Personality Maturation through Sense of Mastery? Longitudinal Evidence from two Education-to-Work Transition Studies

A. K. Reitz, L. den Boer, M.A. Van Scheppingen, K.A. Diwan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective

Why personality changes in young adulthood remains a critical theoretical and empirical question. We studied personality change during the education-to-work transition, including mean-level personality change and its specific timing, the degree of individual variability in change, and the link between sense of mastery and personality change.

Methods

We used two intensive longitudinal studies. Study 1 included 5 waves of data across 2 years during the university-to-work transition (N = 309; mean-aged 25). Study 2 included 3 waves of data across 8 months during an internship-heavy teacher education program (N = 317; mean-aged 22). We measured personality traits and work-related mastery with questionnaires and personality states and general mastery with the experience sampling method.

Results

First, we found no evidence for mean-level personality maturation but decreases in trait Conscientiousness. Second, young adults differed significantly in personality trait and state change. Third, young adults with higher levels of work-related sense of mastery showed more positive changes in trait Conscientiousness. Decreases in general sense of mastery predicted later decreases in state Emotional Stability and vice versa. Change in general sense of mastery correlated with personality state change.

Conclusions

Sense of mastery seems to be part of a dynamic short-term process underlying personality change in young adulthood.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)261-277
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Personality
Volume92
Issue number1
Early online date16 Nov 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2024

Keywords

  • Big Five traits
  • education- to-work transition
  • experience sampling data
  • personality development
  • personality states
  • sense of mastery
  • young adulthood

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