MEPX
Chapter 4 of 10All chapters
  1. 1What personality means
  2. 2The five factor model
  3. 3Type tests
  4. 4Stability and change
  5. 5Where it goes wrong
  6. 6Introversion and extraversion
  7. 7The darker traits
  8. 8Measuring personality
  9. 9Culture and context
  10. 10Using it sensibly

Chapter 4 of 10

Stability and change

Slow drift, not fixed.

Across a life

Personality is fairly stable in the short term and changes gradually. Most people become more conscientious and agreeable and less neurotic through adulthood.

  • Major life roles and events shift traits measurably.
  • Deliberate change is possible and slow, requiring repeated behaviour.

Genes and environment

Twin studies put heritability around 40 to 50 percent. That is a statement about variation in a population, not about how fixed any individual is.