Long‑term Study Finds Personality Traits, Especially Conscientiousness, Shift More Than Expected

A new analysis of eight large longitudinal studies covering 166,971 participants in the United States, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands shows that personality is far less stable across the lifespan than previously believed. Researchers compared public expectations about changes in the Big Five traits—extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness—with actual data and found that many traits, notably conscientiousness, change as much as or more than income, health or self‑esteem.

Conscientiousness, the trait linked to diligence and responsibility, ranked as the fifth most changeable characteristic and was identified as the most variable factor related to financial behavior. The findings, published in the journal *Communications Psychology*, challenge the long‑standing view that personality solidifies after adolescence and suggest that shifts in personality may have direct implications for saving and wealth accumulation.