Personality is defined as the combination of an individual’s personal experiences, both conscious and subconscious mannerisms that form his or her unique behavioural characteristics. (Kernberg, 2016). There are three major divergent theories that cover the spectrum of perspectives on personality. Freud (1923) asserted that one’s personality is not subject to change after the age of 5, at the conclusion of the Phallic stage of development. Later, McCrae and Costa (1994) presented the theory that personality only evolves to a certain extent and then remains stagnant, “set in plaster”. While Erikson (1950) proposed that humans undergo a psychological crisis at all ages, which subjects their personality to change even in later stages of life. In
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Their five-factor theory examines the five comprehensive dimensions used by psychologists to measure personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. A study conducted by McCrae et al. (1999), which measured personality in persons of ages 18 to 83 in Germany, Italy, Croatia and Korea demonstrated that all five factors have a consistent mean-level of change across the age spectrum. Older participants gained higher scores on conscientiousness and agreeableness, whilst their results on extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience were lower. An equivalent pattern appeared in a second cross-sectional, cross-cultural study based on samples drawn from the populations of Germany, the UK, Spain, the Czech Republic and Turkey (McCrae et al., 2000). More recently Srivastava, John, Gosling, & Potter (2003) conducted an online study comprised of participants from the USA and Canada, ranging in age from 21 to 60. This study has found similar results that support McCrae & Costa’s findings: older individuals scored higher than younger adults on conscientiousness and agreeableness, but lower on openness to experience and neuroticism. In this particular study, no consistent changes in extraversion were detected across this particular age range. Nevertheless, the regularities across these cross-sectional studies with multi-national sampling are compelling, suggesting that personality the five major personality traits become stagnant around the age of
Their five-factor theory examines the five comprehensive dimensions used by psychologists to measure personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. A study conducted by McCrae et al. (1999), which measured personality in persons of ages 18 to 83 in Germany, Italy, Croatia and Korea demonstrated that all five factors have a consistent mean-level of change across the age spectrum. Older participants gained higher scores on conscientiousness and agreeableness, whilst their results on extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience were lower. An equivalent pattern appeared in a second cross-sectional, cross-cultural study based on samples drawn from the populations of Germany, the UK, Spain, the Czech Republic and Turkey (McCrae et al., 2000). More recently Srivastava, John, Gosling, & Potter (2003) conducted an online study comprised of participants from the USA and Canada, ranging in age from 21 to 60. This study has found similar results that support McCrae & Costa’s findings: older individuals scored higher than younger adults on conscientiousness and agreeableness, but lower on openness to experience and neuroticism. In this particular study, no consistent changes in extraversion were detected across this particular age range. Nevertheless, the regularities across these cross-sectional studies with multi-national sampling are compelling, suggesting that personality the five major personality traits become stagnant around the age of