Do we really change, or do we just get better at hiding who we are?

I think as we get older we do change and hopefully for the better, believe as we mature we tend to hide less because we have a much better idea who we are.

Depends on the age.
A child usually says what comes to mind.
By adulthood we learn to have different faces for different situations.
By the elder years you learn you can't please everybody and what other people think you care less about.
The later elder years, your back to just saying what comes to mind.

I think there are many facets to one person and we gain them as we go through life. Something can switch on or off under certain circumstances but the core stays the same for most people.

The older I get, the less I care about shielding others from what they're old enough to suck it up and deal with. I'm doing the same in terms of everyone else and their life choices, so I feel they can and should return the favor.

I'm not bothering anyone therefore they can mind their business and keep their opinions to themselves or someone who isn't me.🤷🏾‍♀

Habits determine behaviour. Thinking a certain way reinforces that thought pattern. People do change through repition. It just takes a very long time. Repitition of a new belief will reinforce it but it takes a while and external positive reinforcement. thats why therapists exist.

Some people do and some people don't. Some people adapt and learn how to hide who they are because it does not serve them and their interaction with other people. And some people change who they are for the better because they realize it does not serve them to interact with people in that way. And some people neither adapt nor change but continue to be someone who doesn't care regardless of whether it hurts themselves or hurts others. Or sometimes it's just too hard to change or they don't know how to change or they just don't want to change.

No one undergoes a complete change of personality, i think. New Circumstances or their response to those new circumstances can modify the way they present to the world, but are they fundamentally different? I think not.

People are capable of learning, usually from mistakes that cost them.. But not everyone does. Some choose to blame others, which may not be the point, if the cost still falls on you..😷

It's going to look different for everyone. Some change in superficial ways some change perspectives which can change them . Some evolve some de-evolve

I think it depends on how much of yourself you're willing to see and heal.

some people change some stay the same

Both, either or not really at all. Depends on the person.