It is commonly believed that by adulthood, personality is already formed and changes very little afterward. A study of nearly 167,000 people shows the opposite: personality continues to change noticeably throughout life.
Scientists examined eight long-term studies from the United States, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands and tracked five major personality traits. With age, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to new experience generally declined, while conscientiousness increased. Neuroticism is a tendency toward anxiety, tension, and emotional swings. Its decline means that, on average, people become less prone to such reactions as they get older.
These changes happen gradually, which is why we rarely notice them in everyday life. Moreover, people tend to believe their personality is far more stable than it actually is. The study shows that character remains flexible in adulthood, and the familiar version of yourself does not have to be the only one.
