Can personality traits and intelligence compensate for background disadvantage? Predicting status attainment in adulthood

Peer acceptance and rejection during secondary school: Do associations with subsequent educational outcomes vary by socioeconomic background?

Research shows that peer relationships are associated with students' school adjustment. However, the importance of advantageous and disadvantageous factors for students' educational outcomes may vary by socioeconomic positioning. Drawing on sociometric and register data from a nationally representative sample of Swedish youth (n = 4996, girls 50%; migration background 19%), this study asks if family socioeconomic status moderates associations between youth's peer relationships and their subsequent educational outcomes. Based on preregistered analyses, associations that peer acceptance and rejection at age 14-15 years share with school grades at ~16 years and completion of upper secondary school at ~20 years were tested. The findings showed that positive and adverse peer relationships are most consequential for the educational outcomes of socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.

Personality and cognitive errors in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study

This study examines the association between personality and cognitive errors in the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span study, a sample diverse across race (Black, White) and SES (above, below 125% of the federal poverty line). Participants (N=1,062) completed a comprehensive personality questionnaire and were administered a brief mental status screener of cognitive errors. Higher neuroticism was associated with more cognitive errors, whereas higher openness and conscientiousness were associated with fewer errors. These associations were independent of age, sex, race, poverty status, and education and were generally not moderated by these factors. These findings support the associations between personality and cognition across race and SES.

Short-term personality development and early career success: Two longitudinal studies during the post-graduation transition

OBJECTIVE

Investigate short-term personality development during the post-graduation transition.

BACKGROUND

Prior research indicates that long-term personality development matters for employment outcomes. However, this evidence is primarily limited to multi-year longitudinal studies. This research switches the focus to personality changes during a shorter, impactful life transition.

METHOD

We examined how short-term personality development during the 14-month post-graduation transition relates to early career outcomes among two diverse samples of graduates from universities (N = 816) and community colleges (N = 567). We used latent growth curve models to examine associations between career outcomes measured 14 months after graduation with initial personality levels and personality changes.

RESULTS

Results revealed that mean-level changes in personality were small and mostly negative. Moreover, individual differences in personality changes were not associated with career outcomes. However, initial levels of conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extraversion positively related to both subjective and objective career success. Initial levels of agreeableness were also positively related to subjective (but not objective) success.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate that individual differences in personality trait levels at graduation are stronger predictors of early career success compared to short-term personality changes during the post-graduation transition. Taken together, these results help define the time sequence through which personality changes relate to career outcomes.

Does Grit Compensate for Family Background Disadvantage in Predicting Mental Health Difficulties? A Longitudinal Study of Chinese Migrant and Urban Children

The significant population of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children has sparked considerable domestic and international concern regarding their disadvantaged family circumstances and their escalating prevalence of internalizing and externalizing problems. Derived from the resource substitution hypothesis, non-cognitive factors such as personality traits may act as "substitution" resources for educational outcomes of children from less privileged families. Yet, the compensatory role of personality traits as substitution resources in children's mental health has received limited attention, including that of migrant children. This study examined the interplay of trait-like grit and family SES on emotional and conduct problems among Chinese migrant and urban children. The current sample consisted of 770 migrant children (Mage = 10.45 and SDage = 0.68 years; 38.4% girls) and their 222 urban counterparts (Mage = 10.34 and SDage = 0.46 years; 45.5% girls). Moderated polynomial regressions with response surface analysis on a two-wave data with an interval of over six months showed that grit served as a "substitution" resource for the less socioeconomically advantaged children. The compensatory effect of perseverance of effort on urban children's emotional problems and that of consistency of interest on migrant children's conduct problems were visualized. Moreover, the two compensatory effects were found to be robust and unique, even after children's effortful control, a grit-related construct, was taken into account. These findings not only support the resource substitution hypothesis, but also underscore the protective role that grit plays in children under less privileged environments.

Student and Teacher Culture and Composition and the Development of Gender Role Attitudes among Young Adolescents

Research has shown that gender role attitudes develop during adolescence; however, the relevant predictors remain a matter of debate. In adolescence, the school environment gains in importance. Thus, the present study investigates how students' and especially teachers' culture and composition predict the development of gender role attitudes in young adolescents. The study addresses this question using a sample of 7360 Flemish students (44.8% girls), who were surveyed three times after entering secondary education between 2012 (Mage = 13.14, SD = 0.56) and 2014. Latent change models reveal that boys' initial gender role attitudes are associated with the students' gender role culture; however, boys with more traditional gender role attitudes do not develop in an even more traditional direction at the beginning of secondary education. In contexts with a more privileged student SES composition, boys develop less traditional attitudes, while a traditional gender role culture among teachers supports the development of more traditional gender role attitudes among boys. Girls with more traditional gender role attitudes find themselves within student contexts with a more traditional culture. However, the development does not vary with the students' gender role culture. Overall, boys seem more susceptible to students' cultural and compositional characteristics.

