Data analysis from a 12-year longitudinal study examining the importance of personality changes during young adulthood indicates that personality growth has practical career benefits. Kevin Hoff, assistant professor of industrial organizational psychology at the University of Houston, found that young people who develop a higher level of conscientiousness and emotional stability during the transition into work tend to be more successful in some aspects of their early careers.
"The results showed that certain patterns of personality growth in addition to adolescents' personality and ability predicted career outcomes," Hoff reports, adding that the findings support potential policies designed to help young people develop personality-related skills.
Hoff's study is the first to assess the predictive power of personality change for a wide range of career outcomes over more than a decade of young adulthood.
This is also good news for adolescents who have experienced difficulties or are dissatisfied with aspects of their personality.
“The research found that you're not just stuck with your personality traits, and changing in a positive way over time can have a big impact on your career,” said Hoff.
Hoff's team followed two representative samples of Icelandic youth for about 12 years, from late adolescence (about 17 years old) to young adulthood (about 29 years old), and found that individuals who developed higher trait levels were more successful as young adults. adults. In both samples, he found the strongest effects for growth in conscientiousness, emotional stability, and extroversion. In particular, changes in conscience predicted career satisfaction; changes in emotional stability were closely linked to income and career satisfaction; and extroversion changes were linked to career and job satisfaction.
Given the focus on personality changes as predictors, Hoff said it was important to include a replication sample and data from more than two time points. He used data from three and five time points.
“Adolescent trait levels also predicted career success, highlighting the long-term predictive power of personality. Overall, the findings highlight the importance of personality development during childhood, adolescence and young adulthood for promoting various aspects of career success,” said Hoff.
