The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study

Marleen De Bolle; Filip De Fruyt; Robert R. McCrae; Corinna E. Löckenhoff; Paul T. Costa; Maria E. Aguilar-Vafaie; Chang Kyu Ahn; Hyun Nie Ahn; Lidia Alcalay; Franco Simonetti; Jüri Allik; Tatyana V. Avdeyeva; Denis Bratko; Marina Brunner-Sciarra; Thomas R. Cain; Wayne Chan; Niyada Chittcharat; Vitanya Vanno; Jarret T. Crawford; Ryan Fehr; Emília Ficková; Michele J. Gelfand; Sylvie Graf; Martina Hřebíčková; Sami Gülgöz; Lee Jussim; Waldemar Klinkosz; Andrzej Sekowski; Goran Knežević; Danka Purić; Nora Leibovich De Figueroa; Vanina Schmidt; Margarida P. Lima; Thomas A. Martin; Iris Marušić; Khairul Anwar Mastor; Katsuharu Nakazato; Florence Nansubuga; Jose Porrata; Anu Realo; Norma Reátegui; Jean Pierre Rolland; Jane Shakespeare-Finch; Yoshiko Shimonaka; Jerzy Siuta; Barbara Szmigielska; Lei Wang; Michelle Yik; Antonio Terracciano

doi:10.1037/a0038497

The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study

Marleen De Bolle, Filip De Fruyt, Robert R. McCrae, Corinna E. Löckenhoff, Paul T. Costa, Maria E. Aguilar-Vafaie, Chang Kyu Ahn, Hyun Nie Ahn, Lidia Alcalay, Franco Simonetti, Jüri Allik, Tatyana V. Avdeyeva, Denis Bratko, Marina Brunner-Sciarra, Thomas R. Cain, Wayne Chan, Niyada Chittcharat, Vitanya Vanno, Jarret T. Crawford, Ryan FehrEmília Ficková, Michele J. Gelfand, Sylvie Graf, Martina Hřebíčková, Sami Gülgöz, Lee Jussim, Waldemar Klinkosz, Andrzej Sekowski, Goran Knežević, Danka Purić, Nora Leibovich De Figueroa, Vanina Schmidt, Margarida P. Lima, Thomas A. Martin, Iris Marušić, Khairul Anwar Mastor, Katsuharu Nakazato, Florence Nansubuga, Jose Porrata, Anu Realo, Norma Reátegui, Jean Pierre Rolland, Jane Shakespeare-Finch, Yoshiko Shimonaka, Jerzy Siuta, Barbara Szmigielska, Lei Wang, Michelle Yik, Antonio Terracciano

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

63 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them. The present study examines the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) informant ratings of adolescents from 23 cultures (N = 4,850), and investigates culture and age as sources of variability in sex differences of adolescents' personality. The effect for Neuroticism (with females scoring higher than males) begins to take on its adult form around age 14. Girls score higher on Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness at all ages between 12 and 17 years. A more complex pattern emerges for Extraversion and Agreeableness, although by age 17, sex differences for these traits are highly similar to those observed in adulthood. Cross-sectional data suggest that (a) with advancing age, sex differences found in adolescents increasingly converge toward adult patterns with respect to both direction and magnitude; (b) girls display sex-typed personality traits at an earlier age than boys; and (c) the emergence of sex differences was similar across cultures. Practical implications of the present findings are discussed.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	171-185
Number of pages	15
Journal	Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume	108
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038497
State	Published - 2015
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Adolescence
Cross-cultural
Personality
Sex differences

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Psychology
Sociology and Political Science

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10.1037/a0038497

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De Bolle, M., De Fruyt, F., McCrae, R. R., Löckenhoff, C. E., Costa, P. T., Aguilar-Vafaie, M. E., Ahn, C. K., Ahn, H. N., Alcalay, L., Simonetti, F., Allik, J., Avdeyeva, T. V., Bratko, D., Brunner-Sciarra, M., Cain, T. R., Chan, W., Chittcharat, N., Vanno, V., Crawford, J. T., ... Terracciano, A. (2015). The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(1), 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038497

De Bolle, M, De Fruyt, F, McCrae, RR, Löckenhoff, CE, Costa, PT, Aguilar-Vafaie, ME, Ahn, CK, Ahn, HN, Alcalay, L, Simonetti, F, Allik, J, Avdeyeva, TV, Bratko, D, Brunner-Sciarra, M, Cain, TR, Chan, W, Chittcharat, N, Vanno, V, Crawford, JT, Fehr, R, Ficková, E, Gelfand, MJ, Graf, S, Hřebíčková, M, Gülgöz, S, Jussim, L, Klinkosz, W, Sekowski, A, Knežević, G, Purić, D, De Figueroa, NL, Schmidt, V, Lima, MP, Martin, TA, Marušić, I, Mastor, KA, Nakazato, K, Nansubuga, F, Porrata, J, Realo, A, Reátegui, N, Rolland, JP, Shakespeare-Finch, J, Shimonaka, Y, Siuta, J, Szmigielska, B, Wang, L, Yik, M & Terracciano, A 2015, 'The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 108, no. 1, pp. 171-185. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038497

