Social expectations and abilities to meet them as possible mechanisms of youth personality development

Hang, Yuzhan and Soto, Christopher and Lee, Billy and Speyer, Lydia Gabriela and Murray, Aja Louise and Mõttus, René (2023) Social expectations and abilities to meet them as possible mechanisms of youth personality development. Journal of personality, 91 (3). pp. 601-612. ISSN 0022-3506

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Personality traits change from childhood through late-adolescence, however the effects of social expectations and self-regulatory efforts remain unknown. This study aims to explore mechanisms underlying personality development by assessing mean levels personality traits from childhood to late-adolescence. METHOD: We used Common-Language California Child Q-Set to measure youths' (N = 11,000) mean personality trait levels; social expectations for these traits as perceived by parents (N = 47), teachers (N = 42) and students (N = 120); and self-regulatory efforts required for achieving the desired levels in these traits as perceived by parents (N = 27), teachers (N = 26), and students (N = 54). RESULTS: Expectations for youths' traits were consistent, regardless of raters' or youths' age. In our unique between-trait study design, traits' mean levels were positively associated with expectations for them, but age differences minimally tracked these expectations. Traits' required self-regulatory efforts were not associated with their developmental trends. CONCLUSIONS: Results were only partially consistent with existing developmental theories of personality development.