Using Dynamic Panel Models to Study Age–Related Differences and Time–Related Changes in Personality

Abstract

Along with an increasing interest in the plasticity and role of personality across the adult lifespan comes the need for a diverse set of innovative statistical approaches to study it. With this paper, we set out to illustrate some of the possibilities and challenges in modelling age–related differences and time–related changes in personality psychology by means of dynamic panel models. To this end, we first distinguish between the study of age–related differences and time–related changes and demonstrate how the treatment of age and time as either discrete or continuous variables implies important modelling choices. Second, we present a selection of four example cases that address the topic of age moderation in diverse matters and with different objectives. Based on our cross–tabulation of age and time as discrete and continuous variables, the first two example cases represent fairly well–established models (cases A and B), whereas the remaining cases are used to illustrate current developments in the field (cases C and D). We close the paper with some final remarks on current limitation and future research directions. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology