Self-perceived personality change in adulthood and aging.

This study replicated and extended a previous work on self-perceived personality change in the middle- to old-age transition. A modified form of the Rokeach Value Survey (previously administered to women) was given to 80 middle-aged and 80 old-aged men and women. Self-perceived change was examined by varying instructional conditions to include concurrent, prospective, and retrospective self-assessments. In addition, participants were asked to respond to various personality dimensions from the Jackson Personality Research Form. Four scales were selected to reflect the personality changes suggested by theory to occur during these age periods (developmental scales). Four additional scales, predicted to show no self-perceived change processes (control scales), were also administered to establish boundary conditions of the proposed change process. The findings replicated the previously documented values transition in women and provided support (in the assessments of middle-aged men) for the predicted sequence in developmental personality scales. Finally, the control scale outcomes, as predicted, showed no self-perceived change in the assessments of either men or women.