Personality is relatively stable, not fixed. Longitudinal research shows both stability and change across the lifespan, and intervention studies suggest that some trait changes can be intentionally supported. Lasting change is usually gradual, modest and easier to describe at the trait or facet level than as becoming a completely different person.
Can personality change? Yes, but the interesting part is what kind of change you mean. Acting differently in one situation is not necessarily a personality change. A lasting shift means your typical pattern of thoughts, feelings or behavior has moved enough to show up repeatedly over time.
The research picture is more gradual than either extreme. Personality usually shows meaningful continuity across time while still allowing change after childhood.
Personality can be stable and changeable at the same time
Personality researchers separate at least two ideas. Rank-order stability asks whether people keep roughly the same relative position compared with others. Mean-level change asks whether the average level of a trait shifts with age or over time.
A major 2022 meta-analysis of longitudinal studies found evidence for both. Personality became more rank-order stable through early life and reached a plateau by young adulthood, while average trait levels still showed changes across the lifespan.
This is why two statements can both be true: a conscientious person is likely to remain more conscientious than many peers, and that same person's absolute conscientiousness can still rise or fall over the years.
How much can personality change?
Usually, broad traits change gradually rather than completely reversing. A 2024 Nature Reviews Psychology review describes personality as relatively stable but malleable, with change most often occurring over longer timescales and typically being modest in size.
Change can also be uneven. You might become more organized without becoming more achievement-driven in every area of life. That is one reason facet-level changes can be more informative than saying an entire personality domain moved.
Can you intentionally change your personality?
There is growing evidence that intentional change is possible. A 2024 systematic review of volitional personality change research found that interventions aimed at helping people move toward desired traits produced small average changes, with some evidence that changes persisted at follow-up. The authors also emphasized that the evidence base is still developing.
Earlier intervention research also found personality-trait measures changed during psychological interventions. That does not mean you can order a new personality on demand. It means repeated behavior, goals, environments and treatment can sometimes shift the patterns that broader trait scores summarize.
What actually drives personality change?
Researchers study several pathways: changes in daily behavior, major roles and life experiences, relationships, health, reinforcement from the environment and deliberate practice. The 2024 process review groups change mechanisms around conditions that make change possible, triggers that start it, reinforcement that keeps new behavior going and integration that makes the pattern more enduring.
From a practical perspective, this suggests a better goal than "become a different person." Choose a concrete pattern you want to change, such as planning tomorrow's work before bed, initiating one conversation a day, or pausing before reacting under stress. Traits are broad summaries of many repeated behaviors.
How to tell whether a change is actually sticking
A different test score is only one piece of evidence. Look for change in repeated behavior across settings, especially after the initial burst of motivation has faded.
- Behavior: Are you doing the new behavior more often without needing a special push each time?
- Context: Does the change appear in more than one setting, such as both work and close relationships?
- Time: Is the pattern still present after weeks or months rather than one unusually focused period?
Feedback from people who know you well can add useful context, although other people’s impressions are not a perfect measurement either.
What if your personality type changed on a test?
A different test result does not prove that your underlying personality transformed. Scores can move because of real change, measurement error, mood, context, item interpretation or because you were near a cutoff between categories.
This is especially important with type-based results. A small score shift can move someone from one category to another even when the underlying change is modest. Continuous trait scores make that gradual movement easier to see.
Track traits instead of chasing a fixed label
A Big Five profile can help you describe broad tendencies on continua. If you retake it later, compare patterns carefully instead of treating every score difference as a major personality transformation.
What a realistic personality-change goal looks like
- Target a behavior or facet rather than trying to replace your whole identity.
- Repeat the new behavior across weeks and settings.
- Use feedback from real life, not only repeated online tests.
- Expect setbacks and context effects.
- If the goal is tied to significant distress or mental-health symptoms, consider professional help rather than treating a personality score as the problem.
First separate a trait change from a temporary state
Feeling less social during grief, more anxious during a crisis or more organized during an intense project does not necessarily mean the underlying personality trait has permanently changed. A trait change is more convincing when the pattern persists across time and more than one context.
| Observation | Possible interpretation |
|---|---|
| You are quiet only during a stressful month | Temporary state or context effect |
| You have practiced planning for a year and now use it across work and home | Stable behavior change that may align with trait change |
| A test score moves after one retest | Could reflect measurement variability as well as real change |
Aim at repeated behavior rather than a personality label
If you want to become more conscientious, define the behaviors that would represent it: arriving on time, planning tomorrow, completing tasks before deadlines. If you want to become more extraverted, define the social behaviors that matter. Repeated behavior gives you something observable to practice and evaluate.
For change associated with the lifespan rather than deliberate practice, see does personality change with age?.
Questions people ask next
Frequently asked questions
Can your personality really change?
Yes. Research shows meaningful personality stability and meaningful change. Broad traits usually shift gradually, and people differ in how much they change.
Can personality change after age 30?
Yes. The idea that personality becomes completely fixed at 30 is too strong. Longitudinal studies find stability in adulthood, but also continuing mean-level and individual changes later in life.
Can an introvert become an extrovert?
Extraversion can change, but a complete reversal is not required for meaningful change. Someone may become more socially assertive or energetic while still remaining less extraverted than many other people.
How long does personality change take?
There is no single timeline. Lasting trait change is usually measured over months or years, although some intervention studies detect smaller changes over shorter periods.
Does getting a different personality-test result mean I changed?
Not necessarily. Real change is one possibility, but measurement error, context, mood and category cutoffs can also change a result. Look for repeated behavioral change over time.
References
- Bleidorn, W., Schwaba, T., Zheng, A., Hopwood, C. J., Sosa, S. S., Roberts, B. W., & Briley, D. A. (2022). Personality stability and change: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 148(7-8), 588-619. Source
- Jackson, J. J., & Wright, A. J. (2024). The process and mechanisms of personality change. Nature Reviews Psychology, 3, 305-318. Source
- Haehner, P., Wright, A. J., & Bleidorn, W. (2024). A systematic review of volitional personality change research. Communications Psychology. Source
- Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 117-141. Source