Personality stability and change: an investigation of social identity processes

Abstract

Whether personality is stable or flexible, and whether it can shift as a function of environmental factors such as changes in people’s experiences, roles and social relations has been debated widely in personality and social psychology. Some personality researchers fiercely defend the idea that personality is genetically determined and relatively stable across situations, there is fluidity early in life but not later. There are other personality scholars who are interested in personality change and when and how it happens. Emerging empirical evidence suggests that age, life events, new roles, language and cultural change can be associated with significant personality change. Several theoretical frameworks have been proposed to address this personality variability across contexts. Commitment to social roles, or voluntary and repeated engagement in cultural practices can lead to personality change over time. Switching between role identities or cultural mindsets can also trigger personality variability across contexts. Coming from a social identity perspective, the present research argues that personality is not only an outcome of person factors in interaction with situations, but is related to meaningful group memberships and associated norms, values and beliefs which can shape the person and as these change, and identities change so to can personality processes. The constructs of identification and salience are both crucial in understanding how the group shapes who we are and in explaining variability in our self-concepts across contexts. Across four studies, the present thesis aims to highlight the social identity perspective as an integrative framework in understanding personality variability, and to investigate the role of social identification and salience in explaining personality variability. The first study examined language effects on self-reported personality among bilingual Australian Chinese individuals (N =24), and the role of identification in this cultural accommodation. Measures of Australian identification and Chinese identification, and personality were completed by the same individual across a short time frame in both English and Chinese. Language effects were evident on Extraversion which was significantly higher in the English language condition compared to the Chinese condition. Participants’ level of Australian identification significantly predicted both Extraversion and Neuroticism. This study indicates that social identification is related to personality responses. In the second study, the role of identification was explored in cultural frame switching. Sixty-two Australian Chinese bicultural individuals completed personality measures twice after being exposed to Australian cultural icons and Chinese cultural icons with the order of this priming counterbalanced. Participants reported higher levels of Openness after the Chinese cultural mindset priming compared to the Australian one, and both Australian and Chinese identification predicted personality dimensions. Both Study 1 and 2 provide evidence that is in line with predictions that social identification plays a role in personality responses. In Study 3 the role of identity was examined by manipulating whether Australian or Chinese social identity was made salient. The methodology also was improved through the inclusion of both self-report and behavioural ratings of personality. Results suggest that salient identity can impact on personality responses such that people’s self-definition and behaviour varies depending on which social self (Australian or Chinese) is salient in a given situation. In the final study, rather than utilising participants who had already acquired different national and ethnic identities (Australian and Chinese), the process of acculturation and its impact on personality across time was assessed. New Zealand citizens (N = 2349) reported personality, ethnic identification and patriotism (as a proxy for national endorsement) each year over four phases of data collection. Results indicated that ethnic identification and patriotism predicted both baseline personality levels and its change over time. Over time those who highly endorsed New Zealand changed in ways that fitted with the typical personality profiles of New Zealanders (as Westerners). This pattern was not observed for those participants who highly identify with their Asian ethnic group. Across these studies what we find is a pattern of results that is broadly consistent with hypotheses based on the social identity perspective. The importance of this work is that there is evidence of personality variability across contexts and that social identity processes impact on personality and behaviour. Not only does the thesis expand the social identity perspective to the domains of personality processes and cross-cultural psychology, it also is argued that this perspective offers a pathway to integrate existing theory and research on personality variability that has centred on life experiences and new roles, language and cultural mindsets. Another strength of the thesis is the diversity of methods that are used including within-participants designs, experimental manipulations and longitudinal four-wave survey. The theoretical and empirical implications of this research are presented in the final chapter, as well as recommendations for future research.