Does personality always matter for health? Examining the moderating effect of age on the personality-health link from life span developmental and aging perspectives

Extensive evidence has been found for the associations between personality traits and health. However, it remains unknown whether the relationships between personality and health show differential patterns across different life stages. The current research examined how the associations between the levels of and changes in the Big Five personality traits and different types of health outcomes (self-rated, physical, and physiological health outcomes) differ across ages over the life span (Sample 1, age range: 15-100) and during the aging process (Sample 2, age range: 50-109) in particular. Using data from the two large longitudinal studies-the Household, Income, and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey and the Health and Retirement Study, we observed three important patterns. First, levels of and changes in personality traits were significantly associated with health across different life phases, and these effects were observed even in very old ages. Second, overall, the prospective relations between personality traits/changes in personality traits and health outcomes increased in strength in middle adulthood and/or early stages of late adulthood; however, the strength of their connections diminished in very old ages. Finally, there were some trait-specific and health outcome-specific patterns in the age-differential associations between personality and health. Findings from the present study contribute to enhancing our understanding of the personality-health link from a developmental perspective and provide critical information for the design and implementation of screening and interventions targeting health promotion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Randomised Controlled Trial of Self-Affirmation Intervention on Students' Academic Performance: Promising Impacts on Students from Migrant Hukou Status

Purpose

Drawing from the sociocultural-self model, this study aims to examine the influence of self-affirmation on the academic outcomes of lower-class migrant students, as well as the psychological mechanism underlying this phenomenon.

Patients and Methods

A field experiment was conducted at a comprehensive secondary school in the southern region of China. Our study sample comprised 1534 immigrant students from diverse regions across the country, with an average proportion of 59.6% of students registered with a rural hukou. The hukou system plays a pivotal role in measuring social class in China, thus it was used as a proxy for lower and higher social class, with rural hukou students considered to be lower-class and urban hukou students considered to be higher-class. Prior to the English test, students in the self-affirmed group were engaged in a brief writing exercise that focused on their core values, whereas the control group wrote about a neutral topic.

Results

The primary outcome of interest was the effect of self-affirmation on English test scores, whereas the secondary outcome was the students' survey stereotype threat. The results exhibit that self-affirmation more significantly improved the English test performance of lower-class students compared to higher-class students, and this positive effect was mediated by reducing stereotype threat.

Conclusion

Our findings unravel the impact of self-affirmation on the academic performance of migrant students from different social classes and signify the mediating role of stereotype threat in this process. The present study extends previous findings to students from immigrant families in the Chinese cultural context, and these findings demonstrate that self-affirmation can constitute a promising intervention for stereotype threat and achievement gaps due to social class differences in immigrant family groups. Considering that this intervention takes only about 15 minutes of time, entails almost zero cost, does no harm, and that it focuses on disadvantaged immigrant students, it may provide valuable insights for educational policies to be implemented in a new type of migrant city such as Shenzhen.

Has Cognitive Ability Become More Important for Education and the Labor Market? A Comparison of the Project Talent and 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Cohorts

Modernization and meritocratic theories contend that with modernization, socioeconomic background (SES) becomes less important for educational and socioeconomic attainments, while cognitive ability becomes more important. However, the evidence is mixed. This study investigates if the effects of SES and cognitive ability on educational and labor market outcomes have changed in the US by comparing two longitudinal cohort studies: the 1960 Project Talent and the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. For all outcomes-grades-at-school, educational and occupational attainment, and income-cognitive ability clearly has stronger effects than a composite and broad measure of SES. The effects of cognitive ability for grades-at-school and income are notably stronger in the more recent cohort, whereas its effects on educational and occupational attainment are similar. SES effects, net of ability, for educational and occupational attainment are only moderate and for school grades and income are very small (β < 0.10). However, for each outcome SES effects are stronger in the more recent NLSY79 cohort. This is attributed to ability being a stronger influence on the educational and socioeconomic attainments of NLSY79 parents compared to Project Talent parents. These analyses suggest that in the US, cognitive ability has long been an important, and SES a much weaker, influence on educational and subsequent socioeconomic outcomes.

The limited role of personal goal striving in status attainment

Despite evidence of declining intergenerational mobility, recent studies have shown a rising trend of meritocratic belief (e.g., hard work pays off) among American adults. However, as scholarly attention has been focused on the power of adolescent beliefs (e.g., expectations and aspirations), little is known about the role of adults' hard work in status attainment. Using the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) survey data, we examine the role of adults' goal striving, which is closely linked to hard work, in status attainment. Our results show that changes in goal striving are positively associated with changes in socioeconomic status among young adults, but such an association is not found among middle-aged or old adults. While persistent goal-striving of those from lower or middle family socioeconomic backgrounds is hardly a game-changer for their status attainment, whether someone from a higher family socioeconomic background works hard and commits to their goal (i.e., persistent goal-striving) does make a difference in their status outcome. The findings of this study suggest that the role of goal striving in status attainment is far more limited than the popular belief in meritocracy describes.

Parental Transmission and the Importance of the (Noncausal) Effects of Education on Political Engagement: Missing the Forest for the Trees

By most accounts, an important prerequisite for a well-functioning democracy is engaged citizens. A very prominent explanation of variation in political engagement suggests that parental transmission through socialization accounts for individual-level differences in political engagement. In this paper, we show, using a large Danish twin survey ( N = 2,071), that classic formulations of parental transmission theory can be supplemented by findings from the biopolitics literature, allowing us to disentangle when heritable factors are important and when socialization factors are important predictors of political engagement. We show that as the level of family politicization and consistency increases, the influence of genes decreases. We take this to imply that family socialization can compensate for (genetic) individual differences and foster increased political engagement. By only focusing on the “causal” effect of education, we are missing the forest for the trees.

