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Attention to normal personality development also offers insight to those caring for older adults. Human personality is one of the longest‐studied topics in psychology, and contemporary theory has settled on the idea that most of the variation in personality between individuals can be accounted for by differences in five broad, cross‐cultural character traits (John & Srivastava, 1999). These so‐called Big Five personality factors are (i) Openness to Experience, (ii) Conscientiousness, (iii) Extraversion, (iv) Agreeableness, and (v) Neuroticism. In brief, Openness to Experience refers to the diversity of an individual’s mental and experiential life and is contrasted with closed‐mindedness. Conscientiousness refers to social impulse control and is typified by actions like goal‐directed behaviour and adherence to norms and rules. Extraversion refers to an energetic and engaged approach to the social world and is contrasted with introversion. Agreeableness refers to pro‐social and communally oriented behaviours and is contrasted with social antagonism. Finally, Neuroticism refers to a tendency for negative emotionality (e.g. anxiety, sadness) and is contrasted with emotional stability and even‐temperedness.

Several large‐scale cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies have investigated changes in the Big Five personality traits across the lifespan, and these studies have fairly consistently identified patterns of personality change that tend to occur in the later years of life. Specifically, people decline in their levels of Extraversion and Openness to Experience in older adulthood, while Agreeableness increases in this period of life (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008). Conscientiousness shows a curvilinear association with age, peaking in middle adulthood before declining in older age (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008). Neuroticism has shown a slight decline in later years (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008). These general trends have manifested in large samples across multiple cultures (e.g. America, Britain, Germany, Japan), albeit with more heterogeneity of change patterns observed in non‐Western cultures relative to Western cultures (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008; Chopik & Kitayama, 2018). Theoretical explanations for these patterns of change have typically emerged from the familiar dichotomy of nature versus nurture. The former contends that such changes are intrinsically programmed by our biology via countless years of evolution. The latter argues that personality change is driven by the situational demands of one’s current life stage. Through this lens, a mid‐life spike in Conscientiousness is viewed as an adaptive response to occupational pursuits in this period of life. As with most human behaviours, it seems reasonable that both intrinsic and contextual factors are at play in these changes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, several studies have linked Big Five personality factors to cognitive function and mood symptoms in older adulthood. One of the more consistent associations is that individuals with greater Openness to Experience tend to have higher overall cognitive ability and memory ability (Booth, Schinka, Brown, Mortimer, & Borenstein, 2006; Luchetti, Terracciano, Stephan, & Sutin, 2016). Openness also has been found to attenuate the effects of late‐life depression on cognitive function (Ayotte, Potter, Williams, Steffens, & Bosworth, 2009). High levels of Openness and Conscientiousness have each been associated with slower rates of cognitive decline (Curtis, Windsor, & Soubelet, 2015; Luchetti, et al., 2016). Finally, high levels of Agreeableness and Neuroticism have been negatively associated with memory and cognitive effort (Maldonato, et al., 2017). The overall effect of these personality factors on cognition is small but notable. One study found that as much as 2–7% of cognitive ability is predicted by personality factors (Booth, et al., 2006). Another study found personality factors to have a stronger correlation with cognitive performance than several medical and lifestyle factors including hypertension, diabetes, history of psychological treatment, obesity, smoking, and physical inactivity (Luchetti, et al., 2016).