How is personality considered stable across the lifespan?

• A. Traits are completely fixed and never change.
• B. Traits change rapidly with no influence from life experiences.
• C. Traits show relative stability, with gradual change due to life experiences.
• D. Personality is entirely situational and not stable.

Answer: (C)

Personality tends to stay relatively stable over time, with gradual changes shaped by life experiences. That means people usually keep their general way of being compared with others across years, even as circumstances, roles, and aging introduce small, directional shifts in traits. For example, conscientiousness often increases with age, while tendencies related to negative affect can lessen as someone matures. This shows both enduring individual differences and slow, experience-driven change. It isn’t that traits are completely fixed or that behavior is entirely determined by the situation, and it isn’t realistic to expect rapid, wholesale changes in personality from one moment to the next.