Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Occupational Choice and Self-Employment—Are They Related?

Often, a person will become an entrepreneur only after a period of dependent employment, suggesting that occupational choices precede entrepreneurial choices. We investigate the relationship between occupational choice and self-employment. The findings suggest that the occupational choice of future entrepreneurs at the time of labor market entry is partly guided by a taste for skill variety, the prospect ...

Labour market transitions of youth in Germany and Italy

Who Can Buy Happiness? Personality Traits Moderate the Effects of Stable Income Differences and Income Fluctuations on Life Satisfaction

The present research tested whether the Big Five personality dimensions - extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience - moderate the effects of income on life satisfaction. The authors analyzed data from three large-sample, nationally representative, longitudinal studies: the British Household Panel Survey, the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, and the Household ...

Optimal taxation, social contract and the four worlds of welfare capitalism

Personality development in adulthood and old age

This chapter provides an overview on changes in the Big Five personality traits in young adulthood, middle adulthood, and old age. It includes information on mean-level changes in personality trait levels, rank-order consistencies of individuals on personality traits as well as changes in personality type membership. Findings from meta-analyses, large and national representative panel studies, and ...

Personality development in reaction to major life events

Major life events are abrupt changes in the status of individuals that may impact thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. This chapter provides a review of studies that examined the impact of major life events on the development of the Big Five personality traits. First, theoretical perspectives are introduced on why personality may (or may not) change in reaction to major life events. Second, methodological ...

The Benefits of Believing in Chance or Fate: External Locus of Control as a Protective Factor for Coping with the Death of a Spouse

The death of a spouse is an extremely stressful life event that consequently causes a large drop in life satisfaction. Reactivity to the loss, however, varies markedly, a phenomenon that is currently not well understood. Because lack of controllability essentially contributes to the stressful nature of this incident, we analyzed whether individual differences in the belief in external control influence ...

Stability and Change of Personality Across the Life Course: The Impact of Age and Major Life Events on Mean-Level and Rank-Order Stability of the Big Five

Does personality change across the entire life course, and are those changes due to intrinsic maturation or major life experiences? This longitudinal study investigated changes in the mean levels and rank order of the Big Five personality traits in a heterogeneous sample of 14,718 Germans across all of adulthood. Latent change and latent moderated regression models provided four main findings: First, ...

Everything Under Control? The Effects of Age, Gender, and Education on Trajectories of Perceived Control in a Nationally Representative German Sample

Perceived control is an important variable for various demands involved in successful aging. However, perceived control is not set in stone, but rather changes throughout the life course. The aim of this study was to identify cross-sectional age differences and longitudinal mean-level changes as well as rank-order changes in perceived control with respect to sex and education. Furthermore, changes ...

Examining Mechanisms of Personality Maturation: The Impact of Life Satisfaction on the Development of the Big Five Personality Traits.

Individuals are expected to mature with increasing age, but it is not yet fully understood which factors contribute to this maturation process. Using data of a representative sample of Germans (N = 14,718) who gave information about their Big Five personality traits twice over a period of 4 years, the authors identified satisfaction with life, which was reported yearly, as an important variable for ...