How Our Work Influences Who We Are: Testing a Theory of Vocational and Personality Development over Fifty Years

Woods, Stephen A ORCID: 0000-0003-3331-2329, Edmonds, Grant W, Hampson, Sarah E and Lievens, Filip (2020) How Our Work Influences Who We Are: Testing a Theory of Vocational and Personality Development over Fifty Years. Journal of Research in Personality, 85. p. 103930.

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Abstract

This study examines the developmental influences of occupational environments on personality traits from childhood to adulthood. We test aspects of a theory of vocational and personality development, proposing that traits develop in response to work experience following corresponsive <i>and</i> noncorresponsive mechanisms. We describe these pathways in the context of situations of vocational gravitation and inhabitation. In a sample from the Hawaii personality and health cohort (<i>N</i> = 596), we examined associations of childhood and adulthood personality traits, with occupational environments profiled on the RIASEC model. Mediations tests confirmed that work influenced personality development from childhood to adulthood for Openness/Intellect. We observed multiple reactivity effects of occupation environments on adulthood traits that were not associated with corresponding selection effects.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Personality development, Personality trait change, Vocational development, Corresponsive mechanism, Big five, Holland RIASEC, Person-environment fit, Trait activation
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2020 08:17
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2024 02:59
DOI:	10.1016/j.jrp.2020.103930
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3073472