Adolescent Personality
Development
Big Five Factors
Naomi M. Lucas
LIU Post
Ten-Item
Personality
Inventory (TIPI)
Adolescence
• Adolescence is the
development stage that lies
between childhood and
adulthood.
• Adolescence is a time when
the self-system is redefined
(Erikson,1950).
• The core of this self-system
consists of personality traits.
Openness is a person’s level of
curiosity and interest in new
experiences.
Big Five Factors:
The five-factor model
of personality (FFM) is
a set of five broad trait
dimensions or
domains, often
referred to as the “Big
Five”
Conscientiousness is a person’s
tendencies to be organized and
responsible.
OCEAN
Adolescence usually involves changes
toward an adult-like personality
profile, with the expectation that
Neuroticism will decrease and
Agreeableness, Conscientiousness,
Extraversion, and Openness will
increase (Klimstra, 2013).
Extraversion is the degree to which
a person seeks to be with others, to
behave in an outgoing manner and
generally to be sociable.
Agreeableness is how easygoing
and helpful a person tends to be.
Neuroticism is the degree of
emotional stability an individual
characteristically displays.
Identity Formation
o Erickson’s theory of identity formation
inevitably leads some adolescents into
substantial psychological turmoil as they
encounter the adolescent identity crisis
(Erickson, 1963).
o Erickson’s theory summarizes the adolescent
stage as the time of identity versus identity
confusion.
o The positive outcome would be awareness of
self and knowledge of roles.
o The negative outcome would be inability to
identify appropriate roles in life (Feldman,
2017).
 Across adolescence, girls were
found to change more often than
boys.
 The expected increase in Openness
was found for girls’ self-reported
Openness only.

Girls also increased in self- and
other-reported Conscientiousness
and other-reported Agreeableness
and Extraversion (Branje et. al,
2006).
Gender Differences
 Boys had lower scores for Neuroticism
(lower Emotional Stability), Agreeableness,
Conscientiousness and Extraversion
 But no clear support for evidence of gender
differences in Openness (Marsh et. al, 2012).
Parental Influence
Some studies suggest there is an
evocative relationship between
adolescent personality traits and the
quality of the parent–adolescent
relationship
In one study examined how the genetic
effects on adolescent personality traits
overlap with the genetic effects on
parenting behavior was examined (South,
Krueger, Johnson, & Iacono, 2008).
The findings support the importance of
adolescent personality in the
development of the quality of the parent–
adolescent relationship.
Transitioning
School-to-Work
The school-towork transition
constitutes a
central
developmental
task for
adolescents.
Big Five
personality traits
and social capital
relate to jobsearch outcomes
Higher levels of
extraversion,
conscientiousness,
openness to
experience,
emotional
stability, and social
capital would be
associated with
better outcomes
Adolescence is the time for the
development of personality and social
growth. During this period of discovery,
self-esteem and identity develop. The
adolescent’s peers and parents make a
distinct influence on shaping the sense of
self
Research on normal personality has
provided a large body of evidence
indicating that the same five dimensions
that describe normal personality in
adulthood apply to personality in
childhood and adolescence (Van Den
Akker, Prinzie, & Overbeek, 2016).
References & Research
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Branje, S. T., Van Lieshout, C. M., & Gerris, J. M.
(2006).Big five personality development in adolescence
and adulthood. European Journal of Personality, 45-62.
Feldman, R. S. (2017). Development across the life span.
Boston: Pearson.
Gosling, S.D., Rentfrow P.J., & Swann, W.B. (2003) A very
brief measure of the big five personality domains. Journal of
Research in Personality, 504-508
Kahoot! is a free game-based learning platform. Retrieved from
https://getkahoot.com/
Klimstra, T. (2013). Adolescent personality development
and identity formation. Child Development Perspectives,
80–84.
South, S. C., Krueger, R. F., Johnson, W.,& Iacono, W.
G.(2008). Adolescent personality moderates genetic
and environmental influences on relationships with parents.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 899-912.
Van Den Akker, A. L., Prinzie, P., & Overbeek, G.
(2016).Dimensons of personality pathology in adolescence:
Longitudinal associations with big five personality
dimensions across childhood and adolescence. Journal of
Personality Disorders, 211- 231.