Individual differences in adolescent and young adult daily mobility patterns and their relationships to big five personality traits: a behavioral genetic analysis.

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Persistent link to this item

Statistics
View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

Individual differences in adolescent and young adult daily mobility patterns and their relationships to big five personality traits: a behavioral genetic analysis.

Published Date

2022-05

Publisher

Type

Thesis or Dissertation

Abstract

Youth behavior changes and their relationships to personality have generally been investigated using self-report studies, which are subject to reporting biases and confounding variables. Supplementing these with objective measures, like GPS location data, and twin-based research designs, which help control for confounding genetic and environmental influences, may allow for more rigorous, causally informative research on adolescent behavior patterns. To investigate this possibility, this study aimed to (1) investigate whether behavior changes during the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood are evident in changing mobility patterns, (2) estimate the influence of adolescent personality on mobility patterns, and (3) estimate genetic and environmental influences on mobility, personality, and the relationship between them. Twins aged Fourteen to twenty-two (N=709, 55% female) provided a baseline personality measure, the Big Five Inventory, and multiple years of smartphone GPS data from June 2016 - December 2019. Mobility, as measured by daily locations visited and distance travelled, was found via mixed effects models to increase during adolescence before declining slightly in emerging adulthood. Mobility was positively associated with Extraversion and Conscientiousness (r of 0.17 ̶ 0.25, r of 0.10 ̶ 0.16) and negatively with Openness (r of -0.11 ̶ -0.13). ACE models found large genetic (A = 0.56 ̶ 0.81) and small-moderate environmental (C of 0.12 ̶ 0.28, E of 0.07 ̶ 0.15) influences on mobility. A and E influences were highly shared across mobility measures (rg = 0.70, re= 0.58). Associations between mobility and personality were partially explained by mutual genetic influences (rg of -0.27 ̶ 0.53). Results show that as autonomy increases during adolescence and emerging adulthood, we see corresponding increases in youth mobility. Furthermore, the heritability of mobility patterns and their relationship to personality demonstrate that mobility patterns are informative, psychologically meaningful behaviors worthy of continued interest in psychology.

Description

University of Minnesota M.A. thesis. 2022. Major: Psychology. Advisors: Scott Vrieze, Robert Krueger. 1 computer file (PDF); 44 pages.

Related to

Replaces

License

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Suggested citation

Alexander, Jordan. (2022). Individual differences in adolescent and young adult daily mobility patterns and their relationships to big five personality traits: a behavioral genetic analysis.. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/250019.

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.