How many personalities or major thought changes does the average person have in a lifetime?

Question

I think through maturity and knowledge of life we change our beliefs and personality, do you agree? And how many major changes in thought have you had? How many does the average person have do you think?

EXAMPLE: I use to be Republican out of ignorance, and today I can't believe I was that way. Or, use to fall for the religion scams....not anymore. Also, going from introvert to extrovert.

Answer 1

I don't think personality shifts a great deal, I think our temperament is set in many ways by our genes/biology.

What happens is that the environment and our experiences determines how much of our 'natural' self we learn to express and how much we have to learn behaviors and assume attitude that we normally would not.

As an example, there are "introverts" who grew up in extraverted families, so they learn to not have solid boundaries and can interact very well with others... yet at core, they are still introverted in where they get their energy from. (And vice versa -- an extravert who grows up in an introverted family will learn some social "restraint" that they wouldn't have had otherwise.)

I think there are a few major moments where shifts COULD occur in life:
* Age 1-2: Becoming mobile, can range away from mom
* Age 5: Starting school -- whole new world opens up
* Age 12-13: Hitting puberty, feels interest in opposite gender
* Age 18-21: Officially an adult, no longer under parent's thumb, potential marriage
* Age 40: Mid-life crisis, where person reevaluates their past decisions and wonders if they made the right choices.
* Age 50-55: Kids leave the home, suddenly "free" as a parent to do what one wants
* Age 65: Retirement -- how does one spend one's time without an official work?

How many changes have I had? Geesh, I feel that my entire life has been one large "mid-life crisis," but some highlights:

- Age 5: Freaked out not over the idea I would die one day, but that eternity stretched on and on and I couldn't fathom something that big.

- Age 11: Due to some bad family experiences, I remember telling myself I would never let anyone see me cry again. I still have trouble showing my emotions to this day.

- College: Changed major from BS Math to BA English, although my dad had told me I had to go to school for a technical degree... This was a big step for me in breaking away from authority's expectations.

- Mid-20's: Had children... BIG shift in terms of what I considered important, how I spent my time, and understanding relationships not just intellectually but from practical experience.

- Early 30's: Realized there was no way to "prove" that my spiritual beliefs and/or other ideas were right, and that some people would simply never accept my ideas... so I had to let it go and decide what I would believe anyway.

Late 30's (nowadays): After doing the typical career pattern, am now gaining more confidence in myself and my abilities/gifts, and am also acknowledging that the things that used to gratify me no longer do, and I need to let go of them and look for something more substantial. So it is a time of "uncluttering" and "realignment."

Someone else made the good point that sometimes we change simply because we acquire new knowledge... such as with coming from one political background and then being exposed to other perspectives.

(I would probably say the major "core" change in a situation like that is not specifically the new ideas but the acceptance that one might have been wrong in the past and is now going to follow one's own heart, despite the disappointment expressed by those they are leaving behind.)

A willingness to stop trying to control every aspect of one's life (especially the reactions of other people) is a MAJOR shift in thought that happens to many healthy people as they age.

Answer 2

Most of the research shows that personality is fairly well established by the age of about 5. The way that personality adapts and interacts with his/her environment can change though through learning and experience.

For people with personality disorders who are not diagnosed until adulthood this is very troubling. Basically once personality development goes wrong it is very difficult to get back on track.

Another interesting factoid is that beyond the age of about 18 personal growth is entirely a matter of choice. Hormonal changes and physical growth are largely finished, so changes from those two factors are finished.

Answer 3

probably 5 or 6

Answer 4

that depends...
i´v changed a lot too...
people change , but to catagorize it...not a good idea