The overall finding of this study suggests that experiencing a divorce is unlikely to lead to permanent personality change

Does divorce change your personality? Examining the effect of divorce occurrence on the Big Five personality traits using panel surveys from three countries. Sascha Spikic, Dimitri Mortelmans, Inge Pasteels. Personality and Individual Differences, October 27 2020, 110428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110428

Rolf Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1321146475779399687

Abstract: Experiencing a divorce can be challenging and have a lasting impact on people's lives, but does it change your personality? By making use of large panel surveys from Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom, intra-individual change in the Big Five personality traits of those who separated during a four-year observation, was compared to that of those who remained married. We tested the replicability of divorce-induced personality change across the three country samples, while also examining gender differences and separation duration. Latent difference score models mostly indicated that divorce is not a consistent predictor of personality change, as only isolated effects were found, and these could not be replicated across samples. Aside from the overall lack of replicable effects a few isolated effects were detected that offer some support for a modified version of the social investment principle. Nonetheless, the overall finding of this study suggests that experiencing a divorce is unlikely to lead to permanent personality change.

Keywords: Personality changeDivorceBig FiveSocial investment theoryLatent difference score