Everyone is different. Some people love adventure and exploring, while others couldn’t be happier sitting on the couch reading a book with a mint tea. This is because we all have different personalities.
The term “personality” is a vague one, as scientists describe it as “a dynamic process, where individual behavior traits get constructed and deconstructed”1. This last part covers an ongoing and ever-changing process, which can be influenced by experiences. Although personality is complex and unique for everyone, we humans like to understand and to categorize. Therefore we developed theories of personality. Before we further dive into this, it is important to note that there are of course differences on an individual, cultural, and gender level, but we will just give a general overview of personality development.
We'll start with the Trait Theory, where psychologists are interested in measuring, you've guessed it, traits. Traits are defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thoughts, and emotions. They are seen as fundamental aspects of personality and seem to be stable and consistent over time. This is in contrast with states, which are more temporary and lean more towards emotions. The Trait theory is the ancestor of the infamous Big Five 2-5, consisting of the 5 personality traits that many psychologists believe in, and which forms the base of the famous Myers-Briggs Personality Type test. These 5 traits are Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness. Extraversion is the tendency to enjoy external activities and social situations, as this energizes the extravert. Neuroticism entails strong (negative) emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression, as is sometimes referred to as emotional instability. Neurotic people tend to have a low tolerance for stress and they dislike changes. Conscientiousness relates to self-discipline and high-achieving, as well as being able to control and regulate your impulses. Highly conscientious people appear to be more focused and stubborn, while low conscientiousness is related to flexibility and unreliableness. Agreeableness describes the need for social harmony and getting along with others. Kindness, generosity, trust, and compromise are major characteristics here. Finally, openness describes the open-mindedness towards art, emotions, adventures, creativity, and wanting to experience new things.
Although personality is thought to be something stable, studies show that personality can change with age or in response to life events.6 For example, people tend to become more agreeable with older age.7 This means you won’t wake up with a different personality overnight and lose sense of who you are. But if you’re not entirely satisfied with your current traits, you can take comfort in knowing they might not be permanent and can change over time.
Authors: Pauline van Gils & Lotte Smit
