Personality traits and social indicators in Japan: A time-series analysis

Abstract

A previous study revealed curvilinear changes over time in 12 traits of the Yatabe-Guilford Personality Inventory in Japan (Oshio et al., 2019). The purpose of the present study was to examine relationships between the survey- year change of the inventory and social indices. A cross-temporal meta-analysis was conducted on 171 to 181 samples (68 to 74 papers) of Japanese undergraduates who completed the inventory from 1957 to 2012 (total N = 29,524-29,847). The dataset was partially identical to the previous study. Partial correlation with previous control scores of personality traits indicated that mean scores for seven personality traits are associated with changes in social indices. Results of time series analyses indicated that the change of social indices has significant associations with the following mean score changes of personality traits. Implications of the results are discussed.