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Nirit Cohen – WorkFutures
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Jonathan Price – CRE & Flex Expert
A recent Financial Times analysis suggests that something remarkable has happened to Americans’ personalities over the past decade. Most strikingly, conscientiousness among younger generations appears to be in steep and steady decline. Longitudinal studies also indicate shifts toward lower extraversion, lower agreeableness, and higher neuroticism.
To some, the findings are concerning because conscientiousness has long been tied to reliability and productivity; agreeableness to collaboration; and extraversion to networking and leadership.
Yet the real picture is more nuanced, and the key question should not be whether these traits are declining and by how much, but why they are changing in the first place.
What if these changes do not signal any kind of personality shortcoming at all, but instead reflect a subtle pushback against workplace norms that no longer resonate with younger employees?
The new direction in personality traits may represent a generation reassessing the purpose and meaning of work.
The Data and Debates around Declining Traits
The Big Five personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) are considered among the most stable indicators of personality. They are widely used to understand how people think, feel, and behave.
These traits help explain patterns in behaviour and emotions, and are often used to predict work outcomes. Research indicates that conscientiousness is one of the best predictors of job performance.
Studies have also consistently found a positive correlation between conscientiousness and academic success.
John Burn-Murdoch, Chief Data Reporter for The Financial Times, analysed a longitudinal sample of 7,000 adults whose Big Five personality traits have been tracked over time. Burn-Murdoch reports on the steady decline (48% to 29%) in conscientiousness among the youngest age cohort (16 to 39), and highlights that agreeableness and extraversion show similar downward trends.
Reactions to the analysis have sparked an interesting debate on the meaning behind the statistics. Bruce Daisley, a leading expert on workplace culture and the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Joy of Work, recently examined the responses to Burn-Murdoch’s interpretation. According to Daisley, while most commentators value the findings, some critics argue that the decline in conscientiousness is statistically small.
Others, such as New York University (NYU) Psychology Professor Jay Van Bavel, contend that a 0.4 standard deviation change over a decade is significant.
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Dissatisfaction, but not Deterioration
The key question may not be whether these personality traits are declining in a statistically significant way, but why they’re trending down at all — and whether the changes will threaten or redefine workplace culture.
One interesting reaction to the analysis comes from Professor Alex Haslam, a leading organizational psychologist. After reviewing surveys used to measure conscientiousness, Haslam suggests that the real problem is not people’s traits at all, but the nature of the work they are expected to perform.
When work is dull, unrewarding, or overly bureaucratic, Haslam believes it is unsurprising that people feel less motivated to be fully engaged. In his view, declining conscientiousness may be a sign of widespread disenchantment with modern work.
Allwork.Space spoke to Dr. Colleen Batchelder, the Founder and CEO of Indiviti, and a leading expert on hiring and managing Gen Z. We asked Dr. Batchelder for her insights into reduced levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion among Gen Z.
She believes that the decline in these personality traits is justified because of how the workplace feels for many young employees today. Based on her understanding of this cohort, Dr. Batchelder uses this analogy to describe the workplace experience for them:
“Imagine balancing on a tightrope and having to smile as the audience holds its breath, praying you make it across… that’s exactly how I would describe the workplace for Gen Z.”
Dr. Batchelder told Allwork.Space that, after years of pandemic upheaval, rapid shifts in AI, and nonstop uncertainty, Gen Z workers have been navigating a level of volatility most early-career professionals never had to face.
In her research on Gen Z traits, one theme keeps emerging: a deep fear of failure. According to Dr Batchelder, although they may project drive and resilience, 63% of Gen Z say they are constantly anxious about layoffs, and 73% report emotional exhaustion as their default state.
When asked about the way in which Gen Z expresses themselves in the workplace, Dr. Batchelder had this response: “Has their communication become more guarded and to the point? Yes. But I don’t believe it stems from disrespect or disregard. It stems from the fact that instability and isolation have fundamentally shaped their perception of workplace security. They’re tentative to trust.”
Allwork.Space also spoke to Aditya Nagpal, Founder and CEO of Wisemonk, a globally recognized platform that streamlines global talent connections. Wisemonk supports companies in building teams across borders, and Nagpal frequently observes the generational friction points that arise during this process.
He believes that traits that seem to be declining in younger workers are better understood as a shift in priorities, rather than a true change in character.
“It is risky to confuse a shift in priorities with a decline in personality,” Nagpal says. “What the data shows as lower conscientiousness or agreeableness is often Gen Z rejecting the outdated aspects of corporate culture. They have seen previous generations sacrifice for companies that did not provide loyalty in return, so their behavior is a logical response to that broken social contract.”
“They are not necessarily less dedicated; they are just more transactional,” he adds. “They save their energy for environments that match their values instead of following a strict command-and-control system. This isn’t a personality flaw. It reflects how modern organizations have treated their workforce.”
If the decline in certain traits reflects dissatisfaction with modern work, it becomes easier to understand why younger workers are responding in distinct ways.
This helps make sense of the much-discussed Gen Z stare — the flat, steady gaze often seen in meetings, on video calls, and across TikTok. Older managers frequently read the stare as indifference, yet many leaders now argue it signals something else.
For younger workers, this expression reflects a quieter communication style shaped by digital life and rising fatigue with performative workplace norms.
A Different Type of Conscientiousness
Declines in conscientiousness and phenomena such as the Gen Z Stare may not indicate cultural decay, but rather a generational recalibration; a move away from inherited workplace norms toward purpose, trust, and meaningful engagement.
Career strategist Jasmine Escalera highlighted this in a recent Allwork.Space podcast how Gen Z is not “killing” workplace culture, but redefining it.
A little ironically, and despite scoring lower on traditional measures of conscientiousness, Gen Z exhibits a strong, values-driven form of this personality trait. They prioritize fairness, inclusion, climate action, and mental wellbeing over rigid rules and outdated expectations.
For them, conscientiousness is less about conformity and self-sacrifice, and more about integrity and purpose.
Amid all the psychological research and expert analysis, the exact meaning of declines in these traits remains unclear. One intriguing perspective, however, comes from a paper in the European Journal of Personality, which suggests that lower conscientiousness is not necessarily a negative.
The study proposes that lower levels of conscientiousness can actually introduce flexibility and a willingness to challenge inefficient workplace systems. While highly conscientious individuals prioritize order and thoroughness, those lower in conscientiousness often prompt quicker decisions, question unnecessary rules, and adapt readily to changing circumstances.
In this respect, a balance of high and low conscientiousness within intergenerational teams could support both stability and agility, making lower conscientiousness potentially beneficial in workplaces facing constant change and uncertainty.
This new understanding of conscientiousness calls for organizations to rethink both culture and leadership. While traditional workplace models reward obedience and consistency (traits better suited to stable hierarchies and lifetime careers), today’s work environments require greater value placed on creativity, emotional intelligence, resilience, and adaptability.
Managers who seek better alignment with younger generations will need to make some intentional cultural changes.
Leaders seeking to connect more effectively with Gen Z should focus on the following three areas:
- From control to trust: Move away from micromanagement and trust employees to decide how and where they work best.
- From performance to purpose: Redefine success (and visibly acknowledge it) as steady progress toward human-centered goals rather than constant visibility or always-on performance.
- From compliance to connection: Create psychologically safe spaces where employees can voice dissent, ask questions, and propose improvements freely.
Traits such as conscientiousness, agreeableness, and extraversion are not disappearing; they are being recalibrated.
The future of work will favor organizations that understand this distinction. Modern conscientiousness is reflected in staying true to one’s values rather than simply following rules; agreeableness in collaborating based on principles rather than mere politeness; and extraversion in a selective, purposeful manner rather than performative display.
Organizations that adapt roles, culture, and leadership to align with these updated expressions of conscientiousness will be better positioned to engage and retain younger employees.
