ERIC Number: EJ1265084
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0165-0254
EISSN: N/A
A Potential Link between Early Language Developmental Milestones and Personality Traits in Adulthood
Flensborg-Madsen, Trine; Wimmelmann, Cathrine Lawaetz; Mortensen, Erik Lykke
International Journal of Behavioral Development, v44 n5 p383-392 Sep 2020
Background: Although plausible links between language development and personality have been suggested, longitudinal studies of these associations into adulthood have not been conducted. Aim: To investigate whether children's age at attaining language milestones is associated with later adult personality. Methods: Mothers' of 8,400 children from the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort recorded six language milestones during the child's first 3 years of life. Information on at least one language milestone was available for two subsamples with adult follow-up information on personality: The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was available for 691 individuals with a mean age of 27.5 years and The NEO Five-Factor Inventory was available for 902 individuals with a mean age of 50.0 years. Results: Faster attainment of language milestones was associated with lower neuroticism in young adulthood and with higher extraversion and openness to experience in midlife. A total of 1.9% of the variance in neuroticism, 2.5% of the variance in extraversion, and 1.6% of the variance in openness to experience was explained by language milestones. Conclusion: Only a modest part of variance in personality traits was explained by language milestones. However, the study adds to the literature on potential consequences of the timing of language development and suggests a link between language milestones and personality in adulthood.
Descriptors: Correlation, Personality Traits, Personality Measures, Language Acquisition, Neurosis, Age Differences, Adults, Mothers, Infants, Toddlers, Recordkeeping, Extraversion Introversion, Child Development, Longitudinal Studies, Foreign Countries, Smoking, Prenatal Influences, Socioeconomic Status, Parent Child Relationship
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Denmark
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: NEO Five Factor Inventory; Eysenck Personality Inventory
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A