Estimating the consistency of individual differences in personality stability using intensive longitudinal data

Stability is essential to the definition of personality, as a relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. However, prevalent claims concerning the test-retest stability of personality overlook the possibility that certain individuals may display more stability in their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors across time compared to other individuals. Using intensive longitudinal data collected weekly over 15–16 weeks (N = 2,768; 34,166 observations), this study examines individual differences in short-term personality stability and the temporal consistency of those stability patterns. Participants completed the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2) or its short form across 12.3 waves on average. We fit a series of mixed-effect, discrete-time models to estimate within-person stability estimates for each participant across 15 Big Five facets. Results revealed heterogeneity in stability: correlations between first-half and second-half stability estimates were weak, ranging from r = –.085 to r = .16. These results indicate that at the level of within-person personality consistency 1) some facets tend to have greater proportions of participants with positive stability (e.g., Emotional Resilience), 2) some individuals are consistently more stable for a specific facet compared to others, and 3) stability is a property of a person’s dynamic psychological system in a specific context, rather than a fixed property of a construct. If supported in well-powered replications, this result would call into question the centrality of stability to personality constructs, potentially suggesting that stability itself is a temporally unstable individual difference. Our findings underscore the importance of moving beyond group-level trends to examine individual trajectories, with implications for theory, measurement, and interventions targeting personality change.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2025

Author dc:creator

• Kirks-Cler, Andrew N.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Briley, Ava
• Derringer, Jaime

• Personality Psychology
• Personality Stability
• Personality Change
• Personality Facets
• Longitudinal Personality Assessment
• Big Five Inventory
• Individual Difference

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2025 Andrew Kirks-Cler

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129992

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F129992