The idea that people’s personality traits do not change noticeably throughout life is widespread. Following this premise we would assume that our personality traits will remain stable despite the social and biological changes experienced over the years.
This idea about the fact that there is a stability of personality traits, being a fairly universal aspect, allows people to have a certain security when predicting their own behaviors and those of those around us, in addition to serving as a It helps when making long-term plans (e.g., studying a career considering that it will always be our vocation).
In this article we will talk To what extent is the idea of stability in personality traits true? or, on the contrary, how they change throughout life, based on various studies that have been carried out in this regard.
In the field of personality study, within psychology, there have been numerous debates regarding whether there are changes or stability in personality traits over the years.
While personality psychology scholars place greater emphasis on the study of characteristics that remain stable in people throughout their lives, clinical psychology has emphasized people’s changes during the therapeutic process
Both perspectives could be considered equally valid, since in each of the areas the objectives are different and, furthermore, their study center are two sides of the same coin that have allowed people to adapt to certain circumstances. That is Change helps an individual adapt to the environment, while stability helps an individual establish relationships with others make predictions and recognize yourself.
Changes and stability of personality traits throughout the life cycle
Given the importance of both factors, the change and stability of personality traits, we will now go in greater detail about what each one consists of.
There are 3 factors, between different levels, that determine the possible changes in personality traits throughout the life cycle.
Level 1 would be that of dispositional traits which are those personality traits that maintain a certain stability over the years and also have a cross-situational consistency, that is, in different situations, this being the most stable level of personality.
Level 2 would be that of personal interests or concerns, a level with considerably more changes than level 1, being related to the individual desires or motivations of each person, so it could be a level of personality that provides more information about a person.
Level 3 is the history of life ; It is related to the true identity of a person and it is at this level that phenomenological personality changes occur, which are really difficult to observe. This level, related to life history, integrates a person’s own existence so that they are able to answer who they are and where their own life is directed, which allows each person to organize their own biography.
If level 2 referred to what an individual does, Level 3 goes further, explaining where that person is going and who they want to become , being a fundamental characteristic of its own identity. His life story, included in level 3, brings together elements such as ideologies, important episodes in his life that have marked him, life aspirations and also the legacy that he could leave at the end of his life to later generations.
As we can see from those 3 factors, Changes in personality traits usually only occur in certain aspects these being those that are associated with interests, needs or goals and objectives that appear in the different stages of people’s lives, so we could say that, according to this perspective, no substantial changes in traits occur. of personality throughout the life cycle, there being also certain personality traits that are more susceptible to change than other traits that remain more stable.
On the other hand, There are perspectives in this regard that determine that the changes would be determined by some stable personality dispositions They also affirm that the context in which an individual’s life unfolds and some circumstances that have been triggered in the environment in which he lives, which have determined these changes, could be determined in advance by the tendencies of one’s own personality to move in those environments.
2. Stability of personality traits throughout the life cycle
The stability of personality traits throughout the life cycle has had very notable empirical support through numerous studies.
According to James, A person’s personality traits reach fairly established stability around the age of 30 while for other authors who have dedicated themselves to the study of personality, the traits continue in the process of stabilization for a longer period of time and do not reach their peak of stability until 50 years of age.
In any case, most agree that there is a high degree of stability of personality traits throughout the life cycle.
According to the studies carried out based on the “big five model of personality”, it has been found that There is a certain degree of decline in the traits of extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience as we age while the other major personality traits, responsibility and kindness, increase with age, although there are no very significant changes after the age of 30, which would reinforce James’ initial theory.
In short, various studies have found that approximately 75% of the variance of the 5 big personality factors maintain stability throughout life, so only 25% or what is the same, a quarter part, it is open to change, something that is quite significant, despite the fact that there is a greater proportion in terms of the degree of stability of personality traits.
On the other hand, these studies have found that The stability of personality traits is generally related to genetic or hereditary factors without taking into account the experience of that person throughout life, that is, the context or the environment, so this idea seems somewhat limited, and the changes in traits can undergo changes depending on the context of each one, since each factor is composed of a large number of traits that can vary over time, even though the global value of the factor remains stable.
3. Model that integrates the aspects of change and stability of personality traits
In 1994, McAdams developed a model that integrated the change and stability of human personality traits taking into account the 3 levels of organization mentioned in the changes section (dispositional traits, personal interests and life history), which act in parallel in terms of the functions and structure of the personality, there being a space in each one of the levels for change and stability of personality traits.
To these 3 factors or initial levels, for this new integrative model, they added two more factors that influence the changes and stability of personality: the role of evolution and cultural aspects.
The role of evolution refers to the fact that the variations in the personality of each person are influenced by an evolutionary design, so that all humans, although unique, follow patterns of change common to all other people.
The differential role of culture refers to the influence on the life experiences of each person depending on the cultural context in which their life develops, having a greater impact on their process of adaptation to the environment than on personality traits directly, so that we could say that culture exerts its influence on people’s life stories, therefore which has an impact on the psychosocial part of people’s identity, having common aspects with other individuals belonging to the same culture.
