Personality makes us who we are. It influences nearly every aspect of our lives. But what factors
influence our personality? Can we change our personalities, or do our overall traits remain
constant throughout life? Thanks to all the research made, psychologists have learned a great
deal about the things that influence personality as well as how personality influences our
behaviors.Write an article for the school magazine “Can You Change Your Personality?” in 150-
200 words.

The desire to alter personality is not uncommon. Shy people might wish they were more outgoing and talkative. Hot-tempered individuals might wish they could keep their cool in emotionally charged situations.

Is it really possible to change your personality, or are our basic personality patterns fixed throughout life? While self-help books and websites often tout plans you can follow to change your habits and behaviors, there is a persistent belief that our underlying personalities are impervious to change.

The Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud suggested that personality was largely set in stone by the tender age of 5.1 Even many modern psychologists suggest that overall personality is relatively fixed and stable throughout life.2

 

But what if you want to change your personality? Can the right approach and hard work lead to real personality change, or are we stuck with undesirable traits that hold us back from achieving our goals?

 

Factors That Shape Personality

To understand whether personality can be changed, we must first understand what exactly causes personality. The age-old nature versus nurture debate once again comes into play. Is personality shaped by our genetics (nature) or by our upbringing, experiences, and environment (nurture)? 

In the past, theorists and philosophers often took a one-versus-the-other approach and advocated either for the importance of nature or nurture, but today most thinkers would agree that it is a mixture of the two forces that ultimately shape our personalities.3

 

"In-Between" Qualities of Personality

Some experts, including psychologist Carol Dweck, believe that changing the behavior patterns, habits, and beliefs the lie under the surface of the broad personality traits (e.g., introversion, agreeableness) is the real key to personality change.4

 

Broad traits might be stable through life, but Dweck believes that it is our "in-between" qualities that lie under the surface of the broad traits that are the most important in making us who we are. It is those in-between qualities, she believes, that can be changed.4

So what exactly are these "in-between" parts of personality?

  • Beliefs and belief systems. While changing certain aspects of your personality might be challenging, you can realistically tackle changing some of the underlying beliefs that help shape and control how your personality is expressed.4
  • Goals and coping strategies. For example, while you might have more of a Type A personality, you can learn new coping skills and stress management techniques that help you become a more relaxed person.5

A Word From Verywell

Personality change might not be easy, and changing some broad traits might never really be fully possible. But researchers do believe that there are things you can do to change certain parts of your personality, the aspects that exist beneath the level of those broad traits, that can result in real changes to the way you act, think, and function in your day-to-day life.
 

  • 2
What are you looking for?