Openness: What It Is, Why It Matters, and Can It Change?
Understanding the personality trait that shapes curiosity, creativity, and your willingness to try new things
Have you ever wondered why some people love traveling to unfamiliar places, experimenting with new hobbies, or questioning beliefs, while others prefer routines, traditions, and knowing exactly what to expect?
The difference often comes down to openness, one of the five major dimensions of personality. Openness influences how curious you are, how comfortable you feel with novelty and uncertainty, and how interested you are in exploring new ideas, perspectives, and experiences.
People who score higher in openness often enjoy learning, creativity, and variety. They're typically drawn to intellectual conversations, artistic pursuits, and experiences that broaden their perspective. People lower in openness tend to value familiarity, practicality, and tradition. They often prefer proven methods over experimentation and find comfort in routines they know work well.
Neither approach is inherently better. High openness can fuel creativity and innovation but may also make it harder to settle on one direction or follow established routines. Lower openness can promote stability, consistency, and practical decision-making but may make adapting to change more difficult.
Understanding where you fall on this personality trait can help explain how you approach learning, problem-solving, relationships, and life's inevitable changes. More importantly, it can help you recognize where greater flexibility might help you build the life you want.
What Is Openness?
Openness is a personality trait that reflects your natural tendency to seek out new ideas, experiences, perspectives, and ways of thinking. Rather than describing how emotionally open or vulnerable you are with other people, openness refers to your willingness to explore both the external world and your own inner experiences.
People who score higher in openness tend to be curious, imaginative, intellectually engaged, and comfortable with novelty. They often enjoy learning for its own sake, appreciate art and beauty, and are willing to question assumptions or consider alternative viewpoints.
People who score lower in openness are often practical, grounded, and appreciative of familiarity. They may prefer routines, concrete information, and approaches that have proven effective over time. Rather than constantly seeking novelty, they often focus on applying what they already know well.
Like every Big Five personality trait, openness exists on a continuum. Most people fall somewhere between the extremes, showing curiosity in some areas of life while preferring predictability in others. The question isn't whether you're open or closed-minded. It's how naturally you seek out novelty and complexity in your everyday life.
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Openness: What It Is, Why It Matters, and Can It Change?
Is Openness Good or Bad?
If you've ever been described as either "creative" or "set in your ways," you've probably experienced some of the stereotypes surrounding openness. In reality, neither end of the spectrum is inherently better. Like every personality trait, openness comes with both strengths and tradeoffs.
People who score higher in openness are often imaginative, curious, and adaptable. They tend to enjoy exploring new ideas, considering different perspectives, and experimenting with unfamiliar experiences. These qualities can foster creativity, innovation, and lifelong learning. They're often comfortable navigating ambiguity and may thrive in careers or hobbies that require original thinking.
Those same qualities, however, can become liabilities when taken to an extreme. Constantly seeking novelty can make it difficult to stick with routines or commit to one direction. Someone high in openness may jump enthusiastically from one interest to another, become bored with repetitive tasks, or spend so much time exploring possibilities that they struggle to make decisions.
People who score lower in openness bring a different set of strengths. They're often practical, dependable, and grounded in reality. They may excel at implementing proven solutions, maintaining traditions, and following through on established plans. When others are distracted by the newest trend or idea, they're more likely to ask whether it actually works.
The tradeoff is that lower openness can sometimes make change feel uncomfortable. People lower on the trait may be slower to adopt new technologies, consider alternative viewpoints, or step outside familiar routines. While this skepticism can prevent impulsive decisions, it may also cause them to miss opportunities for growth or adaptation.
The goal, then, isn't to become as open as possible. It's to remain curious enough to grow while staying grounded enough to follow through on what matters most.
How Openness Shapes Your Life
Learning and Creativity
Openness influences how people learn, solve problems, and respond to new information.
People who score higher in openness often enjoy exploring ideas for their own sake. They're naturally curious, ask questions, and tend to see connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. Because they enjoy novelty, they may be drawn to books, podcasts, museums, travel, or hobbies that expand their understanding of the world. They're also more likely to think creatively, generating multiple solutions to a problem rather than relying on familiar approaches.
People lower in openness often learn differently. Rather than exploring ideas broadly, they may prefer to master one approach before moving on to the next. They tend to value practical knowledge that can be applied immediately and often become highly skilled through repetition and experience. When faced with a problem, they're more likely to ask, "What has worked before?" than "What's a completely new way to think about this?"
Neither approach is inherently better. Innovation depends on people who imagine new possibilities, but progress also depends on people who can evaluate those ideas, refine them, and put them into practice.
Relationships and Perspective-Taking
Openness also shapes how people navigate differences in opinions, values, and life experiences.
