Can your personality change?

Stable, but not set in stone

If you compare a group of people's personality scores this year with their scores a few years later, the order stays fairly similar: the most outgoing person in the group is still likely to be among the most outgoing. That is what researchers mean when they say personality is stable. But stable is not the same as fixed. The average level of traits moves over a lifetime, and individuals can move more than the average.

The “maturity” pattern

Large studies that followed people for years, and reviews that combined many such studies, point to a common pattern across adulthood:

• Conscientiousness rises, especially in the twenties and thirties as people take on jobs, homes and families.
• Agreeableness rises gradually, often into later life.
• Emotional stability rises: on average, people worry less and recover faster as they get older.
• Openness and parts of extraversion tend to peak in young adulthood and dip slightly later.

Psychologists sometimes call this the maturity principle. Most people become a bit more organised, kinder and calmer with age, which is good news for anyone who was a chaotic twenty-year-old.

What drives change

Roles and responsibilities

A first serious job, a long-term relationship or becoming a parent puts new demands on you. When you behave in a more organised way every day for years, it gradually becomes part of who you are. The role shapes the person.

Big life events

Moving abroad, losing a job, recovering from illness or ending a relationship can all leave a mark. The direction depends on how the event unfolds and the support you have. Difficult experiences do not always make people more anxious; some come out steadier.

Deliberate effort

Several studies have asked people which trait they want to change and then followed them for weeks or months. Those who set concrete, small behavioural goals, such as “start one conversation with a coworker every day” rather than “be more outgoing”, tended to change more. Wanting to change was not enough on its own; doing the behaviour was what counted.

How to nudge a trait on purpose

1. Pick one trait and one direction. Trying to change everything at once rarely works.
2. Translate it into a behaviour you can do this week. For conscientiousness: write tomorrow's top three tasks before bed. For emotional stability: take a five-minute walk before replying to an upsetting message.
3. Attach it to an existing habit, like your morning coffee or your commute.
4. Track it for a month. Small, repeated actions are what move a trait.
5. Retake a test after a few months and compare the scores.

Should you want to change?

Every trait level comes with benefits. Lower conscientiousness often goes with flexibility; lower agreeableness with honesty and independence. Change is worth pursuing when a trait is getting in the way of something you care about, such as a relationship or your health, not because one end of a scale is “better”.

Track your own story

Your TraitMix results are saved in your browser, so you can take the Big Five test again in six months and see what moved. The core values test is worth repeating too, since values often shift around big life events.

Frequently asked questions