Self–other personality agreement and internalizing problems in adolescence

OBJECTIVE: Achieving a clear self‐view is a lifelong task that is particularly salient during adolescence. Theory and research suggest that close others’ perceptions of individuals’ personality may influence the formation and maintenance of coherent self‐views. The degree to which adolescents develop a stable and coherent self‐view, in turn, may have perennial influences on their mental health and well‐being. This 1‐year longitudinal study investigated the associations between the agreement of self‐ and other‐rated Big Five personality traits and internalizing problems in adolescence. METHOD: Participants were 570 Dutch adolescents (51% girls), their mothers, friends, and siblings. We examined the cross‐sectional and longitudinal associations between self–other personality agreement and internalizing problems using polynomial regression analyses and response surface analyses. RESULTS: Results indicated strong main effects of self‐ and other‐rated personality traits on internalizing problems but provided little evidence for longitudinal associations between self–other personality agreement and internalizing problems. CONCLUSION: Our results cast doubt on the generalizability of the beneficial effects of self–other agreement documented in the adult literature to adolescents but highlight the importance of self‐ and other‐rated personality in youth's mental health development. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications and recommendations for future investigations of self–other agreement.