A new study has found that young adults who become the first in their family to attend university tend to show a modest reduction in risk-taking over time. However, attending university does not appear to meaningfully alter other core personality traits, such as extraversion, conscientiousness, or emotional stability. The findings were published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
The researchers were interested in whether personality changes often seen during early adulthood might be shaped by social class transitions. Past studies have shown that personality traits, though relatively stable, do shift during the young adult years—people tend to become more conscientious, more emotionally stable, and more agreeable.
But the reasons behind these shifts are not fully understood. One idea is that changes come from adapting to new life roles, such as entering the workforce, starting a relationship, or, in this case, going to university. The researchers behind the new study, Anatolia Batruch and Manon A. van Scheppingen, wanted to understand whether entering a new social class environment through education might shape who people become.
“Manon and I were both psychologists doing our postdoc in a sociology lab,” explained Batruch, who is now an SNSF Ambizione Researcher at the LIVES Centre at the University of Lausanne. “I was examining the psychological effect of social class and she worked on personality change and life events. I thought it would be interesting to combine our expertise to test a common assumption in my field which is that psychological effects of social class are the product of a socialization process and to do so under stringent conditions, since personality traits are famously stable.”
To investigate this, the researchers used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, a nationally representative longitudinal study. They focused on a group of 4,776 individuals who were followed from adolescence into their thirties. Among them, a key comparison was made between two groups of young adults whose parents did not attend university. One group—the “upward mobility” group—pursued higher education, while the other did not. By comparing these two groups, the researchers could isolate the effects of university attendance while holding constant important background characteristics.
The researchers examined changes across three broad domains: the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability), locus of control (a measure of how much people believe they can influence events in their lives), and risk-taking propensity. Each of these traits has been linked to important life outcomes like health, job success, and well-being.
To ensure a fair comparison, the researchers used a statistical method called propensity score matching. This technique allowed them to create two groups that were closely matched on a variety of factors, including family background, age, and initial personality levels measured around age 17. By controlling for these factors, the study could more reliably identify whether any personality changes were associated with the transition to higher education.
The results showed that both groups—those who attended university and those who didn’t—experienced similar personality development over time. Increases in conscientiousness were especially evident in both groups, which is consistent with other research showing that people tend to become more responsible and organized as they enter adulthood. However, there were no significant differences in how the two groups changed over time on traits like extraversion, openness, or emotional stability.
“We were struck by how little personality changed overall. Given that there is a relationship between social class and personality, what happens when we change social class? Maybe changes occur only after longer exposure or through subtler mechanisms than we anticipated.”
One area where a difference did emerge was in risk-taking behavior. Young adults who pursued higher education showed a small but consistent decline in their willingness to take risks over time, compared to their peers who did not attend university. This difference grew gradually and became statistically significant about ten years after the transition. When compared to individuals whose parents had also gone to university (the “stable high” group), the pattern held: those with a university background tended to become more risk-averse as they aged, regardless of whether they were first-generation students or not.
These findings suggest that university attendance may influence certain behavioral tendencies, such as risk-taking, more than it does broader personality traits. One possible explanation is that university environments emphasize planning, caution, and long-term thinking—qualities that might lead students to take fewer risks. It’s also possible that the process of navigating unfamiliar academic and social challenges causes first-generation students to become more cautious over time.
“Even though being the first in one’s family to attend university can feel destabilizing, it does not appear to shift core personality traits. In other words, educational mobility may reshape opportunities and perspectives without fundamentally changing who you are.”
The researchers also found that students who were more risk-averse at age 17 were more likely to pursue higher education in the first place. This suggests that some of the observed differences may reflect who chooses to go to university, not just what happens to them after they get there. But even after controlling for these pre-existing differences, the pattern of decreasing risk-taking held up, pointing to a likely influence of the university environment itself.
The researchers found no evidence that other personality traits predicted university attendance after matching the groups. Traits like openness, extraversion, and emotional stability did not appear to significantly shape whether someone became a first-generation university student. This goes against some expectations that personality might steer people toward upward mobility and supports the idea that broader structural or contextual factors may play a more prominent role.
Despite its strengths, the study has some limitations. The data came from Germany, a country with a relatively accessible higher education system compared to others, such as the United States. Results may look different in countries where social class barriers to university are higher.
Additionally, the study could not distinguish between different types of universities or academic programs, which may vary greatly in their cultural norms and social pressures.
Our study couldn’t distinguish between different types of universities or fields of study, which vary widely in culture and prestige. Maybe change occur only in very elite environments.”
Looking ahead, the researchers hope to investigate the timing and pathways of social class-related personality changes in more detail. Future work could explore whether changes happen after university, once people enter new workplaces, social circles, or start families. Understanding when and how social environments shape personality can offer valuable insight into human development and inequality.
The study, “Social Class and Personality: The Effects of Educational Mobility on Personality Trait Change,” was published online on March 31, 2025.
