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A Change is Gonna Come: Universality, Stability, and Shocks in Personality Traits in Rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Arnaud Natal

    (IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry - MEAE - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, BSE - Bordeaux Sciences Economiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UB - Université de Bordeaux)

  • Christophe Jalil Nordman

    (IFP - Institut Français de Pondichéry - MEAE - Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LEDA-DIAL - Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation - LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, French National Institute of Research for Sustainable Development)

Abstract

Taking the case of rural South India, we explore the universality of the Big Five personality traits and their stability over time. We then investigate the effects of two exogenous shocks on trait stability: the demonetisation of November 2016 and the second COVID-19 lockdown. We use an original longitudinal dataset collected in 2016–2017 and 2020–2021. After correcting the data for acquiescence bias and performing factor analysis, we find that three personality traits emerge: emotional stability, plasticity, and conscientiousness. We find no evidence of temporal stability. Results from the covariate-balancing propensity score weighting model shows that the demonetisation impacts plasticity and conscientiousness, with exposed individuals scoring notably higher. The second COVID-19 lockdown exerts a negative impact on emotional stability.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnaud Natal & Christophe Jalil Nordman, 2025. "A Change is Gonna Come: Universality, Stability, and Shocks in Personality Traits in Rural India," Post-Print hal-05387263, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05387263
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2025.2577312
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05387263v1
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