Originally Posted: September 2019
A growing number of studies in psychology are showing that personality is more “changeable” than previously thought. Personality changes as we age; it changes as we learn new things and are exposed to new environments. But which aspects of personality might be easiest to change, and which might be most difficult?
New research appearing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology may hold the answer. A team of researchers led by Nathan Hudson of Southern Methodist University designed an experiment to test which of five core personality traits would change most over the course of a 15-week intervention. Interestingly, they found that the personality trait of “agreeableness” showed the most improvement while the trait “openness to experiences” showed the least improvement.
To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers recruited 377 undergraduates at Michigan State University and the University of Illinois to take part in a semester-long research effort. At the beginning of the semester, participants were asked to fill out the 60-item Big Five Inventory personality test. This test measures five core dimensions of personality, including emotional stability, conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experiences. READ MORE