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Middle Adulthood

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The evidence is accumulating that contends individuals maintain the ability to adapt personality traits through all stages of life. Roberts and Mroczek (2008) emphasize that personality changes in middle and old age may appear subtle, however, they are apparent which supports a growing census that personality traits continue to evolve throughout one’s lifetime. It has been shown that the longer a period of time a study follows a specific personality characteristic change, the more evident the change will become, this provides data that opposes the general theory that personality traits have a limited level of alteration from which traits may show variation (Roberts & Mroczek, 2008). The changes evident in personality during middle adulthood …show more content…

It is, of course, evident, that the generalized positive changes perceived through social maturity do not apply to all individuals; some people contradict the normative positive progression of traits or show no change at all, which can be demonstrated through individual differences in personality trait change (Roberts and Wood, 2006). Roberts, Caspi and Moffitt (2003) contend that life and career occurrences are connected to changes in personality characteristics and for those individual’s who obtain more successful and fulfilling careers in early adulthood the traits of conscientiousness and emotional stability rose disproportionately. Furthermore, Roberts and Wood (2006) argue that not all personality changes occur in a positive direction, as an example the researchers state that individuals performing activities that are counterproductive, involve aggression and/or indolence are likely to show a decrease in the traits of conscientiousness and emotional

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