Social Mobility and Sense of Purpose From Midlife to Old Age: Examining the Role of Major Life Events

Purpose in life (PIL) has been linked with numerous health benefits and adaptive aging, yet it diminishes with age, possibly due to loss of social or familial roles through life transitions. Drawing from the longitudinal surveys of the Midlife in the US study (n = 3418), we use time-varying coefficient models to investigate how the trajectory of PIL differs across cumulatively (dis)advantaged, upwardly mobile, and downwardly mobile groups and the role of major life events in shaping these trajectories. We found the upwardly mobile group exhibits higher PIL than the cumulatively disadvantaged and downwardly mobile groups. The consistently disadvantaged group experiences more adverse events at non-normative times. Socioeconomic status disparities in PIL during old age decrease after controlling for life events. We discuss how and why well-being changes and the role of structural and social factors in facilitating or impeding the development or maintenance of PIL over the life course.

Association between Non-Verbal Intelligence and Academic Performance of Schoolchildren from Taza, Eastern Morocco

Interest in identifying factors influencing educational success is growing. It is often observed that a group of students share the same external variables (school environment) yet have different results, which states that individual variables have more impact on the determination of academic performance. Therefore, the present study aimed to substantiate this fact by investigating the association between non-verbal fluid intelligence and academic performance in a population of schoolchildren in Eastern Morocco. The investigation was a cross-sectional study based on a self-administered questionnaire. Items included the standard Raven's progressive matrices. Students' grades were collected from the administrative offices of the visited schools. Significant and positive correlations between the non-verbal intelligence scores and the school results were found: for the general average, the correlation was 0.574; for the school subject French, the correlation coefficient was 0.475; and for mathematics, we found a relatively low coefficient of 0.381. Non-verbal fluid intelligence significantly and positively predicted academic performance (β = .574, p = .000). These results call for policymakers to implement the use of intelligence tests with school directors and teachers as a diagnostic tool to guide support efforts for low-achieving children and even to create pilot classes for the best-performing students.

A comparison of personality traits of gifted word learner and typical border collies

While personality and cognition are distinct domains, some personality traits may affect the capacity for problem-solving. It was suggested that there is a positive association between the Playfulness trait and problem-solving performance in humans. Studies on giftedness (extremely good capacity in the case of a specific skill), typically aimed to reveal the genetic, experiential, and mental origins of such extreme inter-individual variation. We exploited recent findings on giftedness in a specific cognitive skill, object label learning, in dogs to explore the potential association between this exceptional skill and personality traits. We administered the Dog Personality Questionnaire to 21 gifted dog owners and compared the personality traits of their dogs to those of matched samples of 43 Hungarian and 101 Austrian typical dogs, i.e., dogs lacking this exceptional capacity. Since most Gifted Word Learner dogs are Border collies, we restricted our analysis to dogs of this breed. We hypothesized that the Gifted Word Learner dogs may show higher levels of Playfulness. As expected, we found that the gifted Border collies were rated as more playful than both the Hungarian and Austrian typical ones. Our results suggest that an extremely high level of Playfulness is associated with giftedness in a specific cognitive trait in dogs: the capacity to learn object verbal labels, thus opening new possibilities for comparative research on the relationship between giftedness and personality.

The Development of Gender Role Attitudes During Adolescence: Effects of Sex, Socioeconomic Background, and Cognitive Abilities

How gender role attitudes develop during adolescence, and how biological, social, and cognitive factors predict this development, remains a matter of debate. This study examines the development of gender role attitudes from early adolescence to emerging adulthood and investigates how the developmental trajectory is affected by sex, socioeconomic status, and cognitive abilities (intelligence). Four waves of the large-scale longitudinal German dataset BIJU between 1991 (grade 7; N = 3828, M_age = 13, SD = 0.61, 53.1% female, 96.4% German nationality), 1995 (grade 10, M_age = 17), 1997 (grade 12, M_age = 19) and 2001/2002 (university/career entry, M_age = 24) were used. Measurement invariance was examined across waves and gender. Latent growth curve models showed that adolescents developed more egalitarian gender role attitudes. Differences between the sexes decreased over time but remained significant. Socioeconomic status seemed less relevant, while adolescents, especially those with lower intelligence scores, developed more egalitarian gender role attitudes during adolescence. The results showed that teenagers developed more open and egalitarian attitudes during adolescence, and that the development trajectories of female and male adolescents converge.

How and When Can Employees with Status Motivation Attain Their Status in a Team? The Roles of Ingratiation, OCBI, and Procedural Justice Climate

Despite research having identified two major routes to status: dominance and competence, both routes seem inadequate to capture the “whole picture” of how people get ahead in organizations. Building on social exchange theory and social status literature, we identify two novel paths and their important boundary conditions by which employees with status motivation can achieve status. Specifically, we propose that employees with status motivation obtain status (operationalized as other-perceived status and promotability) by engaging in ingratiation toward their supervisors and organizational citizenship behavior directed toward individuals. In addition, these relationships are weakened in teams where the procedural justice climate is high. Results from four studies conducted in China and the United States, which consist of three experiments (Study 1: N = 240; Study 2: N = 180; Study 4: N = 309) and one field study of 427 employees from 74 teams (Study 3), provide support for most of the propositions we proposed. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Beyond Competencies: Associations between Personality and School Grades Are Largely Independent of Subject-Specific and General Cognitive Competencies

