Time changes everything, even the way we interact with the world
around us. Personality is not set in stone by age 30, but continues to change throughout one's lifetime. Five major
personality traits—conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism,
openness and extraversion—continue to evolve as people age.
Sanjay Srivastava, Ph.D., and Oliver John, Ph.D., psychology
professors at the University in California at Berkeley, have found that
nurture may have a greater impact on personality than once thought. Their
study conflicts with the popular view that personality stops developing
in midlife.
In their twenties, participants developed more discipline and
organization—traits of conscientiousness. When they hit their
thirties, they became more social, helpful and generous—all parts of
agreeableness. Researchers, though, found a gradual decline in openness
as the subjects aged.
They also note that gender is relevant in how personality changes
over time. Women became less neurotic, yet always remained more neurotic
than men. At the same time, women remained more extroverted and outgoing
than men throughout life.
Over 130,000 randomly chosen American and Canadian participants,
ages 21 through 60, were involved in the survey, which was done
online.
