Personality Psychology - how consistent are our personalities throughout life?

[Judy2]

@oOo interesting, so you are basically saying that personality is the psychological equivalent of genetic diversification (don't know what the proper term for this is but you know what i mean).

personality is genetically determined by about 50%, and then there are also epigenetic and environmental influences. 

[Joseph Maynor]

21 hours ago, Jirh said:

Sure.

I find it too verbose and overly complex with very little rewards. Also very fluid and open to interpretation. Not worth it.

It is very simple if you think of cognitive functions only.  Introverted means focused inward and extroverted means focused outward.  That's it.  And there are only 8 cognitive functions.  Ne Ni, Fe Fi, Se Si, and Te Ti.  E.g. Ne is intuition focused outward and Ni is introversion focused inward.  You can then compare people's cognitive function stacks and understand very deeply how they are similar or different.  It is a powerful model in this way.

[Judy2]

@LastThursday okay, cool:)

because of the decrease in conscientiousness, i am guessing you don't have children? sorry if i'm wrong😅

it's funny that you mention a decrease in neuroticism because this is consistent with the literature, but i'm not sure how that actually works. are you just coping differently, or are the emotions themselves less intense/pervasive?

in my experience, there can be some changes in my openness/neuroticism, if i really push myself, but eventually i will come back to my baseline. maybe with 80 i'll be more chill:)

Edited 3 hours ago by Judy2

[LastThursday]

4 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

because of the decrease in conscientiousness, i am guessing you don't have children? sorry if i'm wrong😅

That made me laugh I don't have children no. 

7 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

are you just coping differently, or are the emotions themselves less intense/pervasive?

I think my mindset and approach changed over time. My take on it is that neuroticism is either fear based or lack-of-control based. I had a lot of (social) anxiety, basically fear, because I believed I could not control situations I would find myself in.  The penny dropped eventually that actually, I was ok in nearly all situations. I also practised shutting my inner dialogue off for many years, which also helped with rumination. I still often ruminate about things I have said or done which might be misinterpreted, but it doesn't stop me acting so much as before - I'm still working on it.

15 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

in my experience, there can be some changes in my openness/neuroticism, if i really push myself, but eventually i will come back to my baseline.

That's pretty normal in my opinion. A heavier weight needs a harder or longer push. And often lasting change is more staccato than smooth.

[Carl-Richard]

On 16.10.2026 at 6:18 PM, Judy2 said:

Now, as this is a community with the specific goal of personal development, I wonder if any of you would be interested in sharing how you believe your personality has or hasn't changed throughout the years (the exact period of time this commentary may cover depends on your age, but technically, from childhood until the present).

Lower neuroticism, higher conscientiousness. Which even though it seems to be correlated with age irregardless, is by the way essentially identical to awakening (perhaps the former more than the latter initially, but the latter could have a slow release effect, i.e. lower neuroticism due to a baseline state change, higher conscientiousness due to a possible value change over time).

I tend to talk about how enlightenment is about baseline and awakening is primarily a glimpse where you return to somewhat normal afterwards, but especially your first awakening (especially if sober) should also lead to a significant baseline state change, but it won't necessarily take you all the way as there tends to be more loops to go through before that.

That's how many people can start believing they're enlightened even if they're merely awakened because there was a significant before and after. Especially if the awakening was sober, but also if you do drugs like weed. After my first LSD trip, I sat in the woods the day after smoking weed and listening to music and I felt so one with nature and even had slight OBEs while sitting under a tree with legs folded.

Edited 2 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[Judy2]

@Carl-Richard 

25 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Lower neuroticism, higher conscientiousness. Which even though it seems to be correlated with age irregardless, is by the way essentially identical to awakening (perhaps the former more than the latter initially, but the latter could have a slow release effect, i.e. lower neuroticism due to a baseline state change, higher conscientiousness due to a possible value change over time).

I tend to talk about how enlightenment is about baseline and awakening is primarily a glimpse where you return to somewhat normal afterwards, but especially your first awakening (especially if sober) should also lead to a significant baseline state change, but it won't necessarily take you all the way as there tends to be more loops to go through before that.

That's how many people can start believing they're enlightened even if they're merely awakened because there was a significant before and after. Especially if the awakening was sober, but also if you do drugs like weed. After my first LSD trip, I sat in the woods the day after smoking weed and listening to music and I felt so one with nature and even had slight OBEs while sitting under a tree with legs folded.

i have had several ego deaths (sober and not) and it hasn't really helped with the neuroticism, since they tend to be isolated, temporally condensed experiences. 

a lot of the work i have had to do to stabilise has felt quite unspiritual.

 

OBEs are so previous:) have you experienced them again after your trip?

[Judy2]

1 hour ago, LastThursday said:

That made me laugh I don't have children no. 

I think my mindset and approach changed over time. My take on it is that neuroticism is either fear based or lack-of-control based. I had a lot of (social) anxiety, basically fear, because I believed I could not control situations I would find myself in.  The penny dropped eventually that actually, I was ok in nearly all situations. I also practised shutting my inner dialogue off for many years, which also helped with rumination. I still often ruminate about things I have said or done which might be misinterpreted, but it doesn't stop me acting so much as before - I'm still working on it.

That's pretty normal in my opinion. A heavier weight needs a harder or longer push. And often lasting change is more staccato than smooth.

ok:)

1 hour ago, LastThursday said:

I still often ruminate about things I have said or done which might be misinterpreted

i get that a lot, too...very annoying.

Edited 1 hour ago by Judy2

[Schizophonia]

There is a genetic inheritance, but personality is essentially the result of an adaptation to "symbolic castration"—which, to put it simply, means entering a limited, dualistic world where you must navigate circumstances to ensure your survival.

Naturally the younger you are the more malleable you remain; however personality is fluid and continues to adapt to its environment. If you are capable of learning new things your personality changes there is no distinction between the two.

If you have internalized that possessing a certain trait makes it easier to survive or appear strong, you will then adopt that trait as your *persona*.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Schizophonia

[LastThursday]

45 minutes ago, Judy2 said:

i get that a lot, too...very annoying.

Yeah. It's like a buzzy mosquito that doesn't leave you alone. If you ever learn how to squash it, let me know!