Emergence and Construct Validation of the Big Five Factors in Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Analysis of Their Ontogeny in Sweden

Researchers have shown that the five major dimensions of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) and two additional factors (irritability and positive activity) are evident from adolescence. This study attempted to replicate and extend th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 2002-09, Vol.73 (5), p.1517-1524
Main Authors: Lamb, Michael E., Chuang, Susan S., Wessels, Holger, Broberg, Anders G., Hwang, Carl Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescents
Agreeableness
Analysis
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child development
Childhood
Children
Children & youth
Conscientiousness
Construct Validity
Developmental psychology
Extroversion
Five Factor Model of Personality
Foreign Countries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Irritability
Longitudinal Studies
Ontogeny
Openness to experience
Personality
Personality and Social Development
Personality Assessment
Personality Theories
Personality Traits
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psykologi
Speech skills
Stability
Sweden
Trajectories
Validity
Young Children
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Summary:Researchers have shown that the five major dimensions of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) and two additional factors (irritability and positive activity) are evident from adolescence. This study attempted to replicate and extend these results in a longitudinal study of 102 Swedish children, followed from 2.3 to 15.2 years of age. Item analyses revealed consistently reliable irritability, conscientiousness, and positive activity factors, whereas the internal reliability of the extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism, and openness to experience factors increased over time. Irritability and positive activity were not independent of the other factors. Scores on most of the personality factors were fairly stable over time. Over time, children became less extraverted, more agreeable, and more conscientious. Neuroticism and openness to experience increased in Phase III, although openness then decreased in Phase V. Validity of the original factors was demonstrated by correlations with independent assessments of the children's cognitive performance and adjustment to school.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
1467-8624
DOI:10.1111/1467-8624.00487