of accuracy both self-reports and observer ratings, different survey methodologies, and data from up to 50 nations. However, personal stereotypes were considerably less accurate, and consensual stereotypes tended to exaggerate differences across age groups.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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