An output characteristic control device for an internal combustion engine includes a road traffic environment detection unit configured to detect a road traffic environment in which an own vehicle is running, a recommended vehicle speed calculation unit configured to calculate a recommended vehicle speed of the own vehicle in the detected road traffic environment, a target output characteristic setting unit configured to set a target output characteristic of the internal combustion engine so that an output of the internal combustion engine corresponding to an accelerator operation amount is reduced as a vehicle speed difference between the recommended vehicle speed and an own-vehicle speed decreases, and an output characteristic changing unit configured to change the output characteristic of the internal combustion engine to the target output characteristic.