The most important changes in personality dimensions
seem to take place under the age of 30. Nevertheless, the
influence of work status has not been systematically assessed in
the examination of when these big changes happen. Besides,
gender differences in some personality dimensions are still not
conclusive. The aim of this study was to examine the age
differences in personality dimensions when work status (students
vs. workers) for young adults is taken into account, as well as
to examine possible gender differences in the Basque speakers'
population. Participants were 1,441 Basque speakers (students and
civil servants) whose ages ranged from 16 to 65 years. Results
showed that younger students had higher scores in Extraversion,
regardless of the work status. However, the work status variable
was more important than the age effect to explain changes in
Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Besides, women showed
higher scores for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness, although
there were not gender differences for other dimensions.