tervals and zero correlations for moderate intervals; the correlations in
Table 11 are strongly positive .
The heterotypic continuity model also fails to account for the re -
sults in Table 11. True, there are some sizable correlations between
traits at the first administration and different traits at the third. For ex -
ample, ascendance predicts later sociability with an impressive correla -
tion of .54. But before concluding that ascendance develops into socia -
bility , we should note that the reverse is equally true: sociability predicts
ascendance 12 years later with a correlation of .58. Finally (although itis not shown in Table 11), the correlation of Ascendance with Sociabil -
ity when both are measured at the same time is .64 at the first adminis -
tration and .58 at the third administration. In short, regardless of when
either is measured, the correlation of these two traits is about .6, a factthat is not in the least surprising when one recalls that both are facets ofthe domain of Extraversion. In the same way , strong predictive correla-tions are found between different traits in the domain of Neuroticismsuch as Emotional Stability and Objectivity . But none of the heterotypiccorrelations (between one trait and a different trait) is a strong as thecorrelation of each trait with itself over time, and none of the predictivecorrelations cross the boundaries of their own domains. Extraversiondoes not predict Neuroticism; Masculinity does not predict Restraint.
If the data in Table 11 were the only evidence of this exceptional
degree of stability in personality , we would quite properly be skeptical,but a number of other studies have reported similar findings. In theBoston study we found 10-year stability coefficients of .69 for Neuroti -
cism and .84 for Extraversion (Costa & McCrae, 1977). More recently ,
Costa, Herbst, et al. (2000) reported retest correlations for more than2,000 men and women who were initially measured in their early 40sand then retested 6–9 years later; stability coefficients ranged from .76to .84 for N, E, O, A, and C. As long ago as 1955, Strong showed thatoccupational interests (which are closely related to personality disposi -
tions) were highly stable after the age of 25.
A number of longitudinal studies by other investigators have been
reported; some of them are summarized in Table 12. The correlationsreported here uniformly support the stability position, although manyof them are lower than those in Table 8 (in Chapter 4), for several rea -
sons. Some subjects were college age when testing began and had not
yet reached psychological maturity . Finn (1986), for example, foundsubstantially higher retest correlations for subjects initially aged 43–53110 PERSONALITY IN ADULTHOOD