Certain personality traits considered permanent undergo major changes during the course of a human's lifetime, according to new study.
In the longest study of its kind, researchers from the University of Edinburgh in UK found that character traits like self-confidence and desire to learn altered greatly between the ages of 14 and 77.
"We hypothesised that we would find evidence of personality stability over 63 years but our correlations did not support this hypothesis," said the team led by Mathew Harris, research associate in brain imaging at the university.
Only two of the traits analysed, stability of mood and conscientiousness, showed signs of lasting a lifetime in a significant way but even then there was no guarantee.
The basis of the study, reported in 'The Times', was a mental health survey conducted in Scotland in 1950 when the personalities of more than 1,200 children were assessed.
Their teachers filled in six questionnaires, in which they assessed pupils' levels of self-confidence, perseverance, stability of mood, conscientiousness, originality and desire to learn.
The six qualities were amalgamated into a single score that researchers said was similar to dependability. The children also took intelligence tests.
In 2012 researchers tracked down 635 of those who participated in the original study and again tested all who were willing.
Now aged 77, the participants rated themselves and nominated a close friend or relative to do the same. They also completed a new round of intelligence tests and answered questions on their general wellbeing.
"A wide range of genetic and environmental factors likely contribute to change in personality traits over time and it is not yet clear why some traits might be more affected by these factors than others," the researchers said.
"Personality changes gradually throughout life. There may be only subtle changes over relatively short periods, but these changes accumulate, leading to bigger differences over more time. It may change more rapidly throughout certain times of life, such as adolescent development, but whether specific life events have substantial, lasting effects on personality is less clear," they added.
Previous personality studies, conducted over shorter periods, have appeared to show more consistency in character traits.
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