Constancy of Self-Attitudes from Adolescence to Mid-Life: Does Change Become More Durable or Transient with Age?

Abstract

The extent to which people hold stable ideas and attitudes throughout their lives is a persistent concern among scholars across social science disciplines. Developmental processes early in life are widely considered to lay the groundwork for future attitudes, well-being, behavioral adaptation, and attainment. However, little is known about whether central components of the self-concept manifest persistent change, or simply short-term fluctuations around a stable baseline, through stages of the life course, including the lengthening transition to adulthood. The present study examines key self-related orientations as participants in the Youth Development Study moved from adolescence to mid-life over a 30-year period. Applying analytic methods recently employed by Lersch (2023) to study adult civic and political attitudes, we find evidence that more persistent change in self-orientations occurs during adolescence and the transition to adulthood; greater stability is manifest once adulthood has become established and continues until mid-life.