Young children who are shy tend to stay that way into adulthood, shows new research on personality that shows the same goes for aggressive children, although they tend to mellow out somewhat as time goes by.
These findings come as the result of a 19-year longitudinal study on personality by researchers at Germany's Humboldt University. Researchers followed a group of 103 children during this time, surveying parents and teachers about children's personality traits at age four, five and six. Based on these responses, children were characterized as one of three personality types: overcontrolled (shy and self-conscious), undercontrolled (impulsive, aggressive) or resilient (socially adept, emotionally adaptable). Parents continued to complete surveys on their children's personalties yearly until age 10 and at the ages 12, 17 and 23.
Researchers found that shy kids tend to stay shy into adulthood, but do become somewhat more sociable. Undercontrolled children experienced an even greater reduction in their aggressive tendencies as they grew older, which researchers speculate may be due to negative attention from peers and adults, but remained outgoing. Resilient subjects likewise tended not to stray from their initial moderate disposition.
Unlike resilient children however, both under- and overcontrolled subjects took longer to complete rites of passage such as having a first romantic relationship, getting a part-time job or moving out of the parental home, suggesting that a lack of social adeptness may be a small setback to adult maturity. However, these delays are not significant, and researchers stress that no matter which type of personality children show at an early age, they tend to develop moderated social behaviors that allow them to function well as adults.
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