Personality Trait Stability and Change

Authors

  • Wiebke Bleidorn
    Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
  • Christopher J. Hopwood
    Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA
  • Mitja D. Back
    Department of Psychology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
  • Jaap J. A. Denissen
    Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
  • Marie Hennecke
    Department of Psychology, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany
  • Patrick L. Hill
    Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
  • Markus Jokela
    Department of Psychology and Logopedics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
  • Christian Kandler
    Department of Psychology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
  • Richard E. Lucas
    Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
  • Maike Luhmann
    Department of Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
  • Ulrich Orth
    Department of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
  • Brent W. Roberts
    Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA
  • Jenny Wagner
    Department of Psychology, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
  • Cornelia Wrzus
    Department of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
  • Johannes Zimmermann
    Department of Psychology, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany

Abstract

Personality traits continue to change throughout the lifespan. However, we still know little about when, why, and how personality traits change. In this paper, we review the current state of scientific evidence regarding the nature, sources, and processes of personality trait stability and change. We revisit past disputes over the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences, discuss studies on life events and personality trait development, and summarize theory and research on personality change processes. In doing so, we derive general principles of personality trait development, highlight limitations of past research, and present the broad outlines for future research on personality trait development, with a particular emphasis on relevant methodological issues and conceptual challenges.