For a long time it was believed that our personality is a set of stable characteristics. But is it? Perhaps we can change faster than we think. Psychologist Jill Sutty says.
I am an extrovert. I build energy by interacting with others rather than sitting alone. I like discussing ideas with friends rather than thinking them over alone.
Extraversion is one of the “big five” personality traits that psychologists say shape personality. It also includes benevolence, conscientiousness, neuroticism (and the opposite pole – emotional stability) and openness to new experience. It is believed that these traits become stable when we become adults. They may change, but change happens gradually. Personality traits influence our social relationships, success, mental and physical health, and other areas of life.
But in 2017, psychologists at the University of Chicago published a study that suggests that personality is much more fluid than we think. Scientists analyzed more than 200 clinical studies in an attempt to understand how different types of psychotherapy and drug treatment influenced the character of people with mental illness.
It turned out that personality traits change in a relatively short period of time, from two to 16 weeks of treatment, and these changes are quite stable. Participants experienced an increase in extraversion and a decrease in neuroticism. Compliance and consciousness also gradually increased. The results surprised the author of the study, psychology professor Brent Roberts: “We did not even imagine that personality traits could be changed in just a few weeks or months. Years, yes, but months!”
The degree of personality change is affected by the reason the client seeks help.
The analysis showed that the changes were not temporary. They persisted for a long time after the end of treatment. It was about a real change in personality, not a temporary change in mood that occurs when symptoms of depression or anxiety are relieved.
“Psychotherapists do more than just help patients improve their well-being, for example, by relieving symptoms of depression,” emphasizes Brent Roberts. “They are also arming clients with a tool to help them out of therapy.”
It is important that the degree of personality changes is influenced by the reason the client seeks help. Patients with anxiety disorder and personality disorders have changed the most. Least of all patients abused drugs, alcohol or suffered from eating disorders. Scientists have not been able to determine the cause of the differences.
The results of the study suggest that we should reconsider the idea of personality. We think that a person is a set of stable characteristics, but this statement does not seem to be always true. The next step is to figure out how changes occur during therapy. Perhaps the reason is not in specific methods of treatment, but in the fundamental principle of psychotherapy: doctors give the patient care and attention, and this starts the process of positive changes.
About the Developer
Jill Suttie – Doctor of Psychology, editor of Greater Good, published by the University of California at Berkeley.
Source: Greater Good Magazine.