Can your personality type change as you grow older?

As a FJ (also commonly known as the “protagonist” personality type), I was delighted to get involved in community life in college and I immediately registered clubs to establish rapid links with people around me. My ISTP roommate, on the other hand, appreciated its independence and adopted a more practical approach to social life by keeping for it. This did not mean that we were incompatible, because we quickly realized that our different personalities did not necessarily make us face. Her ingenuity as an ISTP facilitated the process of progress for me, while my unwavering loyalty as aie was a comfort for her in a new environment. And when we recently resumed the MBTI after having known ourselves for a while, we even ended up with similar results.
“The personality continues to evolve throughout our lives, but the rate of change slows down,” explains the psychologist and educator in mental health avalanne of Souza. “And although it stabilizes in the middle of the thirties, you will see these features change after the main events of life.”
When Ria Chawda was in high school, she embodied the typical extrovert: outgoing, conversational effortlessly and constantly surrounded by large groups of friends. Now when she meets these same classmates for years after graduating, it is difficult for her to converse with the same opening. “After having moved from school to university and live the pandemic, I realized that I like to be alone,” admits Chawda. “I now have a social battery that runs out in two hours. The more people, the more tiring it becomes. ”
Souza explains that impulsiveness is more important in younger individuals because, at this age, the frontal lobe – which is the seat of decision -making and emotional regulation – is not yet fully developed. The psychologist also specifies that great life experiences such as parenting, moving countries, loss, career change, trauma and significant relationships (whether romantic or platonic) play an important role in the influence of our personalities. “There is this feeling of assurance that has certainly manifested for me with age,” said Jogya Chakravorty, 28. “I think it comes, in large part, to be in a space where I know what I want to do, have a partner that I appreciate and have a family that is largely correct.”
Despite its widespread use, many psychologists and researchers consider MBTI as a pseudoscience because it forces people to one of the two black and white categories without leaving room for gray. My roommate, for example, was introverted, but I know that she liked to socialize in small groups after a long week of exhausting lessons. “It is wonderful that these tests are so accessible, but it is important to look for the tools that are put online and understand if they are really effective,” accepts Souza. “Many of these tests are based on honest self-reflection, so there could be biases in our self-declaration. The danger occurs when we use this little knowledge to fix or justify certain behaviors. ”