Life‐styles in personality development

Abstract

The concept of life‐style was introduced as an integrative concept for the individual's personality characteristics, life attitudes, and everyday activities. Antisocial (AL) and socially adaptable (SAL) life‐styles were analysed based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal data. The original sample consisted of 196 boys and 173 girls aged 8 years; 87 percent of them were followed up to the age of 26. Male life‐styles defined at age 26 by illicit behaviour and career orientation were compared and their developmental prerequisites at ages 8 and 14 were examined. The results showed that (1) dispositional, cognitive, and behavioural approaches to personality could be linked for the analysis of individual life‐styles; (2) individuals with AL compared with SAL were higher in neuroticism, more pessimistic, and more often problem drinkers and consumers of popular culture; (3) adult life‐styles were predictable on the basis of coping behaviour in childhood; (4) upbringing was related to adult life‐styles; and (5) adult life‐styles were rooted in distinctive patterns of adjustment in childhood and adolescence.