Are we set in our ways?

Are we set in our ways when we grow old? Do we become more stubborn in our old age? People ask questions about the possibility of changes in personality in older age.

Stage theorists maintain that personality changes over time, as a person progresses from one stage to another. Trait theorists argue that personality is stable, and cite personality-inventory studies indicating that a person’s traits remain stable during adulthood.

Life-span theorists of human development pose that human beings have considerable potential for becoming what they want to become and accomplish in a lifetime. However, other theorists suggest it is people’s habits that change—habits related to health, vigor, responsibilities and life circumstances—and not their basic personalities. In short, the foregoing can be interpreted to mean that many so-called personality differences are generational.

Is it not reassuring, then, to know that the theory that “as one grows older, one becomes more stubborn” has been debunked? If we are flexible and adaptable when we are young, we will still be flexible and adaptable when we grow old. If we are rigid in our ways at a young age, we will likely remain so as we accumulate years in life.

It is unfair to associate old age with stubbornness. The other message to take home is that, to better prepare for old age, we should nurture open-mindedness and adaptive coping responses.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.