Recent Psychological Research: How to Change Your Personality and Improve Your Life?

Can a person change their deep personality traits in just a few weeks?

This question is no longer a theoretical assumption, but is confirmed by recent psychological research and a personal experience shared by journalist Lori Clark published on BBC, revealing that personality is not a fixed fate as previously thought.

* A Personal Experience with Anxiety and Neuroticism

Clark recounts that she noticed a recurring itch in her hand months ago, immediately recalling an article she had read about people suffering from mysterious itching that leads them to scratch their bodies compulsively, sometimes resulting in serious health consequences or even death.

She says she felt a deep panic: “What if I’m one of them?”

This anxiety was not new to her; she admitted to experiencing neurotic episodes almost regularly.

It was not surprising, according to the results of an online personality test, that she scored higher than 85% of participants in the neuroticism trait, which is associated with excessive anxiety, rumination, and emotional instability.

Clark noted that neuroticism had accompanied her since her teenage years, but it began to gradually decline with age, thanks to repeated efforts to reduce self-criticism and stop overanalyzing every social interaction or beating herself up over imagined mistakes.

* The “Big Five” … The Scientific Framework of Personality

Psychologists agree that the “Big Five” model is the most scientifically reliable in explaining personality, dividing it into five main dimensions:

• Openness

• Conscientiousness

• Extraversion

• Agreeableness

• Neuroticism

Each dimension includes several subtraits; for instance, neuroticism encompasses anxiety and emotional instability, while extraversion includes assertiveness and sociability.

* Personality is Not Fixed … Science Revises Its Convictions

In the past, it was commonly believed that personality stabilizes permanently by the age of thirty, but this concept has radically changed, as explained by Brent Roberts, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois and one of the leading researchers in the field of personality, saying:

“Some of our colleagues in the 1980s believed that personality is definitively determined at a certain age, but research over the last three decades has overturned this notion.”

Studies show that people, over time, become less neurotic and more conscientious and agreeable.

Researcher Miriam Steiger from the University of Lucerne in Switzerland explains that these changes are due to biological maturation and the accumulation of life experiences that push individuals to take on adult responsibilities.

* Faster Changes Through Conscious Choices

Most excitingly, according to recent research, is the possibility of accelerating this natural change;

Recent studies have shown that targeted psychological interventions can bring about changes in personality traits in just a few weeks, sometimes in as little as six weeks.

Clark states that neuroticism was her worst trait, but she was not the only one wanting to change it, explaining that most people strive to be more:

• Open

• Conscientious

• Less Neurotic

As for her, she wanted to become less stressed, less overly idealistic, and more agreeable, believing that distrust of others fuels neuroticism.

* Why Do We Want to Change Our Personalities?

Roberts points out that some people even wish to reduce their agreeableness, believing it is associated with weakness, yet research confirms that socially desirable changes in personality are linked to a noticeable improvement in quality of life.

A decrease in neuroticism and an increase in extraversion, in particular, are associated with greater life satisfaction and feelings of happiness.

* Studies Confirming the Possibility of Change

In a significant study in 2019, led by psychologist Nathan Hudson from Southern Methodist University in Texas, college students were asked to choose traits they wished to change and then undertake weekly challenges aimed at modifying their thoughts and behaviors to support those traits.

After 15 weeks, the results showed slight but statistically significant changes in:

• Extraversion

• Conscientiousness

• Neuroticism

However, the change did not include the traits of openness and acceptance, and the more committed the students were to the challenges, the better the results.

In 2021, researcher Miriam Steiger conducted a similar study supported by a smartphone application, resulting in positive changes in extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness, with effects lasting even after three months of follow-up.

* Practical Steps for Changing Personality

Studies have identified a set of simple activities that help modify personality traits, including:

_ Reducing neuroticism

_ Daily meditation

_ Writing gratitude journals

_ Confronting negative thoughts or journaling and analyzing the associated feelings

_ Enhancing social openness

_ Attending events to meet new people

_ Greeting others

_ Speaking openly with a trusted friend

_ Enhancing agreeableness

_ Doing a simple favor for others

_ Replacing criticism with positive phrases

_ Interpreting others' behaviors through external factors instead of judging their characters

_ Enhancing conscientiousness and self-awareness

_ Paying bills promptly

_ Organizing and cleaning the workspace

_ Writing short- and long-term goals

_ Enhancing cultural openness

_ Reading news about other countries

_ Visiting museums or art exhibitions

_ Attending cultural or poetry evenings

* Conclusion

Personality is no longer a closed cage, but a flexible entity that can be shaped.

While change requires awareness and commitment, research confirms that small and continuous steps can bring about real transformations in just a few weeks; transformations that can directly reflect on quality of life and psychological satisfaction.