The Big Five personality traits are established predictors of school grades. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations are not yet well understood. Effects of personality on grades might arise because behavioral tendencies facilitate learning and increase subject-specific competencies. Alternatively, personality effects on grades might be independent of cognitive competencies and reflect otherwise valued behaviors or teachers’ grading practices. In the current study, we drew on large-scale data of 7th and 9th graders in Germany to explore the extent to which personality predicted grades even after accounting for competencies. Controlling for competencies and other key covariates, we cross-sectionally and longitudinally examined personality–grade associations across different school subjects, grade levels, and school types. Results indicate that the predictive power of personality is largely independent of subject-specific and general cognitive competencies. The largest effects emerged for conscientiousness. For openness, associations with grades partly overlapped with competencies, suggesting that openness may operate by fostering competencies. Overall, our results suggest that the associations between personality and grades unfold mostly independently of course mastery. This finding underlines the socioemotional value of personality in the classroom and encourages a more fine-grained view of the interplay between personality, competencies, classroom behavior, and grades.

Personality and Everyday Functioning in Older Adults With and Without HIV

In a cross-sectional multi-method study of older adults living with and without HIV (n = 202; 69.8% HIV seropositive), we tested associations between personality traits and everyday functioning, and whether these associations differed depending on HIV serostatus. We found that higher levels of conscientiousness and lower levels of neuroticism were associated with higher odds of being clinically independent (vs. dependent) in everyday functioning. These findings replicated across self- and clinician-reports and persisted above and beyond relevant covariates. We found no evidence of interactions between personality and HIV serostatus, suggesting that personality was equally important for everyday functioning regardless of HIV serostatus. Given the present findings and the knowledge that personality is dynamic and amenable to intervention, we discuss two different possible pathways for intervention meant to improve everyday functioning and quality of life among older adults with and without HIV: personality change and personalized medicine.

Do academic ability and social background influence each other in shaping educational attainment? The case of the transition to secondary education in Germany

Studies examining the interplay between children's academic ability and parental background are rare, and their findings are mixed and inconclusive. This paper addresses possible reinforcing or compensating relationships between child characteristics and parental social background in their influence on the transition to upper secondary education, the most important transition in the German school system. We use the German TwinLife data for genetically informed analyses and include comprehensive information on parental background as well as child cognitive ability and personality. We find no evidence for a significant influence of reinforcing or compensatory interactions in addition to the strong additive effects of child and parental characteristics. The ACE decomposition with covariates shows an almost equal influence of genetic variation and shared environments. However, indicators of child academic ability and parental background contribute only a little to explaining both contributions. Interestingly, the influence of child characteristics on enrollment in upper secondary school works mainly through environmental rather than genetic effects.

Associations between depressive symptoms with perceived future time and opportunities: tests of unique prediction and moderation

OBJECTIVES

Having a broadened perspective on one's future has been associated with better affective well-being, including reduced reports of depressive symptoms. However, research is limited regarding which aspect of future time perspective is associated with depressive symptoms, and whether these findings are consistent across individuals.

METHODS

The current study employed data from a nationally representative sample of Swiss adults (n = 1774; mean age: 49.90 years; 51.8% female). Participants completed measures of future time perspective - both perceptions of future time and future opportunities - and depressive symptoms, in addition to reporting on their age, sex, health, and socioeconomic status (the moderators of interest).

RESULTS

Perceived future time and future opportunities were uniquely predictive of depressive symptoms, even when controlling for chronological age and other covariates, though future opportunities held a stronger association with depressive symptoms. Limited evidence was found for moderation, though opportunities may matter more for predicting depressive symptoms among adults in worse health and those with fewer resources.

DISCUSSION

Future time perspective appears moderately associated with depressive symptoms in adulthood, and researchers need to consider multiple aspects of future time perspective rather than as a unitary construct.

Between-Group Mean Differences in Intelligence in the United States Are >0% Genetically Caused: Five Converging Lines of Evidence

The past 30 years of research in intelligence has produced a wealth of knowledge about the causes and consequences of differences in intelligence between individuals, and today mainstream opinion is that individual differences in intelligence are caused by both genetic and environmental influences. Much more contentious is the discussion over the cause of mean intelligence differences between racial or ethnic groups. In contrast to the general consensus that interindividual differences are both genetic and environmental in origin, some claim that mean intelligence differences between racial groups are completely environmental in origin, whereas others postulate a mix of genetic and environmental causes. In this article I discuss 5 lines of research that provide evidence that mean differences in intelligence between racial and ethnic groups are partially genetic. These lines of evidence are findings in support of Spearman’s hypothesis, consistent results from tests of measurement invariance across American racial groups, the mathematical relationship that exists for between-group and within-group sources of heritability, genomic data derived from genome-wide association studies of intelligence and polygenic scores applied to diverse samples, and admixture studies. I also discuss future potential lines of evidence regarding the causes of average group differences across racial groups. However, the data are not fully conclusive, and the exact degree to which genes influence intergroup mean differences in intelligence is not known. This discussion applies only to native English speakers born in the United States and not necessarily to any other human populations.

