McCrae et al. (1999) find similar associations between age and personality over samples from five different countries. They interpret their data as evidence of….

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The question presents a finding from McCrae et al. (1999) about similar associations between age and personality across five countries, and asks how they interpret their data.

First, consider what it means when associations between age and personality are similar across diverse countries: this pattern points toward effects that are not limited to a single culture or environment. That typically suggests more universal rather than culture-specific processes.

If one option posits universal maturation processes that are consistent across populations, that aligns with the observed cross-national similarity. Such a view would interpret the data as evidence that maturation follows a largely common, perhaps genetically influenced, trajectory that manifests similarly regardless of cultural context.

A hypothetical alternative emphasizing only cultural or environmental factors would expect stronger differences across countries with different norms, education systems, or life experiences; the observed similarity would be harder to reconcile with a purely environmental explanation.

Another potential distractor might claim that age–personality associations are idiosyncratic or random across countries. The replication across five samples makes such randomness unlikely and reduces the plausibility of idiosyncratic explanations.

If an option suggested that there is no stable effect of age on personality, the cross-country consistency would directly contradict that claim, given the clear patterns reported.

In sum, the interpretation that best accounts for similar age-personality associations across diverse samples is that there are universal maturation factors at work, possibly with genetic underpinnings, that transcend cultural differences. This aligns with a view of maturation that operates across populations rather than being solely shaped by locale-specific experiences.

PSYC20009_2025_SM2 Lecture 4 Quiz

McCrae et al. (1999) find similar associations between age and personality over samples from five different countries. They interpret their data as evidence of….

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