Between adolescence and adulthood， you go through a host of changes—jobs， regrettable haircuts and relationships that come and go. But what about who you are at your core？ As you grow older， does your personality change？

Personality is the pattern of thoughts， feelings and behaviors unique to a person. People tend to think of personality as fixed. But according to psychologists， thats not how it works. “Personality is a developmental phenomenon. Its not just a static thing that youre stuck with and cant get over，” said Brent Roberts， a psychologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Thats not to say that youre a different person each day you wake up. In the short term， change can be nearly imperceptible， Roberts told Live Science. Longitudinal studies， in which researchers survey the personalities of participants regularly over many years， suggest that our personality is actually stable on shorter time scales.

In one study， published in 2000 in the journal Psychological Bulletin， researchers analyzed the results of 152 longitudinal studies on personality， which followed participants ranging in age from childhood to their early 70s. Each of these studies measured trends in the Big Five personality traits. This cluster of traits， which include extroversion， agreeableness， conscientiousness， openness to experience， and neuroticism， are a mainstay of personality research. The researchers found that individuals levels of each personality trait tended to stay consistent within each decade of life.

從青少年到成年，你經(jīng)歷了許多改變——換工作、失敗的發(fā)型和戀情變動(dòng)。但是你本質(zhì)上是一個(gè)什么樣的人呢？隨著年齡增長(zhǎng)，你的個(gè)性會(huì)改變嗎？

個(gè)性是一個(gè)人特有的思維、感覺(jué)和行為模式。人們往往認(rèn)為個(gè)性是固定不變的。但是心理學(xué)家表示并非如此。伊利諾伊大學(xué)厄巴納-尚佩恩分校的心理學(xué)家布倫特·羅伯茨說(shuō)：“個(gè)性是一個(gè)發(fā)展的現(xiàn)象。它不是一個(gè)一成不變、擺脫不了的靜態(tài)事物。”

這不是說(shuō)你每天早上醒來(lái)都是一個(gè)不同的人。羅伯茨在接受生命科學(xué)網(wǎng)站采訪(fǎng)時(shí)說(shuō)，短期來(lái)看，改變幾乎是察覺(jué)不到的。在延續(xù)多年的縱向研究中，研究人員對(duì)參與者的個(gè)性進(jìn)行了定期調(diào)查。結(jié)果顯示，實(shí)際上我們的個(gè)性在較短時(shí)間范圍內(nèi)是穩(wěn)定的。

在一項(xiàng)2000年發(fā)表在《心理學(xué)公報(bào)》期刊上的研究中，研究人員分析了152項(xiàng)對(duì)個(gè)性的縱向研究，這些研究跟蹤調(diào)查了從幼年到70歲出頭各個(gè)年齡段的參與者。每項(xiàng)研究都測(cè)評(píng)了大五人格的傾向。大五人格特質(zhì)包括外向性、隨和性、責(zé)任心、經(jīng)驗(yàn)開(kāi)放性和情緒穩(wěn)定性。這些人格特質(zhì)是個(gè)性研究的重要基礎(chǔ)。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，個(gè)體的大五人格水平在每十年內(nèi)通常是穩(wěn)定的。

That pattern of consistency begins around age 3， and perhaps even earlier， said Brent Donnellan， professor and chair of psychology at Michigan State University. When psychologists study children， they dont measure personality traits in the same way they do for adults. Instead， they look at temperament—the intensity of a persons reactions to the world. We come into the world with unique temperaments， and research suggests that our temperaments as children—for example， whether were easy-going or prone to temper tantrums， eager or more reluctant to approach strangers—correspond to adult personality traits.

Earlier temperament seems to affect later life experience. For example， one 1995 study published in the journal Child Development followed children from the age of 3 until the age of 18. The researchers found that children who were shyer and more withdrawn tended to grow into unhappier teenagers.

But those decades add up. Throughout all those years， our personality is still changing， but slowly， Roberts said. “Its something thats subtle，” he added. You dont notice it on that five- to 10-year time scale， but in the long term， it becomes pronounced. In 1960， psychologists surveyed over 440，000 high school students. The students answered questions about everything from how they reacted to emotional situations to how efficiently they got work done. Fifty years later， researchers tracked down 1，952 of these former students and gave them the same survey. The results， published in 2018 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology， found that in their 60s， participants scored much higher than they had as teenagers on questions measuring calmness， self-confidence， leadership and social sensitivity.

密歇根州立大學(xué)的心理學(xué)系主任布倫特·唐納倫教授稱(chēng)，這種穩(wěn)定模式大約在3歲開(kāi)始形成，甚至可能更早。心理學(xué)家對(duì)兒童進(jìn)行研究時(shí)，他們不會(huì)像對(duì)待成人一樣測(cè)評(píng)人格，而是會(huì)觀察性情，也就是一個(gè)人對(duì)世界做出反應(yīng)的強(qiáng)烈程度。我們天生就有各自的性情，研究表明，我們兒時(shí)的性情和成人后的個(gè)性特質(zhì)有關(guān)，比如我們是否隨和或容易發(fā)脾氣，或愿不愿意接觸陌生人。