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abstract = "Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them. The present study examines the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) informant ratings of adolescents from 23 cultures (N = 4,850), and investigates culture and age as sources of variability in sex differences of adolescents' personality. The effect for Neuroticism (with females scoring higher than males) begins to take on its adult form around age 14. Girls score higher on Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness at all ages between 12 and 17 years. A more complex pattern emerges for Extraversion and Agreeableness, although by age 17, sex differences for these traits are highly similar to those observed in adulthood. Cross-sectional data suggest that (a) with advancing age, sex differences found in adolescents increasingly converge toward adult patterns with respect to both direction and magnitude; (b) girls display sex-typed personality traits at an earlier age than boys; and (c) the emergence of sex differences was similar across cultures. Practical implications of the present findings are discussed.",

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year = "2015",

doi = "10.1037/a0038497",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "108",

pages = "171--185",

journal = "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology",

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AU - De Bolle, Marleen

AU - De Fruyt, Filip

AU - McCrae, Robert R.

AU - Löckenhoff, Corinna E.

AU - Costa, Paul T.

AU - Aguilar-Vafaie, Maria E.

AU - Ahn, Chang Kyu

AU - Ahn, Hyun Nie

AU - Alcalay, Lidia

AU - Simonetti, Franco

AU - Allik, Jüri

AU - Avdeyeva, Tatyana V.

AU - Bratko, Denis

AU - Brunner-Sciarra, Marina

AU - Cain, Thomas R.

AU - Chan, Wayne

AU - Chittcharat, Niyada

AU - Vanno, Vitanya

AU - Crawford, Jarret T.

AU - Fehr, Ryan

AU - Ficková, Emília

AU - Gelfand, Michele J.

AU - Graf, Sylvie

AU - Hřebíčková, Martina

AU - Gülgöz, Sami

AU - Jussim, Lee

AU - Klinkosz, Waldemar

AU - Sekowski, Andrzej

AU - Knežević, Goran

AU - Purić, Danka

AU - De Figueroa, Nora Leibovich

AU - Schmidt, Vanina

AU - Lima, Margarida P.

AU - Martin, Thomas A.

AU - Marušić, Iris

AU - Mastor, Khairul Anwar

AU - Nakazato, Katsuharu

AU - Nansubuga, Florence

AU - Porrata, Jose

AU - Realo, Anu

AU - Reátegui, Norma

AU - Rolland, Jean Pierre

AU - Shakespeare-Finch, Jane

AU - Shimonaka, Yoshiko

AU - Siuta, Jerzy

AU - Szmigielska, Barbara

AU - Wang, Lei

AU - Yik, Michelle

AU - Terracciano, Antonio

PY - 2015

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N2 - Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them. The present study examines the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) informant ratings of adolescents from 23 cultures (N = 4,850), and investigates culture and age as sources of variability in sex differences of adolescents' personality. The effect for Neuroticism (with females scoring higher than males) begins to take on its adult form around age 14. Girls score higher on Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness at all ages between 12 and 17 years. A more complex pattern emerges for Extraversion and Agreeableness, although by age 17, sex differences for these traits are highly similar to those observed in adulthood. Cross-sectional data suggest that (a) with advancing age, sex differences found in adolescents increasingly converge toward adult patterns with respect to both direction and magnitude; (b) girls display sex-typed personality traits at an earlier age than boys; and (c) the emergence of sex differences was similar across cultures. Practical implications of the present findings are discussed.

AB - Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them. The present study examines the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) informant ratings of adolescents from 23 cultures (N = 4,850), and investigates culture and age as sources of variability in sex differences of adolescents' personality. The effect for Neuroticism (with females scoring higher than males) begins to take on its adult form around age 14. Girls score higher on Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness at all ages between 12 and 17 years. A more complex pattern emerges for Extraversion and Agreeableness, although by age 17, sex differences for these traits are highly similar to those observed in adulthood. Cross-sectional data suggest that (a) with advancing age, sex differences found in adolescents increasingly converge toward adult patterns with respect to both direction and magnitude; (b) girls display sex-typed personality traits at an earlier age than boys; and (c) the emergence of sex differences was similar across cultures. Practical implications of the present findings are discussed.

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The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study

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