030514 - Personality Keeps Changing with Age, Study Finds

By Linda Carroll 
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In contrast to the theory that an adult's personality is set in stone by age 30, a new study suggests personality does change throughout life -- and often for the better. 
		
Researchers who surveyed more than 130,000 adults ages 21 to 60 found that men and women tend to become more agreeable and more conscientious with age.  In fact, agreeableness -- a person's warmth, generosity and helpfulness -- showed the biggest improvement after age 30, according to findings published in the May issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (news - web sites). 
Many scientists believe that personality is simply an inherited trait that remains the same regardless of environmental effects, the study's lead author, Sanjay Srivastava of Stanford University in California, said in an interview with Reuters Health. 
But "we find gradual but meaningful changes, on average," Srivastava said. "And the average trends tended to be improvements. People are getting better at things as they age. They're not becoming grumpy old men." 
The survey was conducted on the Internet, Srivastava noted, and participants were volunteers. "People could come to the Web site and fill it out," he explained. "In exchange they got feedback in the form of a score and a description of what it meant." 
When the researchers looked at the participants' scores for agreeableness, they found that people became increasingly warm and nurturing in their 20s, 30s and beyond. The greatest improvement in conscientiousness scores was seen among people in their 20s. 
 Among young adults, women tended to be more neurotic and more outgoing than men, but the difference diminished with age. Neurotic individuals are more prone to worrying and anxiety. 
Although the slight differences between the sexes appear to fall in line with sexual stereotypes, Srivastava said he doesn't think people should read too much into the findings. 
"The variation in personality among women is much bigger than the variation between men and women," he said. 
Another trait measured -- openness -- appeared to decline slightly with age for both men and women. 
Because the study was based on a survey done at one point in time and the researchers did not follow the same group of people over several decades, they can't be sure that the results do not reflect differences among the generations, Srivastava acknowledged. Still, he said, "our findings are consistent with other studies that ruled out generational differences." 
SOURCE: Journal of Personality and Social Psychiatry 2003;84:1041-1053
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