Barriers to Building More Effective Treatments: Negative Interactions Amongst Smoking Intervention Components

Meaningfully improved mental and behavioral health treatment is an unrealized dream. Across three factorial experiments, inferential tests in prior studies showed a pattern of negative interactions suggesting that better clinical outcomes are obtained when participants receive fewer rather than more intervention components. Further, relatively few significant main effects were found in these experiments. Modeling suggested that negative interactions amongst components may account for these patterns. This paper evaluates factors that may contribute to such declining benefit: increased attentional or effort burden; components that produce their effects via the same capacity limited mechanisms, making their effects subadditive; and a tipping point phenomenon in which those near a hypothesized "tipping point" for change will benefit markedly from weak intervention while those far from the tipping point will benefit little from even strong intervention. New research should explore factors that cause negative interactions amongst components and constrain the development of more effective treatments.

The comparability of intelligence test results: Group- and individual-level comparisons of seven intelligence tests

A significant body of research has demonstrated that IQs obtained from different intelligence tests substantially correlate at the group level. Yet, there is minimal research investigating whether different intelligence tests yield comparable results for individuals. Examining this issue is paramount given that high-stakes decisions are based on individual test results. Consequently, we investigated whether seven current and widely used intelligence tests yielded comparable results for individuals between the ages of 4-20 years. Results mostly indicated substantial correlations between tests, although several significant mean differences at the group level were identified. Results associated with individual-level comparability indicated that the interpretation of exact IQ scores cannot be empirically supported, as the 95% confidence intervals could not be reliably replicated with different intelligence tests. Similar patterns also appeared for the individual-level comparability of nonverbal and verbal intelligence factor scores. Furthermore, the nominal level of intelligence systematically predicted IQ differences between tests, with above- and below-average IQ scores associated with larger differences as compared to average IQ scores. Analyses based on continuous data confirmed that differences appeared to increase toward the above-average IQ score range. These findings are critical as these are the ranges in which diagnostic questions most often arise in practice. Implications for test interpretation and test construction are discussed.

Antecedents of Interest and the Investment of Fluid Intelligence in the Formation of Crystalized Intelligence

Most of the studies of the effects of fluid intelligence and non-cognitive characteristics on crystalized intelligence examined additive effects. The results of the few studies that examined interactive effects are inconsistent. Some find a positive (facilitating) interaction and some find a negative (compensatory) interaction. We improve on these previous studies by examining non-cognitive characteristics that were not studied before and by using a very large representative sample (n = 11,266). We find a positive/facilitating interaction. We discuss the implication of these results to theories about the joint effect of fluid intelligence and non-cognitive characteristics on crystalized intelligence.

Two Forms of Social Inequality in Students' Socio-Emotional Skills: Do the Levels of Big Five Personality Traits and Their Associations With Academic Achievement Depend on Parental Socioeconomic Status?

Some researchers and policymakers advocate a stronger focus on fostering socio-emotional skills in the hope of helping students to succeed academically, especially those who are socially disadvantaged. Others have cautioned that this might increase, rather than reduce, social inequality because personality traits conducive to achievement are themselves unevenly distributed in disfavor of socially disadvantaged students. Our paper contributes to this debate. Analyzing representative, large-scale data on 9,300 ninth graders from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) and using the Big Five personality traits as a measure of socio-emotional skills, we cast light on two related yet distinct aspects of social inequality in socio-emotional skills: First, do levels of personality traits conducive to achievement vary as a function of students' parental socioeconomic status (pSES)? Second, do the returns to personality traits in terms of trait–achievement relations vary as function of pSES? Results showed that differences in Big Five traits between students with different pSES were small (0.04 ≤ |r| ≤ 0.09), especially when compared with pSES-related differences in cognitive skills (fluid intelligence) and sex-related differences in personality. The returns to Conscientiousness—the personality trait most relevant to achievement—in terms of its relations to academic achievement were higher in higher- vs. lower-SES students. Trait–achievement relations did not vary as a function of pSES for the other Big Five traits. Overall, both types of inequality were limited in magnitude. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy and practice and delineate directions for further research.

Taking parent personality and child temperament into account in child language development

Individual differences have become increasingly important in the study of child development and language. However, despite the important role parents play in children's language, no work has examined how parent personality impacts language development. The current study examines the impact of parent personality as well as child temperament on language development in 460 16- to 30-month-old children and 328 31- to 42-month-old children. Findings from both groups suggest multiple aspects of children's language abilities are correlated with their parent's personality. Specifically, parent consciousness, openness, and agreeableness positively correlate with child vocabulary size and other language abilities. Results also replicate and expand research on child temperament and language - child effortful control and surgency were positively correlated, and negative affect negatively correlated with most language abilities even after controlling for parent personality. Critically, parent and child traits appear to impact a child's language abilities above and beyond well-known predictors of language, such as age.

The joint power of personality and motivation dynamics for occupational success: Bridging two largely separated fields

When establishing a career in adulthood, two major socioemotional ingredients are expected to affect people’s success: how people act (personality) and what motivates them to act this way (motivation). However, little is known about whether and how personality and motivation change together and how their possible dynamic interplay predicts success. We investigated the roles that changes in personality and expectancy beliefs played in explaining occupational success in 4121 participants assessed after high school ( Mage = 22.80, SDage = 0.70; 63% female) and about 20 years later. We used latent change models and moderated structural equation modeling to investigate correlated change and latent change interactions of personality and expectancy beliefs in predicting success. Results illustrated that besides being related in a nomological net, personality and expectancy beliefs also illustrated a strong interrelatedness in change across time. We found the clearest joint change dynamics between emotional stability, conscientiousness, self-concept, and self-efficacy. Changes in personality and expectancy beliefs were furthermore associated with objective and subjective occupational success. The results call for a more integrative view on personality-motivation dynamics across time for understanding the long-term adaptive ingredients of occupational success stories in adulthood.

