“Almost everyone wishes to modify their personality in some way,” is the straight-shooting opener to a new paper that promises to detail four mechanisms by which you too could achieve lasting change. But we wouldn’t want you to go in with lofty expectations – the scientists say that small adjustments are the most you can realistically hope for.
People have been fascinated by the vagaries of human personality since time immemorial. If you can wade through the inevitable pseudoscience, there are legitimate tests psychologists use to categorize different personality types, and a body of research has shed light on how personality factors can have a real impact on someone’s life trajectory.
But once you’ve discovered your dominant traits, are you stuck with them? Or is it really possible to change your personality for good? In a new review, Professor Joshua J. Jackson of Washington University in St. Louis and Dr Amanda J. Wright of the University of Zurich suggest that yes, you can, and detail four research-backed mechanisms.
For each element of your personality you’d like to modify, you need to identify four things. Preconditions are the tools you need within yourself to make the change. Then follows setting your environment up in the right way to help the change stick, acknowledging both the triggers and the reinforcers. Finally, there are the integrators, which will help support your desired change in as many places as possible.
Sounds simple? Maybe. But in reality, this kind of work is difficult and fraught with pitfalls.
While following this pathway could indeed help new personality habits become automatic over time, there are strong drivers towards keeping personality stable that you will have to fight against.
“Merely wanting to change is not enough. In general, personality is a very consistent and stable system, so it should be no surprise that intervening in and changing personality is difficult,” the review authors write.
But if you really do feel that an aspect of your personality is holding you back, a framework like this can be a good starting point. Speaking to Medical News Today, registered psychologist Dr Emily Moore, who was not involved in the review, explained that in her view, these four mechanisms constitute “a rough outline for how to begin modifying your personality.”
However, she cautioned that it’s important to first interrogate why you want to make a change.
“If you feel like you should be more extraverted because it is socially valued and not because it feels personally meaningful to you, it is unlikely that you will be able to maintain that conscious will throughout the process of change,” Moore said.
So as long as you’re doing it for the right reasons, these four steps could genuinely help you make a small change in your personality over time. Sometimes, though, it can be less about consciously deciding to change your personality, and more about hanging on to a change that’s occurred organically.
The review authors explain that major life events, such as starting a new job, moving countries, or becoming a parent, can provide all four mechanisms to engender change, but particularly triggers and reinforcers. If someone then decides they like what they see in their personality, they may be able to take active steps towards integrating those changes more permanently.
It’s worth remembering that some people may have very good reasons for wanting to be less anxious, or more outgoing, for example. The takeaway is that personality does not necessarily have to be static – changes are possible, and there are some evidence-backed ways to achieve them.
But the authors stress there are still lots of open questions, and much more research is needed in this area. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, and any changes will take time. Fundamentally, they write, “a person is not able to become someone completely different.”
The study is published in Nature Reviews Psychology.
[H/T: Medical News Today]
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