Can You Really Change Your Personality?
I spoke with journalist and Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan about the science of personality change.
On the latest episode of The Psychology Podcast I spoke with journalist and Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan about her latest book, Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change.
Olga shares her personal journey experimenting with ways to reshape her own personality—armed with insights from the latest psychological research. Together, we explore whether personality traits like introversion, neuroticism, and even antagonism can truly change over time, and what science says about how we can become better versions of ourselves.
This episode dives into the surprising plasticity of personality, why certain traits are harder to shift than others, and the real-life tools that can help spark meaningful, lasting transformation.
Listen to the full episode here.
Watch trailer here:
At first, I found myself being disappointed to hear Olga say she was low in Agreeableness, but I began to admire her for her determination and efforts at increasing those traits.
I think my automatic reaction was due to personal experience with hostile people and second-hand experience of their impact on the life of family members, colleagues, and clients. I wish that it was easier to change that trait.
People who have antagonistic traits probably think they are protecting themselves from being manipulated, but in effect, their impact on people around them can be so hurtful that it can cause relational trauma. At the end of the day, they tend to push people away and find themselves lonelier than they need to be.
Anyway, thank you for the interview, I gained some new insights!