Change in Dispositional Well-Being and Its Relation to Role Quality: A 30-Year Longitudinal Study

doi:10.1006/jrpe.1999.2259

Journal of Research in Personality

Volume 34, Issue 1, March 2000, Pages 26-41

https://doi.org/10.1006/jrpe.1999.2259 Get rights and content

Abstract

In a 30-year longitudinal study of adult women (N = 104), we addressed three questions about changes in dispositional well-being: (1) Do women increase in dispositional well-being from young adulthood to midlife? (2) Are changes in dispositional well-being related to role quality? And, (3), Are the correlates between changes in dispositional well-being and role quality dependent on the method one uses to calculate change scores? Three out of four measures of dispositional well-being showed little or no mean-level change from age 21 to age 52. The fourth measure of dispositional well-being, reflecting effective functioning or maturity, showed a statistically significant but substantively small increase over the same 30-year period. The relation between change in dispositional well-being and role-quality was tested across the 30-year span of the longitudinal study. The results showed that positive role-quality was associated with increases on measures of effective functioning and well-being and decreases on measures of anxiety and psychoneuroticism. The method of calculating change scores did affect results with growth modeling and residualized change results being essentially identical and difference scores resulting in fewer statistically significant findings.

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This research was supported by Grant MH-43948 from the National Institute of Mental Health. We are grateful to Ravenna Helson, Adam Kremen, and Wendy Delvecchio for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Brent W. Roberts, now at the University of Illinois, Department of Psychology, 603 East Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820. E-mail: [email protected].

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Regular ArticleChange in Dispositional Well-Being and Its Relation to Role Quality: A 30-Year Longitudinal Study☆

Abstract

Using growth curve analyses to assess personality change and stability in adulthood

Modeling quantitative developmental change

Women's involvement in multiple roles and psychological distress

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Role quality, multiple role involvement, and psychological well-being in midlife women

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Women and gender in research on work and family stress

American Psychologist

Job experiences over time, multiple roles, and women's mental health: A longitudinal study

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Change in job and marital experiences and change in psychological distress: A longitudinal study of dual-earner couples

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Ego-identity, role variability, and adjustment

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods

A longitudinal study of personality change and stability

Journal of Personality

Personality in adulthood: A six-year longitudinal study of self-reports and spouse ratings on the NEO Personality Inventory

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Set like plaster? Evidence for the stability of adult personality

Trait theories of personality

How should we measure “change”—or should we?

Psychological Bulletin

If behaviors change, can personality be far behind?

Personality consistency: Eminent architects 25 years later

Creativity Research Journal

California Psychology Inventory administrator's guide

The Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey Handbook: Twenty-five years of research and application

As time goes by: Change and stability in personality over fifty years

Psychology and Aging

Childhood personality influences on social-cognitive development: A longitudinal study

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Can personality change?

Regular Article
Change in Dispositional Well-Being and Its Relation to Role Quality: A 30-Year Longitudinal Study☆