PLASTER OR PLASTICITY - ARE ADULT WORK EXPERIENCES ASSOCIATED WITH PERSONALITY-CHANGE IN WOMEN

The present study tested whether work experiences were associated with personality change across two periods of adulthood (age 21 to 27 and 27 to 43) in a longitudinal sample of women (N = 81). Two competing th eoretical perspectives were tested: the plaster theory, which claims t hat personality does not change after age 30, and the plasticity theor y, which claims that personality can change at any time in adulthood. Evidence was found for both correlational consistency of personality i n adulthood and for the socialization effect of work on personality ch ange. Work experiences were not associated with personality change in young adulthood but were associated with changes between young adultho od and midlife. In the period from age 27 to age 43 women who worked m ore became more agentic, and women who were more successful in their w ork became both more agentic and more norm-adhering. This pattern of a ssociations between personality change and work experience provided su pport for the plasticity model of personality change.