AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -When we’re maturing, however, these traits are still forming. By the age of 30, the majority of people have reached maturity. But according to Buss, that doesn’t mean the five traits are completely set in stone. He says that after the age of 30, people generally become less neurotic (and thus more emotionally stable).

Detailed explanation-2: -Personality characteristics do change, but not much. For example, many people become somewhat more agreeable as they get older, but this does not apply to everyone or at every stage of life.

Detailed explanation-3: -Two seminal meta-analyses have shown that personality traits are relatively stable, but they also change, and they do so actually across the lifespan, meaning that there is no upper boundary. In fact, people aged 70 and older can still undergo pretty remarkable changes in their personality traits.

Detailed explanation-4: -There is considerable evidence against it, say the authors. In the study, “average levels of personality traits changed gradually but systematically throughout the lifespan, sometimes even more after age 30 than before.