Can You Really Change Your Personality? w/ Olga Khazan - The Psychology Podcast Recap
Podcast: The Psychology Podcast
Published: 2025-07-31
Duration: 48 min
Summary
In this episode, journalist Olga Khazan discusses her journey of personality change based on scientific research, revealing that while personality traits often feel fixed, they can indeed evolve over time with intentional effort. She shares personal experiences and practical strategies to foster meaningful personality shifts.
What Happened
Olga Khazan, a staff writer for The Atlantic and author of 'Me But Better, The Science and Promise of Personality Change,' joins the podcast to explore the concept of personality and its potential for change. Khazan emphasizes that while personality traits might seem ingrained, they can shift over time, especially when aligned with personal goals. She underscores the idea that personality encompasses our natural thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, but it can be refined and enhanced to facilitate goals such as making friends or getting organized.
Khazan recounts her own year-long experiment aimed at changing her personality due to high levels of anxiety and the impact of COVID-19 on her social life. She sought to expand her social circle and reduce feelings of anxiety and depression. Through her research, she discovered that personality traits contributed significantly to her experiences. The results of her efforts were promising: her extroversion increased, agreeableness improved, and her levels of depression decreased notably, highlighting the potential for therapy and intentional actions to alter personality traits in the long run.
Key Insights
- Personality traits are not as fixed as they seem; they can evolve over time.
- Intentional efforts towards behavior change can lead to significant shifts in personality.
- Social interactions and relationships play a crucial role in personality development.
- Therapeutic approaches can effectively lower anxiety and depression while enhancing personality traits.
Key Questions Answered
What is personality according to Olga Khazan?
Olga Khazan defines personality as the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that come most naturally to an individual. While it may seem like a fixed trait, she argues that these aspects can evolve over time to help individuals achieve their life goals, such as making friends or becoming more organized.
What prompted Olga Khazan to change her personality?
Khazan's motivation stemmed from ongoing struggles with high anxiety levels and a lack of social interaction, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeling isolated and unhappy, she recognized that her personality traits were contributing to her experiences, prompting her to embark on a year-long journey of personal change.
Did Olga's year-long experiment yield positive results?
Yes, Olga reported significant positive changes as a result of her year-long experiment. Her extroversion levels increased, she became more agreeable, and her depressive symptoms decreased notably. She observed that her anxiety also improved and felt that engaging in social activities was key to these shifts.
What strategies did Olga use to change her personality?
Olga drew from research conducted by Nate Hudson, incorporating both pre-written challenges and her own ideas. She committed to social activities like planning lunches and even took an improv class, which pushed her out of her comfort zone and encouraged her to interact with new people consistently.
How does personality change relate to therapy?
Khazan suggests that intentional actions, such as those taken during therapy, can lead to long-term changes in personality traits. She notes that her experience indicates that therapy can indeed help in reducing anxiety and depression, while also fostering improvements in traits like extroversion and agreeableness.