 14. Personality in Young Adulthood  333
versals or culture-  specific phenomena (Hen -
rich et al., 2010). Moreover, a cross-  cultural 
examination can provide important infor -
mation about universal and culture-  specific 
mechanisms that might drive changes in per -
sonality (Bleidorn et al., 2013).
Seventh, we have focused in this chapter 
on the broad Big Five domains. Personal -
ity involves more concepts than these broad 
traits. Possible discontinuities in stability 
and change at narrower levels of the per -
sonality hierarchy merit closer examination. 
Developmental patterns of other important 
aspects of personality, such as goals, inter -
ests, values, problems, or narratives, are less 
well understood than patterns of traits, and 
deserve greater attention.
Conclusion
The current state of research provides some 
evidence that major life transitions in young 
adulthood can lead to changes in Big Five 
personality traits. The most consistent find -
ings emerge for the transition to the first ro -
mantic relationship and the transition from 
school to college/work, both of which have 
been found to be related to positive person -
ality trait changes. However, a more gen -
eral conclusion emerging from our review 
of past research is that evidence for the na -
ture, shape, and timing of personality trait 
change in response to life events is still at a 
preliminary stage. Future work should use 
multimethod assessments across multiple 
waves in large samples, with designs capa -
ble of ruling out potential confounds and 
uncovering underlying processes of change. 
We hope that this chapter inspires new lon -
gitudinal research that uses such designs to 
illuminate how personality trait change in 
young adulthood occurs in the context of 
major life transitions.
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