Age trends and age norms for the NEO Personality Inventory-3 in adolescents and adults

Assessment. 2005 Dec;12(4):363-73. doi: 10.1177/1073191105279724.

Abstract

The NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3) is a modification of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) designed to be more understandable to adolescents. Data from adults aged 21 to 91 showed that the NEO-PI-3 also functions as well or better than the NEO-PI-R in adults. Age trends from combined adolescent (n = 500) and adult (n = 635) samples confirmed previous cross-sectional findings and demonstrated the importance of studying age changes especially at the facet level and during the decade of the 20s. Normative data for self-report and observer rating forms for adolescents, younger and older adults, and all adults are discussed, as well as for a combined-age group. It is argued that combined-age norms may be most appropriate for depicting the personality scores of individuals, but the utility for some purposes of within-age group scores is also acknowledged.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Development*
  • Personality Inventory*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sex Factors