Chemistry Recruitment

We all talk about our personality as if it is our very soul. We cannot remember a time when we were or felt that different. We say, "It's part of my personality" and "I don't feel any older!" But how stable is personality? How much does it migrate during our lives? Are some elements truly unchangeable while others are not?

As you can imagine, there are thoughts on either side of the debate. What are the arguments and what does the evidence tell us? The question for this month is:

Are we stable?!

The Yes Camp - personality is unchangeable!

Social Psychologists 
Goleman, a leading thinker in the world of social psychology, has worked predominantly in the areas of social and emotional intelligence, believes that there are core traits that remain remarkably stable. Studies show three clear unchangeable traits as:

1.    Anxiety level
2.    Friendliness
3.    Eagerness for new experience

You'll be pleased to know that we measure these 3 key areas in our Orpheus questionnaire - Emotion, Fellowship and Conformity.

These, along with some other traits, remain constant throughout our lives and will help determine the different choices that we make. Even research into the mellowing nature of midlife reflect changes in behaviour and how people deal with their preferences, as opposed to changes in those actual preferences. It appears that a calm and laid back 25 year old will also be a calm and laid back when 65 year old.

However, there are also some other traits that change from age to age. These include such things as  satisfaction, morale and alienation. These are much more affected by the path our lives take, although everyone starts with a basic, underlying temperament.

Most work in social psychology shows that our major personality traits are set at a very young age, with small adjustments occurring throughout our childhood up to the age of 18. After this, very little changes at all, with the exception of emotional intelligence, areas of which we can continue to develop as we have more complex relationships. However, after the age of 30, even these attributes become difficult to work on.

The No Camp - Personality does change

Behavioural Theorists
Behaviourists study observable actions and their explanations of personality focus on how we learn to be who we are.

Skinner, a thought-leading behaviourist, believed that the environment determined behaviour. While he accepted that people have certain response tendencies, he ultimately felt that we are taught to behave in a way that is suitable for our family, community and society. Behaviours treated positively increase as we grow up and those treated negatively decline. In this way, we are constantly changing throughout our lives.

Bandura, an advocate and theorist in social-cognitive learning, worked with Skinner's theories. He found from his work with young children that p eople tend to imitate models that they like and admire or who they feel are similar to them.

Mischel, who has worked with social learning and psychological models, claimed that both play some part. More than other behaviourists, Mischel accepted that people are born with innate temperaments and characteristics. However, his work also showed that situation and context have a strong effect on behaviour. He claimed that personality results from a two-way interaction between born characteristics and environmental influences. He called this process Reciprocal Determinism.

The Fence sitters - we can't decide!

Psychiatrists
Some work by psychiatrists has also unearthed some interesting findings. A study was conducted using commonly used anti-depressants on mentally healthy men and women. The objective of the study was to understand if they would have any observable effect on a normal brain.

The results showed that the individuals scored lower on surveys measuring hostility and were observably more co-operative. A control group showed no changes. This outcome shows that aspects of normal personality could be changed by pharmaceuticals that act on particular neural pathways. In theory, we could take relevant drugs to change our personality preferences. Yes, the dawn of designer personalities!

This means that at least some personality traits are ‘hard-wired' into our neural pathways. However, it also suggests that small changes in chemicals have the ability to measurably change these.

What do we believe?

Most people tend to be fence sitters, believing that they are in part the person they were born to be, and they are in part the output of their upbringing, experiences and choices.

However, if you like to be a bit controversial, feel free to get off the fence into whichever garden!