Midlife concerns and short-term personality change in middle adulthood

Abstract

In this study, it was expected that personality change would be related to parents' concerns in various domains of midlife functioning. Personality was found to be moderately stable, but small but reliable change was also found. Fathers' change in personality was uniquely related to their life satisfaction, work stress and perceptions of the level of their adolescent children's internalising problems, but not to perceived partner support. By comparison, mothers' change in personality was only uniquely related to their life satisfaction. These results suggest that personality change in midlife is associated with the successful adaptation to midlife concerns. This pattern is consistent with social investment theories of personality development, though cross‐lagged longitudinal research is needed to substantiate this conclusion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.