TY - JOUR

T1 - Personality Across the Lifespan

T2 - Exploring Measurement Invariance of a Short Big Five Inventory From Ages 11 to 84

AU - Brandt, Naemi

AU - Becker, Michael

AU - Tetzner, Julia

AU - Brunner, Martin

AU - Kuhl, Poldi

AU - Maaz, Kai

PY - 2020/1

Y1 - 2020/1

N2 - Personality is a relevant predictor for important life outcomes across the entire lifespan. Although previous studies have suggested the comparability of the measurement of the Big Five personality traits across adulthood, the generalizability to childhood is largely unknown. The present study investigated the structure of the Big Five personality traits assessed with the Big Five Inventory-SOEP Version (BFI-S; SOEP = Socio-Economic Panel) across a broad age range spanning 11–84 years. We used two samples of N = 1,090 children (52% female, Mage = 11.87) and N = 18,789 adults (53% female, Mage = 51.09), estimating a multigroup CFA analysis across four age groups (late childhood: 11–14 years; early adulthood: 17–30 years; middle adulthood: 31–60 years; late adulthood: 61–84 years). Our results indicated the comparability of the personality trait metric in terms of general factor structure, loading patterns, and the majority of intercepts across all age groups. Therefore, the findings suggest both a reliable assessment of the Big Five personality traits with the BFI-S even in late childhood and a vastly comparable metric across age groups.

AB - Personality is a relevant predictor for important life outcomes across the entire lifespan. Although previous studies have suggested the comparability of the measurement of the Big Five personality traits across adulthood, the generalizability to childhood is largely unknown. The present study investigated the structure of the Big Five personality traits assessed with the Big Five Inventory-SOEP Version (BFI-S; SOEP = Socio-Economic Panel) across a broad age range spanning 11–84 years. We used two samples of N = 1,090 children (52% female, Mage = 11.87) and N = 18,789 adults (53% female, Mage = 51.09), estimating a multigroup CFA analysis across four age groups (late childhood: 11–14 years; early adulthood: 17–30 years; middle adulthood: 31–60 years; late adulthood: 61–84 years). Our results indicated the comparability of the personality trait metric in terms of general factor structure, loading patterns, and the majority of intercepts across all age groups. Therefore, the findings suggest both a reliable assessment of the Big Five personality traits with the BFI-S even in late childhood and a vastly comparable metric across age groups.

KW - Psychology

KW - personality traits

KW - measurement invariance

KW - ESEM

KW - lifespan

KW - late childhood

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054033352&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1027/1015-5759/a000490

DO - 10.1027/1015-5759/a000490

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 36

SP - 162

EP - 173

JO - European Journal of Psychological Assessment

JF - European Journal of Psychological Assessment

SN - 1015-5759

IS - 1

ER -