Personality, Ageing, and the Midlife Low: Longitudinal Evidence from Australia, Germany, and the UK

Alan Piper, Min Zou and Ying Zhou

No 1236, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: Using long running panel data spanning at least 15 years from Australia, Germany and the UK, this study investigates longitudinal age–wellbeing trajectories by the Big Five personality traits. We estimate within person (fixed effects) models separately for each country and for low/high trait subgroups, producing 30 distinct trajectories. Across all subgroups, we found the same ageing pattern: a decline in wellbeing into midlife, a clear midlife low and a subsequent recovery. However, the shape of this trajectory differs systematically across personality. Individuals high in conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability experience a steeper decline into midlife compared to those lower on these traits. In contrast, highly extraverted individuals show a more gradual early decline and a shallower midlife low, followed by a stronger recovery. These patterns are broadly consistent across the three countries. Openness, by comparison, is only weakly associated with well-being trajectories and exhibits inconsistent, country-specific patterns.

Keywords: ageing; lifespan; personality traits; wellbeing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 p.
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-neu
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1236

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