Do Your Big Five Traits Change Over Your Lifetime?

Many of us believe our personality is set in stone by the time we reach adulthood. However, research shows your Big Five personality traits can and do change over time. Sometimes, these changes happen naturally as we get older. Other times, it’s life events that cause a subtle shift in our personality, and these developments can make us better or worse people depending on how we define those terms and what path we take.

If you’ve already passed some of life’s big milestones, like graduation, a first job, marriage or childbirth, you know they can change the course of your life. But do they have a significant effect on your personality? Read on to find out.

What are the Big Five Personality Traits?

According to the Big Five theory of personality, we each possess varying degrees of five traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Each of these traits represent a range of behavior, rather than a fixed definition. For example, most people’s personality lies somewhere between extreme Extraversion and extreme Introversion, rather than one or the other:

• Extraversion: Someone who scores high on Extraversion is characterized by high energy, talkativeness, assertiveness and the tendency to enjoy socializing. People who score low on Extraversion prefer solitude or small groups and enjoy quiet activities.
• Agreeableness: Agreeableness is the tendency to be friendly and compassionate rather than cold and unkind to others. People who score high on this also tend to be trusting, helpful and generally cooperative and good tempered.
• Open to Experience: Someone who is Open to Experience is curious, creative and appreciates art, ideas, emotions and a variety of experiences. These people tend to be imaginative and independent and dislike a routine.
• Conscientiousness: Conscientious people are self-disciplined, organized, hard working and dependable. They put care and attention into everything they do as they prefer to plan activities and follow through with diligence. People who score low on this trait take a more relaxed approach, may be more disorganized and enjoy spontaneity.
• Neuroticism: A person who scores high on Neuroticism is characterized by experiencing negative emotions such as anger, anxiety or depression. They tend to be emotionally unstable, worrying about and overthinking everyday scenarios. Individuals who score low on neuroticism are more calm and even-tempered.

The Big Five system is the most scientifically validated personality system, and researchers use it to study personality traits across various cultures, systems, scenarios and  backgrounds. The Big Five traits can also predict a range of important outcomes in life, including educational achievement, income, psychological well-being and physical health.

Not sure of your Big Five breakdown? You can take the Big Five personality test here to find out how you score.

Do The Big Five Traits Change Over Time?

Our Big Five personality traits remain relatively stable over time, so if you score high on Extraversion in your twenties, chances are you will still be an Extraverted individual in your forties. 

However, this does not mean that our personalities do not change at all throughout our lives. In fact, studies have shown that some of our Big Five traits increase or decrease slightly as we get older, regardless of education level or gender. For example:

• Our Conscientiousness tends to increase as we move into middle age, likely a result of us becoming better at managing relationships and careers as we get older, or perhaps learning the hard way that diligence and reliability are needed to keep up with life's demands.
• Agreeableness also increases with age. This is probably due to social role maturation, where we take on roles (e.g., parenting, caregiving or professional leadership) that require cooperation, empathy and conflict resolution. Studies show that Agreeableness rises most sharply in our 30s and continues to rise until our 60s, coinciding with family formation and stability in our careers.
• Extraversion and Openness generally decrease as we move past middle age as social demands shift and we become more comfortable in our own skin.
• Neuroticism also declines as we get older, although this trend may reverse in much later life. While young women tend to score higher in Neuroticism than men of a similar age, this gap narrows with age as men and women converge in emotional stability.

Getting older doesn’t mean that you’re going to change. Most of us will remain the same person we’ve always been. We simply get better at dealing with other people and tend to relax and become more amenable and easy going. Those subtle shifts are reflected in our personality scores.

Do Life Events Affect Your Personality?

We are all affected by the changes in our lives, both large and small. Whether it’s a marriage, a new job or moving to a new city, these events can have an impact on the way we relate to the world. 

Most people assume that major life events have the greatest impact on us, and underestimate the effect of everyday issues like getting sick or visiting friends. But so far, studies have  identified two major life events that have a significant effect on our Big Five traits – your first love and leaving school to start work. A majority of life events, including some of the most seemingly impactful events like marriage, divorce, childbirth and retirement, do not materially change personality traits. 

The picture is far from clear, however. Research also suggests that preparing for major life events, such as starting college, getting married or having a baby can bring about personality changes as people begin to psychologically invest in their new role.

Interestingly, it’s the little things that happen every day, and repeat themselves over a lifetime, that seem to have the biggest effect on our personality. For example, maybe your partner buys you flowers after an argument or you always cook a special dinner on a Sunday. These seemingly small events in life add up over time and can have a bigger impact on our Agreeableness, Neuroticism or other traits than marriage, divorce or the birth of a baby.

How much any event affects your personality can also depend on what it means to you. If you’ve been looking forward to retirement, for example, your last working day will be less stressful than if you’ve been wondering what you’re going to do with your time. The way you interpret an event can be more important than the event itself.

Final Thoughts

It may be the little things that matter most when it comes to personal, and personality, development. We might take them for granted, but small events like regular visits from a neighbour, weekly family dinners and coffee with friends can make more of an impact on you than the single life-changing events like marriage and divorce.

Regular experiences with traditions, rituals, habits and social customs can help to boost our spirits, develop our social skills and feel good about ourselves and even help to mitigate the effects of more stressful life events that can lead to Neuroticism. The way you look at events in life and how you feel about the changes that happen also affect the development of your personality, well into your senior years.

As you navigate the twists and turns of your life’s journey, remember that you can continue to grow, no matter what comes along.