Does our character change over time

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Character directly affects how we behave in different circumstances, and therefore, our entire life in general. Interestingly, personality traits are given to us once and for all or change over time? And can we ourselves influence them?

Why do people do this and not another? We usually explain this by character, special personality traits, patterns of thinking and behavior inherent in this person, which are consistently manifested in different situations.

The influence of character on behavior has been the subject of intense debate among psychologists since the 1960s. Some of them believed that it was the circumstances that had the greatest influence on our behavior. Some have even argued that personality traits are a figment of our imagination and in reality they do not exist at all.

But in the past two decades, more and more research confirms that personality traits are real. How others perceive and describe a person says a lot about their behavior.

The influence of personality traits on our actions is easiest to notice if we observe behavior in different circumstances. In each individual situation, we are influenced by the character, the environment, and other factors: thoughts, feelings, goals. But personality traits will manifest themselves one way or another. For example, one person almost always comes on time, while another, on the contrary, is constantly late.

In every language of the world there are thousands of words describing a person's character, but most of them can be divided into five main groups:

1. Extraversion:open, assertive, energetic or calm, withdrawn.
2. Benevolence:compassionate, polite, gullible or indifferent, loving to argue.
3. Conscientiousness:neat, hardworking, responsible or disorganized, absent-minded.
4. Negative emotions: prone to discouragement and mood swings or calm, cheerful.
5. Susceptibility: inquisitive, artistic, imaginative, or uninterested in aesthetics and abstract ideas.

Although personality traits are relatively stable over time, they can gradually change throughout life. Many argue that people tend to be more compliant, conscientious, and emotionally stable as they get older. But these changes occur over decades, not a couple of days or weeks. Sudden, abrupt changes are extremely rare.

Personality traits can have an impact on a person's entire life. When conducting experiments using scientific tests, you can predict how character will affect certain areas of our lives:

• performance at school and at work;
• relationships with family, friends and other half;
• life satisfaction and emotional well-being;
• health and life expectancy.

Of course, these areas are influenced by life's circumstances, and not entirely dependent on personality traits. Nevertheless, character has a profound effect on our lives and helps explain why two people, in the same circumstances, end up with different results.

Consider one of the most important and potentially difficult life decisions: who to choose as a life partner. Researchers who have followed couples for years have come to the conclusion that a responsible and emotionally stable spouse must be chosen for a strong and long-lasting marriage.

But scientists have not figured out everything there is to know about personality traits. For example, it is known that character can change, and usually this happens gradually and for the better. However, the reasons for the changes are still unknown.

Perhaps this is due to the importance of social roles. When we try on a certain social role that requires us to behave accordingly (for example, at work you need to be hardworking and responsible), over time, this behavior pattern is integrated into our personality.

Research by Nathan Hudson and Chris Fraley in 2015 confirms that people can change their character if they continually strive to achieve their goals. Positive personality changes happen faster when people see meaning and joy in their lives.