Perceived vs. Actual Personality Change in Young Adulthood

Erik E. Noftle from the University of California, Davis conducted a longitudinal study tracking personality change. Two hundred and ninety students completed Big Five personality trait measures upon entering college and again four years later, also rating their perceived change. Perceived and actual change showed correlations with variables related to college achievement and adjustment.

Use Cases

• Analyze correlations between perceived personality change and actual change based on Big Five trait scores.
• Study the relationship between personality change and college adjustment variables mentioned in the description.
• Model self-perception accuracy in young adulthood based on longitudinal personality data.

Strengths

• Longitudinal design with measurements taken at college entry and four years later.
• Two hundred and ninety participants provide a moderate sample size for analysis.
• Includes both objective personality measures and subjective self-ratings of change.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect bias inherent to a single university student population.

Provenance

Source

University of California, Davis

Collection Method

Likely contains survey data collected from students at two time points.

Time Range

Study spanned four years during participants' college attendance.