Premium
The Hierarchical Structure of Childhood Personality in Five Countries: Continuity From Early Childhood to Early Adolescence
Author(s) -
Tackett Jennifer L.,
Slobodskaya Helena R.,
Mar Raymond A.,
Deal James,
Halverson Charles F.,
Baker Spencer R.,
Pavlopoulos Vassilis,
Besevegis Elias
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00748.x
Subject(s) - personality , psychology , developmental psychology , temperament , early childhood , intellect , merge (version control) , big five personality traits , social psychology , philosophy , theology , computer science , information retrieval
Childhood personality is a rapidly growing area of investigation within individual differences research. One understudied topic is the universality of the hierarchical structure of childhood personality. In the present investigation, parents rated the personality characteristics of 3,751 children from 5 countries and 4 age groups. The hierarchical structure of childhood personality was examined for 1‐, 2‐, 3‐, 4‐, and 5‐factor models across country ( C anada, C hina, G reece, R ussia, and the U nited S tates) and age group (3–5, 6–8, 9–11, and 12–14 years of age). Many similarities were noted across both country and age. The F ive‐ F actor M odel was salient beginning in early childhood (ages 3–5). Deviations across groups and from adult findings are noted, including the prominent role of antagonism in childhood personality and the high covariation between C onscientiousness and intellect. Future directions, including the need for more explicit attempts to merge temperament and personality models, are discussed.