Research & Teaching
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Personality |
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Research Summary |
Does Personality Predict Risky Behavior?
Article SummaryDo you drink too much? Drive too fast? Engage in unsafe sex? Have you been convicted of a violent crime? Maybe - about one-quarter of young adults have engaged in one of these types of risky behavior. People who engage in risky behavior have a negative impact on society; they affect their health and the health of those around them, draining health-care resources. Why do some people take risks? Psychologists have begun to link risky behavior with personality traits. For example, young adults who engage in unsafe sex or drink and drive tend to score high on measures of "sensation-seeking." Drug addicts and alcoholics often have poor impulse control. Convicted criminals lack a sense of social responsibility. Although risky behavior and personality traits have been investigated in a number of studies, few have looked at the relationship over a long period of time. Caspi, Begg, Dickson, Harrington, Langley, Moffitt, and Silva followed young people in New Zealand from ages 3 to 21 years. The goal of their study was to try to predict risky behaviors by young adults. The participants were part of a longitudinal study of health and development. Children born in 1972-1973 in Dunedin, New Zealand have been followed throughout their childhood. Three different measures, collected at three different times, were used in this study: When the children were 3 years old, they were observed and their temperament was classified. When the participants were 18 years old, they were administered a personality questionnaire. At 21 years of age, risky behaviors of alcohol abuse, unsafe sex, violent crime, and dangerous driving were identified. Over three-quarters of the participants did not engage in any of the four risky behaviors and these young adults were used as the control group. Three-quarters of the young adults who were identified as engaging in risky behaviors engaged in only one type of risky behavior. Even though different people engaged in different types of risky behaviors, however, they showed distinct personality traits. Young adults who engaged in risky behavior tended to be non-traditional, not to avoid harmful situations, be less in control and careful, less social, and more aggressive than the control group. People who engaged in multiple risky behaviors had similar personality traits but were even more aggressive than people who were identified as engaging in only one type of risky behavior. Caspi et al. also identified temperament variations in early childhood that were related to later personality traits and risky behaviors. In particular, children who had been characterized as "undercontrolled" at 3 years of age, were more likely to engage in risky behaviors at 21 years of age. Caspi et al. described these undercontrolled children as having difficulty sitting still, impulsive, irritable, and out of control in their behavior. The description of these temperament characteristics at 3 years of age are quite similar to the personality traits identified at 18 years of age. Caspi et al. concluded that their longitudinal design has provided rather convincing evidence that personality traits related to risky behaviors have their origins very early in life. |