An examination of genetic and environmental factors related to negative personality traits, educational attainment, and economic success

Personality variables are associated with educational attainment and socioeconomic outcomes. In this study we incorporated a polygenic score derived from the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment to date (Lee et al., 2018) into the Interactionist Model of R. D. Conger, Martin, and Masarik (2021) that describes the influence of socioeconomic factors on individual development. The inclusion of a polygenic score predictive of educational attainment (PS-Edu) into this model, and the use of the multigeneration, longitudinal Family Transitions Project (FTP) provide a unique opportunity to investigate genetic and environmental influences on the development of negative personality traits and educational and economic outcomes. The FTP is a three-generation sample. This study utilized data from the first generation (G1; mean age 40 at initiation of the FTP) and second generation (G2; assessed at mean ages 18 and 30). Participants are approximately 50% female, 99% of European ancestry, primarily from lower to middle class SES. PS-Edu was significantly correlated with educational attainment in both generations of the FTP, accounting for 4.1 to 6.7% of the variance. Findings confirm that PS-Edu is a complex genetic index that is correlated with all of the socioeconomic constructs in the model. Results suggest potential gene-environment correlation or common genetic influences underlie associations among parenting investments, negative personality traits, and educational attainment. Genetic variance captured by PS-Edu was mediated substantially through G1 parental investments. Although study limitations warrant cautious interpretation, we demonstrate the promise of including polygenic scores in developmental models to better understand genetic and environmental influences on human development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Linked patterns of biological and environmental covariation with brain structure in adolescence: a population-based longitudinal study

Adolescence is a period of major brain reorganization shaped by biologically timed and by environmental factors. We sought to discover linked patterns of covariation between brain structural development and a wide array of these factors by leveraging data from the IMAGEN study, a longitudinal population-based cohort of adolescents. Brain structural measures and a comprehensive array of non-imaging features (relating to demographic, anthropometric, and psychosocial characteristics) were available on 1476 IMAGEN participants aged 14 years and from a subsample reassessed at age 19 years (n = 714). We applied sparse canonical correlation analyses (sCCA) to the cross-sectional and longitudinal data to extract modes with maximum covariation between neuroimaging and non-imaging measures. Separate sCCAs for cortical thickness, cortical surface area and subcortical volumes confirmed that each imaging phenotype was correlated with non-imaging features (sCCA r range: 0.30-0.65, all P_FDR < 0.001). Total intracranial volume and global measures of cortical thickness and surface area had the highest canonical cross-loadings (|ρ| = 0.31-0.61). Age, physical growth and sex had the highest association with adolescent brain structure (|ρ| = 0.24-0.62); at baseline, further significant positive associations were noted for cognitive measures while negative associations were observed at both time points for prenatal parental smoking, life events, and negative affect and substance use in youth (|ρ| = 0.10-0.23). Sex, physical growth and age are the dominant influences on adolescent brain development. We highlight the persistent negative influences of prenatal parental smoking and youth substance use as they are modifiable and of relevance for public health initiatives.

Negligible effects of birth order on selection into scientific and artistic careers, creativity, and status attainment

We tested birth order effects on selection into different careers (scientific, artistic, and creative) and status attainment (educational attainment, occupational prestige, and income) using a large sample ( n = 3763), a longitudinal design, and relevant controls. Additionally, we tested mediation of birth order effects on career outcomes via personality traits, intelligence, and educational attainment. We found negligible birth order effects ranging from 0.02 to 0.12 on a correlational metric, where firstborns (vs. laterborns) selected into more creative careers and attained higher prestige and education. Conditional on the theoretically based mediation models tested, results showed that intelligence and educational attainment (but not personality traits) accounted for a statistically significant portion of the variance in the links between birth order and career outcomes. No direct effects of birth order on career outcomes remained when accounting for indirect effects through educational attainment. These findings bring modest support to the confluence model, no support to the niche-finding model, and suggest that one possible route via which birth order might impact career outcomes (if at all) could be via educational attainment.

Personality Changes Predict Early Career Outcomes: Discovery and Replication in 12-Year Longitudinal Studies

In this research, we examined whether personality changes from adolescence to young adulthood predicted five early career outcomes: degree attainment, income, occupational prestige, career satisfaction, and job satisfaction. The study used two representative samples of Icelandic youth (Sample 1: n = 485, Sample 2: n = 1,290) and measured personality traits over 12 years (ages ~17 to 29 years). Results revealed that certain patterns of personality growth predicted career outcomes over and above adolescent trait levels and crystallized ability. Across both samples, the strongest effects were found for growth in emotional stability (income and career satisfaction), conscientiousness (career satisfaction), and extraversion (career satisfaction and job satisfaction). Initial trait levels also predicted career success, highlighting the long-term predictive power of personality. Overall, our findings show that personality has important effects on early career outcomes-both through stable trait levels and how people change over time. We discuss implications for public policy, for theoretical principles of personality development, and for young people making career decisions.

