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New Research Says We Hold the Power to Change Our Personality Traits

Dr. Benjamin Hardy, an organizational psychologist, just released his new book, “Personality Isn’t Permanent” and his research suggests our personalities can and do change over time. Moreover, Hardy takes his research a step further to reveal that everyone can transform any negative personality trait or habit with consistent effort. This article looks at the latest research, including Hardy’s book, that continues to dispel the long-held narrative that personalities do not change over time and how people have the power to change negative traits in order to live their best lives.

What the Latest Personality Research Reveals

For years personality was considered static – who someone is at 16 is who they would be at 80. However, over the past few decades, this notion has been studied, challenged, and the findings all seem to point to the same conclusion, “We are not the same person for the whole of our life,” says René Mõttus, a psychologist from the University of Edinburgh. “Far from being fixed in childhood, or around the age of 30 as experts thought for years, it seems that our personalities are fluid and malleable (Gorvett, Z., 2020).”

Recent studies show that a person’s traits and behaviors change over time based on many factors, including but not limited to, environmental, genetic, and cognitive orientation – or the way people view the world (Gorvett, Z., 2020). One famous study out of the University of Houston, Texas, examined the personality of almost 1800 subjects at 16 – and then again 50 years later at 66. The goal was to see if the subject’s personalities changed or remained stable from high school to retirement.

The study revealed that patterns of thoughts, feelings, and personalities change, and this change appears to accumulate with time. Additionally, the study also found that those who experienced a significant change in their personality, that the shift was mostly positive. On average, those who changed became more conscientious, emotionally stable, and agreeable (Damian, R.I. et al., 2019).

The Power of Persistence

According to an article in Entrepreneur, Hardy’s overall research demonstrates, “our lifestyles, preferences, attitudes, and character traits are surprisingly fluid. At every stage, our personalities are the result of the decisions and pivotal experiences along with non-decisions and habits we accumulate on the way.” He also took his research a step further and provided evidence that every one of us can change long-held beliefs and traits with consistent effort and, to a degree, sheer will. A prime example discussed in the book is the case of a 13-year-old girl who was deeply moved by a teacher who told his students they could be anything if they had a strong desire to change. The girl thought about her painful shyness, hesitancy to speak up, and her inability to try to make new friends and decided to heed her teacher’s advice. She made a conscious effort to speak up and forced herself to be more visible and vocal, and by the time she graduated from high school, she had an entirely different personality.

Hardy also discussed how his lack of drive and ambition during high school had put a serious strain on his relationships. But a two-year church mission became a pivotal experience that set him on a course of purpose that has influenced his life and accomplishments since. From this experience, Hardy stresses the need for people to break away from self-limiting beliefs and re-write their own stories.

As more research emerges, the evidence is becoming clear – we do change over time. And the best part – if we do not like certain things about our personality, we have the power within us to improve them. As Daniel Gilbert, a famous Harvard psychology professor and author, states in one of his compelling TED Talks on personality, “Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished. We somehow imagine that the person we are right now is the person we’ll be for the rest of time. Hint: that’s not the case.”