Do personalities change?
I was told recently that they don't. And I could not argue against that more than I did.
What about "shaping"? What about Pavlov and his dog? Or Skinner and his reinforcements?
These two social scientists demonstrated that people can change. Can is to be emphasized. And yet, I was told people don't change.
I have been intensely studying the MBTI test, understanding its framework. This is a test based on the characteristics that the self-reporting person sees him/ her endowed with.
People do change. If they want to. My sample set for the basis of this statement is statistically insignificant, however, I have observed that those who reported change in their personalities reported this after some crisis hit them. A break up, a firing from the job, a family crisis, puberty, college, moving away from parents.
The point is people change when they want to. I think it is a myth that people remain the same. They do not. The way they see the world changes. Man does not live in isolation. Being social, he interacts with his environment and cognizes this interaction to make meaning out of it and behaves accordingly. This cognitive process changes his attitudes and value systems.
However, the easy way out always is to say, "I am like this, you are like that." Inertia I believe. Or taking the easier route. Sounds similar to the advice given to Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi. Sound advice, I must say. But till what level? In what all contexts? Does that apply to casual relationships? Does that apply to marriage? Does that apply to relationships with family? With society?
I was told recently that they don't. And I could not argue against that more than I did.
What about "shaping"? What about Pavlov and his dog? Or Skinner and his reinforcements?
These two social scientists demonstrated that people can change. Can is to be emphasized. And yet, I was told people don't change.
I have been intensely studying the MBTI test, understanding its framework. This is a test based on the characteristics that the self-reporting person sees him/ her endowed with.
People do change. If they want to. My sample set for the basis of this statement is statistically insignificant, however, I have observed that those who reported change in their personalities reported this after some crisis hit them. A break up, a firing from the job, a family crisis, puberty, college, moving away from parents.
The point is people change when they want to. I think it is a myth that people remain the same. They do not. The way they see the world changes. Man does not live in isolation. Being social, he interacts with his environment and cognizes this interaction to make meaning out of it and behaves accordingly. This cognitive process changes his attitudes and value systems.
However, the easy way out always is to say, "I am like this, you are like that." Inertia I believe. Or taking the easier route. Sounds similar to the advice given to Alia Bhatt in Dear Zindagi. Sound advice, I must say. But till what level? In what all contexts? Does that apply to casual relationships? Does that apply to marriage? Does that apply to relationships with family? With society?
