Abstract
This study explored the effects of age and gender on the mean levels of Big Five personality traits in Japanese adulthood. The data for the present study were drawn from a large cross-sectional study. The participants were 4,588 adults (2,476 women, M age＝53.5 years, SD age＝12.9, age range: 23–79 years), and the analyzed measure was a Japanese version of the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI-J; Oshio, Abe, & Cutrone, 2012). Multiple regression analyses were carried out to determine the effects of age, gender, and the interaction between the two on each Big Five scale. Age differences were found suggesting that agreeableness and conscientiousness are positively associated with age. Gender differences were also found suggesting that females have higher levels of extraversion, while males are more open to experience. An Age×Sex effect was confirmed only on neuroticism, indicating that younger females' level of neuroticism is significantly higher than males, but older females' level is lower and is at the same level as males.
