not change much in personality , whereas those who had formed a rela -
tionship had also matured in personality , showing lower levels of Neu -
roticism and higher levels of Conscientiousness. Note, however, that
the causal ordering is ambiguous, because we do not know when in thecourse of 4 years the personality changes occurred. It is possible thatsome people spontaneously became better adjusted and in consequencefound it easier to establish a lasting relationship.
Neyer and Asendorpf (2001) also looked at the transition to par -
enthood. From an evolutionary perspective, it would make sense to ar -
gue that having a child should trigger growth in Conscientiousness. It
would also make sense from a social learning perspective, because thereare many social norms that operate to encourage responsibility in par -
ents. But although men and women did in general become more consci -
entious over the 4-year period, that change was unrelated to parent -
hood. Perhaps we have evolved under the assumption that everyone
would have children at this age.
The search for personality change associated with life circum-
stances and events has been pursued most vigorously by RavennaHelson, Brent Roberts, and their colleagues (e.g., Helson, Pals, & Solo-mon, 1997; Roberts & Helson, 1997). Many of the studies have beenconducted as part of the Mills study , an intensive and long-term follow-up of about 100 women from Mills College, an elite institution in Oak-land, California. Replications in larger and more diverse samples arecertainly needed, but Helson and Roberts have clearly managed to keepthis question open.
Physical and Mental Health
There is one last category of potential moderators of personality change:health status. The popular press has frequent accounts of people whoclaim to have changed their lives as a result of a brush with death or anacquired disability . Do heart attacks teach hard-driving executives toslow down and enjoy life? Can loss of hearing make a closed-mindeddogmatist more receptive to others’ points of view?
Appealing as this notion might be, there is already reason to be
skeptical. Nothing is more characteristic of the aging process than thedeterioration of physical health. Most 80-year-olds have a history ofhealth problems and some degree of disability . Yet, as we have seen, sta -
bility coefficients for personality traits do not decline with age.Qualifications and Rival Hypotheses 131