Adolescent college expectation and nutritional health in adulthood: The hidden power of social position

Few studies investigated whether expected college attendance in adolescence may generate comparable health benefits in early adulthood for the disadvantaged and the privileged. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examined the contingent associations of college attendance expectation with weekly fast food consumption (FFC), sugar-sweetened beverage consumption (SBC), physical activity (PA), and obesity in early adulthood based on four social position indicators: family poverty, neighborhood poverty, parental education, and race. Results suggested that family poverty, neighborhood poverty, and low parental education significantly compromised college expectation's associations with all outcomes except for PA. Further, college expectation's negative associations with FFC and SBC were lower for Blacks than for Whites; and college expectation's negative association with SBC and positive association with PA were lower for Hispanics than for Whites. These findings imply that the "ambition inflation" among American youth, often celebrated by the American culture for its acclaimed life changing power, may be not equally benefiting the disadvantaged and the privileged. Future behavioral interventions focusing on fostering a positive outlook in youth should consider possible effect heterogeneity based on social background.

Invited Commentary: Societal Constraints and Individual Agency: Navigating Educational Transitions for Upward Mobility

This article discusses three empirical studies of the role of individual agency in educational transitions in the conceptual framework of the motivational theory of lifespan development that integrates life-course sociological and life-span psychological perspectives. The educational systems in the U.K., the US, and Switzerland set up specific opportunities and constraints in their primary to secondary and secondary to tertiary educational tracks. Individual agency plays out in different ways in these country- and transition-specific fields of action and accordingly enables or hinders individual youths' upward mobility. Early transitions into segregated secondary school systems are dominated by the influence of teachers and parents and tend to maintain social inequality. Later transitions into tertiary education are more open to individual agency that can substantially contribute to overcoming social inequalities in college admission. Finally, once enrolled in university, students have comparatively better opportunities to overcome disadvantages of their parents' socio-economic status and educational background.

Big Five Personality Traits Predict Successful Transitions From School to Vocational Education and Training: A Large-Scale Study

Educational transitions play a pivotal role in shaping educational careers, and ultimately social inequality. Whereas parental socioeconomic status (SES) and cognitive ability have long been identified as key determinants of successful educational transitions, much less is known about the role of socio-emotional skills. To address this gap, the present study investigated whether Big Five personality traits predict success in the transition from secondary school to vocational education and training (VET) above and beyond SES, cognitive ability, and other covariates. Using data from Starting Cohort 4 of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; N = 4,137), we defined seven indicators of successful transition: obtaining a VET position, number of acceptances for VET positions, starting a VET position, (the absence of) dropout intentions and actual dropout, final VET grade, and satisfaction with VET. The results revealed that some Big Five traits were incrementally associated with several indicators of transition success. Conscientiousness emerged as the single most relevant trait, predicting all the transition success indicators but 1 (dropout intentions). The other Big Five traits had much weaker and less consistent links with transition success. Extraversion predicted the final VET grade and obtaining a VET position; Agreeableness was linked to a higher risk of dropout. Openness and Emotional Stability had no incremental effects on transition success. There was also some evidence for both compensatory and synergistic interactive effects, with Openness moderating mainly the effects of parental SES (on dropout intentions, actual dropout, and number of acceptances), and Agreeableness moderating the effects of cognitive ability (on obtaining a VET position, number of acceptances, and satisfaction with VET). Although individual effect sizes were small, the Big Five’s joint contribution to transition success was non-negligible, and often larger than that of sociodemographic characteristics and cognitive ability. Our results suggest a hitherto underappreciated contribution of personality to successful transitions to VET.

Does More Mean Less?: Interest Surplus and the Gender Gap in STEM Careers

The persistent gender gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) career choice represents a perplexing problem for researchers and policy makers alike. We contribute to the body of research on the gender gap in STEM careers by testing a “surplus model” of vocational interests as a predictor of STEM career choice. The model suggests that, controlling for ability, female adolescents with strong STEM-related interest should be less likely to pursue STEM careers when they also have strong interests in other areas, due to wider career options. We tested the surplus model in a large national longitudinal data set and translated the results into differences in annual wages. Our findings illuminate the predictive validity of a surplus model of interests on STEM career choice across gender, provide insight into the gender gap in STEM, and suggest opportunities for future research.

The Modifying Influence of Family Social Background on the Association Between IQ and Unsuccessful Educational and Occupational Achievement

Abstract. The present register-based study investigated whether family social background modified the association between intelligence and unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement among young men in Denmark. The study population comprised all men born during the period from 1981 to 1991 who had appeared before a draft board until 2015 ( N = 277,938). Family social background was measured by parental educational attainment at the birth of the study population. Intelligence was assessed by IQ scores on Børge Priens Prøve at age 18. Unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement were measured by no completed youth education at age 25, by no completed education leading to vocational qualifications at age 30, by not being in employment, education, or training (NEET) at age 30, and by gross income at age 30. Binary logistic regression and median regression were used to estimate the combined influence of family social background and IQ on unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement. The results showed that family social background modified the associations of IQ with risk of no youth education at age 25 and gross income at age 30, but the modifying influence seemed to depend on both the IQ level and the outcome indicator. Family social background was not found to modify the associations of IQ with risk of no vocational qualification at age 30 and risk of being NEET at age 30. In conclusion, the study findings suggest that several mechanisms might be at work in the complex and intertwined influences of family social background and intelligence on the risk of unsuccessful educational and occupational achievement.

