The stability vs plasticity debate describes the developmental psychology discussion about whether personality traits that are present in an individual at birth remain constant or change throughout the life span.
Stability that individuals who are high or low in a characteristic (such as verbal ability, anxiety, or sociability) will remain so at later ages typically stress the importance of heredity. If they do regard environment as important, they usually point to early experiences as establishing a lifelong pattern of behavior. Plasticity is the ability to change as a result of experience.
As individuals develop, do their characteristics remain stable over time or do they change? For example, does a naturally extroverted and talkative baby remain that way for their entire life. According to the study of Khoo Ee Wan (2011) Across the life span, people tend to become more dominant, conscientious, interpersonally sensitive, and emotionally stable, with most of the changes taking place during young adulthood. And also those with less functionally mature personalities are more prone to change. This may be because they are less equipped to deal with the demands of their lives and hence face greater impetus for personality change. There has been increasing evidence that personality has a dual nature, with both patterns of stability as well as patterns of change.
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