Can One’s Personality Change?

Since the 1960s, there has been a debate among scientists about whether our personality is the cause of our behaviour or the situations we are in determine how we behave. In the past 20 years, however, a lot of research on the topic has determined that personality traits are the main cause of our behaviour.

Our behaviour might change in different situations, but if we observe a person’s behaviour in repeated situations over time, we can predict how he or she will react if a similar situation comes along. Our personality traits are described in 5 categories: extraversion (being outgoing, assertive and energetic versus being quiet and reserved), agreeableness (being compassionate, respectful and trusting versus being uncaring and argumentative), conscientiousness (being orderly, hard-working and responsible versus being disorganised and distractible), negative emotionality (being prone to worry, sadness and mood swings versus being calm and emotionally resilient), and open-mindedness (being intellectually curious, artistic and imaginative versus being disinterested in art, beauty and abstract ideas).

The change in these categories do not happen suddenly; rather, they happen gradually over a long period of time. Research shows that people become more agreeable, conscientious and emotionally resilient as they get older. This may be due to changes in our body and also our choice of life partners. Most people prefer to have more agreeable, conscientious and emotionally resilient partners, so they adjust their lives and behaviour according to the personality traits of their partner.