Life goal development, educational attainment, and occupational outcomes: A 12-year, multisample longitudinal study.

Life goals play a major role in shaping people's lives and careers. Although life goals have prior documented associations with occupational and other life outcomes, no prior studies have investigated associations between life goal and occupational outcomes. Using two representative samples of Icelandic youth (Sample 1: = 485, Sample 2: = 1,339), followed across 12 years from adolescence to young adulthood, we examined life goal development and associations with educational attainment and a wide range of occupational outcomes.

Sixteen going on sixty-six: A longitudinal study of personality stability and change across 50 years.

How much do people's personalities change or remain stable from high school to retirement? To address these questions, we used a large U.S. sample ( = 1,795) that assessed people's personality traits in adolescence and 50 years later.