The reciprocal impacts of adversity and personality traits: A prospective longitudinal study of growth, change, and the power of personality

OBJECTIVE

We integrate the study of post-traumatic growth with personality science by examining the reciprocal effects of adversity and core personality traits. We implemented conceptual (i.e., incorporating personality traits into the study of adversity-related growth, examining trait-specific and configural personality change, and adopting a cumulative approach to adversity) and methodological (i.e., three-wave prospective design, assessing many life events, sampling from populations likely to experience adversity) innovations to advance the study of personality development and of the generality of adversity-related growth.

METHOD

A diverse sample (41% nonwhite, 48% low-income, 68% female, M_age  = 44, 30% diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder) participated in a three-wave prospective longitudinal study (N = 258-128 across waves). Participants completed a personality inventory and a battery of life-event surveys (including 105 events) at each wave.

RESULTS

Personality was generally stable from trait-specific and configural perspectives, and all traits were correlated with adversity. All traits, particularly Extraversion and Conscientiousness, predicted adversity. Adversity predicted increases in Emotionality and decreases in Agreeableness.

CONCLUSIONS

Although personality growth is not the typical response to adversity within a 3-year period, findings underscore the real-world impact of personality, and they provide some support for developmental theories emphasizing the effects of life events.

Can non-cognitive skills compensate for background disadvantage? -- the moderation of non-cognitive skills on family socioeconomic status and achievement during early childhood and early adolescence

Combining the theory of resources substitution and recent evidence on the importance of children's non-cognitive skills from social sciences, this study asks whether family socioeconomic status' effects on achievement are contingent on or moderated by children's non-cognitive skills. I address this question from a longitudinal perspective by focusing on two developmental stages: early childhood and early adolescence. To overcome the methodological challenges involved in answering these questions, I use Structural Nested Mean Models (SNMM), a recent development in statistical methods. Using data from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), I test the hypothesis that higher non-cognitive skills will reduce family SES's effects on achievement in a longitudinal setting. The results corroborate the hypothesis, indicating that non-cognitive skills will moderate family SES's effects, and higher non-cognitive skills will lessen family SES's effects on achievement. In addition, such moderation effects are significant during both focal developmental stages of early childhood and early adolescence.

Five-factor model personality traits and verbal fluency in 10 cohorts

Personality traits, such as Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, are associated with cognitive outcomes across the life span, including cognitive function in young adulthood and risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in old age. Research on personality and age-related cognition has focused primarily on memory-related tasks and outcomes. The purpose of this research is to address the relation between Five Factor Model personality traits and another critical marker of cognitive function that has received less attention-verbal fluency. We examine this relation across adulthood in 10 cohorts (11 samples) that totaled more than 90,000 participants (age range 16-101). Participants in all samples reported on their personality traits and completed at least one fluency task (semantic and/or letter). A meta-analysis of semantic fluency (N = 86,044) indicated that participants who scored lower in Neuroticism, and higher in Extraversion, Openness, and Conscientiousness, retrieved more words, independent of age, gender, and education. These associations generally replicated for the letter fluency task (3 samples; N = 11,551). Moderation analysis indicated that the associations between personality and semantic fluency were stronger in older samples (except for Openness) and among individuals with lower education. This pattern suggests that these associations are stronger in groups vulnerable to severe cognitive impairment. Personality traits have pervasive associations with fluency tasks that are replicable across samples and age groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal Associations of Narcissism with Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Institutional Outcomes: An Investigation Using a Representative Sample of the German Population

Most studies have treated grandiose narcissism as a unidimensional construct and investigated its associations in cross-sectional convenience samples. The present research systematically addresses these limitations by investigating the associations of agentic and antagonistic aspects of narcissism in the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and institutional domains, cross-sectionally and longitudinally in a population-representative sample. We used data (N = 1,526) from the representative, longitudinal German Socio-economic Panel study innovation sample (SOEP-IS). Both pre-registered and exploratory research questions regarding interpersonal, intrapersonal, and institutional outcomes of agentic and antagonistic aspects of narcissism were tested. Cross-sectional associations generally confirmed the differential adaptivity of narcissism aspects: While agentic narcissism was related tofriendship, happiness, self-esteem, employment, leadership and income, antagonistic narcissism was negatively related tointrapsychic adjustment. Longitudinally, agentic aspects were positively associated with holding a leadership position while the antagonistic aspects were related to lowerself-esteem and being unemployed. Additional differentiated longitudinal associations were found for different age groups with most associations being more pronounced in middle adulthood. The present research highlights the importance of studying grandiose narcissism as a two-dimensional construct, in populations that are diverse and representative of the broader population, and with outcomes relevant to the population studied.

Dispositional negativity, cognition, and anxiety disorders: An integrative translational neuroscience framework

When extreme, anxiety can become debilitating. Anxiety disorders, which often first emerge early in development, are common and challenging to treat, yet the underlying mechanisms have only recently begun to come into focus. Here, we review new insights into the nature and biological bases of dispositional negativity, a fundamental dimension of childhood temperament and adult personality and a prominent risk factor for the development of pediatric and adult anxiety disorders. Converging lines of epidemiological, neurobiological, and mechanistic evidence suggest that dispositional negativity increases the likelihood of psychopathology via specific neurocognitive mechanisms, including attentional biases to threat and deficits in executive control. Collectively, these observations provide an integrative translational framework for understanding the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in adults and youth and set the stage for developing improved intervention strategies.