Personality Traits - changable?

Dolby

Dolby

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Specifically introvert > extrovert?

I've understood that a personality trait of an indivudal is pretty stable ... Something they're born with. It can change 'stretch' and change briefly, but pretty much stable.

What are your opinions? Can they be changed
 
Dolby said:
Specifically introvert > extrovert?

I've understood that a personality trait of an indivudal is pretty stable ... Something they're born with. It can change 'stretch' and change briefly, but pretty much stable.

What are your opinions? Can they be changed
Click to expand...

I think THAT FOR THE LARGER PART, one is not born with it. It is the things / people you were exposed to, that gave you your personality. JMO.
 
i think it can be changed, the more extreme the change obviously the harder it is...
and i think going from extrovert to introvert would be easier than the other way round..
 
I was under the impression one could change temporarily (ie drinks or, as you say, situations).

But you're still either one or the other in the long run?
 
Dolby said:
I was under the impression one could change temporarily (ie drinks or, as you say, situations).

But you're still either one or the other in the long run?
Click to expand...

I think if you can work to understand the genesis of your personality traits, it is possible to overcome the way you've been wired.
 
Dolby said:
I was under the impression one could change temporarily (ie drinks or, as you say, situations).

But you're still either one or the other in the long run?
Click to expand...

Neurologically speaking: new pathways are constantly forming and being broken down. You aren't so much the neurons or how they move but the signal carried within or upon them. So really: personality is as transient as the weather - make of that what you will... I'm going to finish my 3rd beer for the afternoon :)
 
SlinkyMike said:
Is anyone else extroverted at times and introverted at times and is this linked to situations/circumstances?

I don't think it's an absolute, I could be wrong?
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without a doubt.....i tend to wait until i know the ppl around me, feel comfortable etc, then become extroverted..
My first 3 months at my job i was quiet, hardly said a word etc...
Now i run around throwing a ball, playing music, joking etc...
 
tau1z said:
without a doubt.....i tend to wait until i know the ppl around me, feel comfortable etc, then become extroverted..
My first 3 months at my job i was quiet, hardly said a word etc...
Now i run around throwing a ball, playing music, joking etc...
Click to expand...

Yea... I'm like that at first. Being a consultant means that I chop and change environments a lot so sometimes I never fully come out of my shell before moving on.
 
Personology is one of my modules for this semester. I could try send you the study guide if you want it?
 
It can be done. I was an introvert, but have made my way to some sort of middle ground and am happy to stay there. I'm sure if you wanted to you could get past the middle ground all the way to full fledged extrovert. A big help was making friends with other extroverts.
 
Personality Types: The Chameleon

Yes, personalities can switch between styles.

The chameleon personality style:
This is a person who has a core (let's call it) neutral personality style, neither intro or extrovert.
Just pleasantly oscillating along.
But what makes the chameleon exceptional is:
The ability to intuitively mime, adjust and match : any other personality style

Also, I think most personality types are variable, some to a lesser degree
and then everywhere inbetween, then you get for instance, the bipolars, who of course are swinging between the two in varying degrees of intensity over varying periods of time.

Schizoids also have a intro/extrovert cycle going, so do borderline personality disorder personalities.

Introverts can cruise along quietly for most of their lives, yet there are triggers, things that bring out
the extrovert, if only for brief periods at a time, there is also synthetically induced extrovertness - drinking.

As there is synthetic introvertness - dope smokers. (makes extroverts introverts)

Personality flexibility is a good and healthy state of being, (7 billion and growing), making it crucial to social lubricant.

______________
Bipolar. schizoid. borderline personality disorder - The Chameleon :p
 
I'm excluding mental disorders ...
 
Dolby said:
I'm excluding mental disorders ...
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Okay, I was extrovert until my mid twenties, then became introvert gradually, until I became a recluse - which lasted a decade, and now I'm gradually moving towards healthy introvert, so far so good.
 
It depends on how you define introvertedness or extrovertedness in my opinion.

If you are speaking of general shyness (you get extroverts that are shy as well) then I believe that you can change that and become more outgoing. If you are an introvert, you recharge while you are on your own. I am an introvert. I love people and I get along excellent with them but after a good night out I need to be alone to recover and recharge, extroverts get energized by people. I don't believe you can change that.
 
Dolby said:
Specifically introvert > extrovert?

I've understood that a personality trait of an indivudal is pretty stable ... Something they're born with. It can change 'stretch' and change briefly, but pretty much stable.

What are your opinions? Can they be changed
Click to expand...

Well, 80% of who we are, is defined by our genetic traits which we cannot change. The other 20% is modifiable, most definitely

As for your example, get an introvert drunk, or get them to drop E, and watch the change.
It is temporary however.

The 20% of our personalities that can be altered, are most likely done so, by consistant, positive feedback from others, when we act in a different way. This positive feedback compells us to change our previous habbits which did not get as positive feedback as our new strategy. This process takes time, because the brain literally, physically rewires itself to change your logical reasoning and adapt to what you subconsciously believe is better for you.

There is an anomaly however, which seems to be the result of epiphanies etc.
People literally seem to change very quickly, almost instantly. I would love to know how that works, and how to induce it, because I am perfectly aware of issues I have which defy logic, but knowing that they defy logic, and that they are bad for me has not helped me get rid of them, atleast not without constantly facing the irrational, and labelling it as such. It takes time.

I have a feeling however, that epiphanies are a result of something snapping in someones personality, and that is not always healthy, often a result of trauma, and sometimes leads to even more seemingly irrational behaviour.
 
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