Presenter: Sage Rezner – Psychology
Faculty Mentor(s): Sara Weston
Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation
Personality traits develop throughout adolescence into emerging adulthood; however, it is unclear how college attendance affects the trajectory of development. Participants from the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult cohort provided personality data every two years from 2008 to 2016. The participants are the biological children of the mothers from the NLSY79 cohort, we used the personality data they provided when they were between the ages of fourteen and twenty-five. For each of the Big Five personality traits, we modeled development with both linear and quadratic growth models. College significantly predicted the development of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, and Openness. These findings suggest college attendance influences personality development.