早年的性情似乎會(huì)對(duì)以后的生活經(jīng)歷造成影響。舉例而言，1995年發(fā)表在《兒童發(fā)育》期刊上的一項(xiàng)研究對(duì)兒童進(jìn)行了跟蹤調(diào)查，從3歲跟蹤到18歲。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，比較害羞和內(nèi)向的孩子通常會(huì)成長(zhǎng)為不太快樂(lè)的青少年。

但是一個(gè)又一個(gè)十年會(huì)對(duì)個(gè)性產(chǎn)生影響。羅伯茨稱(chēng)，我們的個(gè)性在這些年間仍然會(huì)改變，不過(guò)是緩慢地改變。他補(bǔ)充道：“這是微妙的變化。”5年到10年內(nèi)你注意不到，但是長(zhǎng)期來(lái)看，就很明顯。1960年，心理學(xué)家對(duì)44萬(wàn)多名高中生進(jìn)行了調(diào)查。這些學(xué)生回答了各種問(wèn)題，從對(duì)情緒狀況的反應(yīng)到完成工作的效率。50年后，研究人員跟蹤調(diào)查了當(dāng)年這些學(xué)生中的1952名，并對(duì)他們進(jìn)行了同樣的調(diào)查。這項(xiàng)2018年發(fā)表在《個(gè)性與社會(huì)心理學(xué)期刊》的研究結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些年逾60的參與者在衡量冷靜、自信、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力和社會(huì)敏感度的問(wèn)卷得分比他們青少年時(shí)高得多。

Again and again， longitudinal studies have found similar results. Personality tends to get “better” over time. Psychologists call it “the maturity principle”. People become more extraverted， emotionally stable， agreeable and conscientious as they grow older. In the long term， these changes are often pronounced.

Some individuals might change less than others， but in general， the maturity principle applies to everyone. That makes personality change even harder to recognize in ourselves— how your personality compares with that of your peers doesnt change as much as our overall change in personality， because everyone else is changing right along with you. “Theres good evidence that the average self-control of a 30-year-old is higher than a 20-year-old，” Donnellan said. “At the same time， people who are relatively self-controlled at 18 also tend to be relatively self-controlled at age 30.”

So why do we change so much？ Evidence suggests its not dramatic life events， such as marriage， the birth of a child or loss of a loved one. Some psychologists actually suggest these events reinforce your personality as you bring your characteristics with you to that particular situation， Donnellan said.

Instead， changing expectations placed on us—as we adjust to university， the work force， starting a family—slowly wears us in， Roberts said. “Over time you are asked in many contexts across life to do things a bit differently，” he said. “Theres not a user manual for how to act， but there are very clear implicit norms for how we should behave in these situations.” So we adapt.

各項(xiàng)縱向研究一次又一次地得出了相似的結(jié)果。隨著時(shí)間的流逝，人們的性格通常會(huì)“變好”。心理學(xué)家將其稱(chēng)之為“成熟法則”。隨著年齡增長(zhǎng)，人們變得更外向，情緒更穩(wěn)定，更隨和，也更有責(zé)任心。長(zhǎng)期來(lái)看，這些改變通常很明顯。

一些人的變化可能比其他人少，但總體來(lái)看，成熟法則適用于每個(gè)人。這使得我們的個(gè)性改變更難以被識(shí)別。你的個(gè)性相比同齡人發(fā)生的改變沒(méi)有大家整體的個(gè)性改變大，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人的個(gè)性都和你一起發(fā)生著改變。唐納倫說(shuō)：“有充分的證據(jù)表明，30歲的人平均自制力高于20歲的人。與此同時(shí)，18歲時(shí)自制力相對(duì)較強(qiáng)的人到了30歲也往往自制力相對(duì)較強(qiáng)?！?/p>

那么為什么我們會(huì)改變這么多呢？證據(jù)顯示，我們的個(gè)性改變不是因?yàn)槿松笫拢热缃Y(jié)婚、孩子出生或失去所愛(ài)之人。唐納倫稱(chēng)，一些心理學(xué)家指出實(shí)際上這些大事會(huì)強(qiáng)化你的個(gè)性，因?yàn)槟銜?huì)將自己的個(gè)性帶入到那個(gè)特別的情境中。

羅伯茨指出，在我們適應(yīng)大學(xué)、職場(chǎng)和成家時(shí)，外界對(duì)我們期望值的改變?cè)诼卮蚰ノ覀儭Ｋf(shuō)：“隨著時(shí)間的流逝，人生中的許多情境都會(huì)要求你用和以前不一樣的方式去做事。沒(méi)有用戶(hù)手冊(cè)來(lái)指導(dǎo)你如何行動(dòng)，但是有非常清晰的不成文規(guī)范告訴你在這些情況下應(yīng)該如何表現(xiàn)?！庇谑俏覀兙透淖冏约喝ミm應(yīng)。

Word Study

static /'st?t?k/ adj. 靜態(tài)的;靜止的

imperceptible /'?mp?'sept?bl/ adj. 感覺(jué)不到的;難以察覺(jué)的

trait /tre?t/ n. 特點(diǎn);特性

Honesty proves to be a very important trait of a person.

temperament /'tempr?m?nt/ n. 性情;稟性

Shes a dreamer and a romantic by temperament.

reluctant /r?'l?kt?nt/ adj. 不情愿的;勉強(qiáng)的

He finally gave a reluctant smile.

reinforce /'ri??n'f??s/ v. 加強(qiáng);充實(shí)