Can You Change Your Personality?
A new review of many studies suggests that our
personality isn't as unchangeable as we think.
I’m an extrovert—or so I’ve been told. I’m
generally more energized by being with other people than alone, and I like to
bounce ideas off of my friends rather than ponder them on my own.
Extroversion (versus introversion) is one of
the “Big Five” personality traits that psychologists have identified as key to
one’s personality. Along with the other four traits—openness to new
experiences, agreeableness or the concern for social
harmony, conscientiousness or self-discipline, and neuroticism or
emotional instability—our level of extroversion is considered somewhat “fixed”
by the time we reach adulthood, only incrementally changing over time.
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Scientists believe that personality traits
not only determine what we are like, but may also impact our social
relationships, work experiences, mental and physical health, and other aspects of our life.
But a recently published study suggests that our “personality” may be more
changeable than we think.
Researchers at the University of Chicago
analyzed over two hundred studies to see how different types of psychotherapy
and pharmaceutical drug treatments impact personality traits for people with
mental-health issues. Though clinical studies don’t usually aim to change them,
personality traits are often measured anyway, making it possible to observe
shifts.
Results from their analysis showed that
within relatively short periods of time—as little as 2-16 weeks of
therapy—personality traits did indeed shift, in positive and
lasting ways. In particular, neuroticism went down and extroversion went up
significantly, with conscientiousness and agreeableness rising incrementally, too.
Openness was the only trait that didn’t seem to change much.
This result surprised lead author of the
study and developmental psychologist Brent Roberts.
“It wasn’t even within our imagination that
personality traits are things that would change over a period of weeks or
months,” he said. “We’re pretty comfortable with the idea that personality
traits could develop over the course of years, but not something shorter than
that.”
Further analyses suggested that these changes
in personality were not temporary, but lasted long after the therapeutic
treatments had finished—at least in those studies that did long-term follow-up
analyses. In addition, the shifts in personality seemed to reflect actual
changes in general traits, not just a temporary change in mood, such as the
alleviation of depression or anxiety.
According to Roberts, these changes are
significant because of the way that personality traits like conscientiousness
and neuroticism are tied to our relationships, work, and health. If therapeutic
interventions change personality, they could have far-reaching significance in
other areas of life.
Perhaps surprisingly, the type of therapy
used—cognitive-behavioral or supportive therapy, for example—did not seem to
matter to the results. This suggests that no one therapy was more effective in
shifting personality traits than another, and that patients may be changing in
ways that their therapists don’t specifically target (and may not even
realize).
“Not only are therapists making patients feel
better—by reducing their depression, for example—they’re arming them with tools
that may help them as they move forward,” says Roberts. “For the most part,
that hasn’t really been in anyone’s imagination.”
The client’s reason for entering
therapy did impact the level of personality change, though.
Those who sought therapy for anxiety or personality disorders (such as
borderline personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder) changed
the most, while those with substance abuse and eating disorders changed the
least. It’s not clear why that is, especially since personality disorders are
considered as difficult to treat as substance abuse. But it does suggest that
not everyone is able to change to the same degree and that more research is
needed to uncover why.
Overall, these results imply that we might
need to reconsider what we mean by personality. Though we may think of our
personalities as the stable parts of who we are, it’s clear that that’s not
necessarily true.
Roberts hopes that his findings will spark new
research into how change happens during therapy. It could be that personality
changes not because of specific therapeutic techniques, but because of
something common to all therapy, like the positive attention
and care that therapists give to patients.
Whatever the case, Roberts believes his
results could throw a monkey wrench into personality research.
“There are some people in my field who don’t
believe in personality, and some who don’t believe personality changes,” says
Roberts. “I’m saying that, not only do personality traits exist, you can change
them. It kind of screws with everyone’s worldview.”
By Jill Suttie
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_you_change_your_personality?utm_source=GGs+Newsletter+Feb+23%2C+2017&utm_campaign=GG+Newsletter+Feb+23+2017&utm_medium=email
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