Between adolescence and adulthood we go through many changes that change our lives completely. From the decisions we make at work to our family or romantic relationships. It is often said that we evolve as people and, little by little, we find our place in the world. However, what happens to our personality as we age?
What is personality?
Personality is the pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviors or of a person. Some believe that the personality is fixed and that, therefore, it cannot vary over the years. However, according to psychologists, the personality is always in continuous development, although the changes are not usually noticed in the short term since it remains stable in short periods of time.
As a study published in the journal Psychological Bulletin concludes, each person is born with a unique character or temperament. So, if a child is calm, shy or outgoing, when he grows up this trait will correspond to his adult personality. Likewise, the researchers concluded that the individual levels of each personality trait remain stable within each decade of life.
Another study published in the journal Child Development looked at the personality of children ranging in age from three to 18 years. The scientists concluded that children who were more shy or introverted tended to become more unhappy adolescents. However, they also found that personality changes in subtle ways over the years. It is not usually noticeable in five or ten years, but in the long term these changes are more noticeable.
Maturity principle
In short, analyzing different investigations within the field of psychology, it could be said that our personality improves over the years. Psychologists call this phenomenon ‘the beginning of maturity’ as people become more outgoing, personable, and emotionally stable. In addition, in the long term these changes are usually pronounced.
Some people may change less than others, but in general the principle of maturity applies to all people. This makes the personality change more difficult to recognize in ourselves, since the people around us (friends, family or colleagues) are changing at the same time as us.
