Narratives and traits in personality development among New Zealand Māori, Chinese, and European adolescents

Narrative and trait levels of personality were assessed in a sample of 268 adolescents from age 12 to 21 from New Zealand Māori, Chinese, and European cultures. Adolescents narrated three critical events and completed a Big Five personality inventory. Each narrative was coded for causal and thematic coherence. NZ Chinese adolescents reported lower levels of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness, and higher levels of neuroticism, than NZ Māori or European adolescents. Cultural differences were also evident in narrative coherence. Adolescents in all three groups demonstrated age-related increases in thematic coherence, but only NZ European adolescents demonstrated the expected age-related increases in causal coherence. Narrative identity and traits were distinct aspects of personality for younger adolescents, but were linked for middle and older adolescents. These findings support the importance of both narrative identity and traits in understanding personality development in adolescents across cultures.