Getting Older Can Mean Your Personality Is Getting Better

"Toward a Measure of Psychological Health As noted by University of Zurich's Christopher Hopwood and colleagues (2026), overall personality functioning (PF) captures this concept of "general personological maturity." This quality is captured in what's known as the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD), a counterpoint to the diagnoses of personality disorders (PDs) in the (the psychiatric manual). PF is used to define a PD as a general class of psychological dysfunction. This is different from the set of specific personality traits, such as those represented by the Five Factor Model (FFM)."

"What's unclear from this literature is whether this evolution is in a good (adaptable) or bad (maladaptive) direction. In the best of all possible worlds, people would show positive growth over time as they adapt to the many left curves that life can throw at them. The question is, how can this be proven? One nagging issue that can never be eliminated is that only those left standing in their latter decades of the 70s, 80s, and beyond can actually be studied."

"The problem here is that it could be those who live longer are more mature and adaptable than those who are no longer there to be studied. It's not that people actually change for the better, but that-in contrast to the popular Billy Joel song-"only the good die old." Toward a Measure of Psychological Health As noted by University of Zurich's Christopher Hopwood and colleagues (2026), overall personality functioning (PF) captures this concept of "general personological maturity.""

Personality change is studied in psychology, including among people with personality disorders. Research indicates that personality continues to evolve across decades of adulthood. A key uncertainty is whether change tends toward adaptive, beneficial directions or maladaptive, harmful ones. One challenge is survivorship bias because only people who live into older age can be studied, and longer-lived individuals may be more mature and adaptable. Overall personality functioning, described as general personological maturity, is measured using the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders. This approach distinguishes general psychological dysfunction from specific traits measured by models such as the Five Factor Model. Positive change can be recognized as possible, turning hopes for growth into greater fulfillment.

Read at Psychology Today