Abstract: Age-related differences in personality have captured human attention for centuries. For instance. Developmentally oriented research has painted a picture of both stability and change in personality traits across the life span. Nonetheless, there are still some questions about the development of core personality dispositions like those captured by the Big Five domains, such as the universality and particularity of personality development. In this article, we pursue a partial answer to this question by testing for age-related differences in mean levels of the Big Five traits in a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of Chinese. These analyses are particularly informative given that very few studies have examined age differences in representative samples that cover substantial periods of the life span. In addition, we examine age differences in specific personality adjectives linked to the Big Five to identify whether narrower aspects of personality show similar patterns of age differences as do their respective Big Five traits. This study used cross-sectional investigation method to determine the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits across the life course. In this study, Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were examined in a nationally representative sample of Chinese (N =3426; ages range from 15 to 75). We further analyzed the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits and 10 specific facet traits across the life course. The results of the study showed that for people under the age of 60, the older individuals had lower mean-level of neuroticism, however, for people aged 60 or older, the older individuals had higher mean-level of neuroticism; for people under the age of 50, the older individuals had lower mean-level of extraversion, however, for people aged 60 or older, the older individuals had higher mean-level of extraversion; on the whole, the older individuals had lower mean-level of openness; on the whole, the older individuals had higher mean-level of agreeableness; and on the whole, the older individuals had higher mean-level of conscientiousness. On the whole, the middle-aged adults had higher mean-level of conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion than young adulthood and old people; and the middle-aged adults had lower mean-level of neuroticism and openness than young adulthood and old people. Correlation analysis results show that age was negatively related with mean levels of neuroticism, anxiety, depression, activity, openness to experience, aesthetics and ideas, and positively related with mean levels of extraversion, assertiveness, altruism, compliance, order and self-discipline. There were significant main effect of gender on mean levels of big five personality traits. Such as man had lower mean-level of neuroticism than woman; and men over the age of 50 have higher mean-level of Conscientiousness than y woman over the age of 50. In conclusion, the present research comprehensive analyzed the development trajectories of Chinese big five personality. It contributes to our understanding of the patterns of mean-level change in Chinese big five personality traits across the life course. These findings provide an important step in the classification and understanding of the development trajectories of Chinese big five personality traits. And these results also provide some empirical evidences sinicization research and cross-cultural comparison.

Key words: big five personality traits, personality development, life-long development, age differences, Chinese

摘要： 基于人格毕生发展理论及中国社会文化背景，调查了我国从青少年到老年3192名被试，探究了中国人大五人格5维度及10个面毕生发展水平。总体上，年龄与神经质、焦虑、抑郁、活跃、开放性、审美、创意显著负相关，与外倾性、宜人性、尽责性、自信、利他、顺从、条理和自律显著正相关。在60岁以下的人群中，年龄大的个体神经质更低，而在大于60岁的人群中，年龄大的个体神经质反而更高；在50岁以下的人群中，年龄大的个体外倾性水平相对较高，但50岁之后年龄大的个体外倾性相对较低；整体上，年龄大的个体开放性水平相对较低，而年龄大的个体宜人性水平反而更高；年龄大的个体尽责性水平也相对较高，但较之40到49岁群体而言，50岁以上群体的尽责性则相对较低。男性和女性不同年龄群体的大五人格具有一定差异性，特别是男性的尽责性高于女性，以及女性的神经质高于男性等性别差异。进一步分析了年龄与大五人格10个面的关系，描绘了不同年龄群体10个面的发展水平。

关键词: 大五人格, 人格发展, 毕生发展, 不同年龄, 中国人