328 III. DEvELOPMENT
and more pronounced decreases in neuroti -
cism. This finding provided some evidence 
for the sociogenomic model of personal -
ity (Roberts & Jackson, 2008) and other 
bottom-  up approaches to personality devel -
opment (e.g., Geukes et al., 2018; Hennecke, 
Bleidorn, Denissen, & Wood, 2014) that 
promote the view that personality change is 
likely initiated by behavioral changes, typi -
cally in response to transitional changes or 
in pursuit of goals.
Entering university might be associated 
with additional gains in personality maturi -
ty. Lüdtke et al. (2011) followed German stu -
dents ( N ~ 2,000) from high school to uni -
versity, vocational training, or work. They 
found significant mean-level changes in stu -
dents’ Big Five traits. Specifically, students 
who graduated from high school showed in -
creases in openness ( d = 0.20), agreeableness 
(d = 0.32), and conscientiousness ( d = 0.32), 
and decreases in neuroticism ( d = –0.27). 
Moreover, they found that young adults’ life 
paths after graduation from school were dis -
tinctively associated with their personality 
trajectories. Individuals who chose a voca -
tionally oriented path increased in consci -
entiousness at a faster rate than their peers 
who attended university. In contrast, young 
adults on the vocational path showed less 
pronounced increases in agreeableness than 
those attending university. The specific links 
between different life paths and changes in 
different trait domains may reflect the idio -
syncratic nature of the cognitive, affective, 
and behavioral experiences associated with 
these different life transitions. For example, 
young adults who take a vocational track 
may face a more disciplined schedule that 
requires them to act more conscientiously. 
Conversely, students who attend college and 
university may face fewer demands to be -
come more conscientious, at least compared 
with those transitioning to the first job.
In summary, longitudinal research in -
dicates that attending and/or transition -
ing from school to university or vocational 
tracks is related to personality maturation in 
the form of increases in openness, agreeable -
ness, and conscientiousness, and decreases 
in neuroticism. These changes seem to occur 
over relatively short time periods and show 
distinct relations to particular behaviors 
and experiences during and after graduation 
from school.The First  Job
Several studies have demonstrated that work 
experiences, such as job satisfaction, job de -
mands, or work investment, correlate with 
personality trait changes and that these as -
sociations are particularly strong for con -
scientiousness (e.g., Hudson, Roberts, & 
Lodi-Smith, 2012). However, few studies 
have examined whether and how person -
ality traits change during the transition to 
the first job. Specht et al. (2011) found that 
young adults who entered the labor market 
for the first time ( N = 456) show more pro -
nounced increases in conscientiousness than 
individuals who did not enter the labor mar -
ket over a period of 4 years ( r ~ .20). There 
were no effects on any of the other four Big 
Five traits.
Nieß and Zacher (2015) examined wheth -
er the transition to a managerial or profes -
sional position may be associated with per -
sonality trait changes. Specifically, using 
data from a nationally representative Aus -
tralian panel study, they compared the Big 
Five trajectories of individuals who made 
an upward job change into managerial or 
professional positions ( N = 247) with those 
of employed individuals who did not make 
such a change (i.e., those who remained in 
nonmanagerial and nonprofessional posi -
tions; N = 1,710). They found that, across 4 
years, individuals who experienced upward 
job changes scored significantly higher in 
openness than participants who did not ex -
perience such changes ( d = 0.21) but not in 
any of the other Big Five traits.
Using six-wave nationally representative 
data of the Netherlands, Denissen and col -
leagues (2019) examined selection, antici -
pation, and socialization effects associated 
with the transition to the first job. They 
found selection effects indicating that people 
with higher scores in conscientiousness and 
emotional stability were more likely to end 
up in paid employment. Moreover, in antici -
pation of paid employment, people tended 
to increase in conscientiousness and open -
ness to experience. However, there were no 
socializing effects of the transition into paid 
employment on changes in personality traits.
In summary, only a few studies have ex -
amined the impact of job transitions on Big 
Five personality trait change. The current 
state of research suggests that the transition 