The development of the personality trait intellect at the transition from school to vocation

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Intellect is an important personality trait, especially with regards to the prediction and explanation of intellectual performance, such as occupational or academic success. However, much less is known about the development of intellect. The goal of the study outlined in this proposal is to investigate changes in intellect during a critical period: The transition from school to vocation. The planed study will be conducted in cooperation with the provider of a career counseling test, thus providing the opportunity for recruiting a large and heterogeneous sample in a longitudinal design across two years, with the first measuring time before graduation. While former studies have mostly investigated personality development according to the Big Five, the study outlined in this proposal extends our knowledge regarding the development of personality traits on a facet level. Additionally, focusing on one facet allows for specifying and investigating specific hypotheses regarding releasers and moderators of change as well as individual differences in the development across time. Importantly, we are focusing on both, selection and socialization effects with regards to a number of different characteristics, including subjective and objective attributes of the education and profession; attitudes regarding the malleability of personality traits; as well as personality traits beyond intellect, especially including the Big Five and intelligence.