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Personality change is an intriguing area within psychology, especially for those with personality disorders.

A new study tracks overall personality functioning and individual traits showing positive changes in both.

Recognizing that change can and does occur can help turn hopes for growth into greater fulfillment.

Wish you could change, but think you're too old? You'll be happy to know that a growing body of research shows the continued evolution of personality across the decades of adulthood. 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 others don't survive that long. 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.” This quality is captured in what’s known as the Alternative Model of Personality........

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