People higher in openness are often curious about perspectives that differ from their own. They may enjoy discussing complex topics, learning about different cultures, or hearing viewpoints they hadn't previously considered. This willingness to explore new perspectives can make it easier to adapt to changing relationships or understand why someone else sees the world differently.
People lower in openness often place greater value on consistency and shared beliefs. They may prefer relationships built around common values, familiar traditions, or predictable routines. While they may be less interested in constantly exploring new perspectives, they often provide stability and dependability within their relationships.
At either end of the spectrum, problems can arise when flexibility is lost. Someone very high in openness may become so focused on considering every perspective that they struggle to take a clear stand. Someone very low in openness may dismiss unfamiliar ideas before giving them a fair hearing. Healthy relationships benefit from both curiosity and conviction: the willingness to understand another person's perspective while remaining grounded in your own values.
Adapting to Change
Perhaps more than any other personality trait, openness influences how people respond to change.
Life inevitably brings transitions: changing careers, becoming a parent, moving to a new city, retiring, or facing unexpected challenges. People higher in openness often approach these moments with curiosity. Although change can still be stressful, they're generally more willing to experiment, adjust their expectations, and view unfamiliar situations as opportunities for growth.
People lower in openness may find major life changes more unsettling. They often prefer predictability and may feel more comfortable relying on routines that have worked well in the past. While this can provide stability during uncertain times, it can also make adapting to new circumstances more difficult when change is unavoidable.
The good news is that openness isn't simply something you're born with. Even people who naturally prefer familiarity can learn to approach new experiences with greater curiosity. Often, growth doesn't require dramatic reinvention. It begins with small acts of exploration—trying a new hobby, reading a different perspective, taking a different route home, or asking yourself, "What if there's another way to look at this?" Over time, these small experiences build confidence in your ability to adapt, making future changes feel less intimidating.
Can Openness Change?
For many years, psychologists believed personality was largely fixed by adulthood. We now know that's not true. Although personality tends to be relatively stable, research has consistently shown that people can change over time—and openness is no exception. Learn more about the science of personality change here.
That makes sense when you consider what openness actually reflects. It's not simply a preference for museums, travel, or abstract ideas. It's a pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to curiosity, flexibility, and a willingness to engage with novelty. Like any pattern of behavior, it can be strengthened through repeated experience.
Importantly, becoming more open doesn't mean abandoning your values or constantly chasing the next new thing. The goal isn't to reject routines or force yourself to enjoy activities that don't interest you. Instead, it's about becoming more willing to consider new perspectives, tolerate uncertainty, and experiment with experiences that help you grow.
Imagine someone who always takes the same route to work, orders the same meal at every restaurant, and quickly dismisses ideas that don't fit with how they've always done things. Over time, they begin to see themselves as someone who simply "doesn't like change."
Now imagine that same person begins making small, intentional changes. They read a book outside their usual interests, take a class they've always been curious about, or strike up a conversation with someone whose experiences differ from their own. They don't suddenly become a different person. But with each new experience, they become a little more comfortable with uncertainty and a little more confident in their ability to adapt.
This idea is central to my work as both a researcher and clinician. Rather than helping people become more adventurous for the sake of it, I help them identify the patterns that keep them from becoming the person they want to be and systematically practice new ways of responding. Sometimes that means questioning assumptions you've held for years. Other times it means trying something unfamiliar, even when it feels uncomfortable. Over time, those repeated experiences don't just expand your perspective in the moment. They can reshape personality itself.
The goal isn't to become endlessly curious or constantly seek novelty. It's to develop the flexibility to learn from new experiences, consider different perspectives, and adapt when life calls for it. Often, the greatest opportunities for growth begin just outside the boundaries of what's familiar.
Openness Is About Growth, Not Constant Change
Whether you naturally seek out novelty or prefer the comfort of familiar routines, your level of openness isn't a measure of your intelligence, creativity, or willingness to grow. It's simply one dimension of personality that shapes how you approach new ideas, unfamiliar experiences, and change.
Like every personality trait, openness comes with both strengths and tradeoffs. Understanding where you fall can help explain why you may feel energized by trying something new—or why you may prefer to stick with what you know. More importantly, it can help you recognize when greater flexibility might help you build the life you want.
The encouraging news is that personality isn't fixed. You don't have to become someone else to grow. By intentionally exposing yourself to new experiences, challenging old assumptions, and remaining curious about the world around you, you can become more adaptable while staying true to your values.
If you're curious about your own level of openness—and the other four major personality traits—the first step is understanding your current personality profile.
Discover Your Personality Profile
Take the free Personality Compass Assessment to learn where you fall on each of the Big Five personality traits and receive personalized insights into your strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth.
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