How Much Genetic Influence Does It Have on Your Personality?

4min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

Even modest genetic influences on personality can snowball. People who are lonely have a tendency to show reduced extra aversion and agreeableness at the end of a study. And other is that loneliness tends to make us highly sensitive to social slights and rejection. So i'm prone to interpret anything one does as a slight, even if it drives me further into my shell. There's sort of the downward spirals that can happen with loneliness. Can you think of an example of an upward spiral that we might engage in across any of the personality traits?

Christian Jarrett is the author, editor or contributor to ten books, spanning psychology, neuroscience, self-help and productivity. He is recognized as a chartered psychologist and associate fellow of the British Psychological Society. and is the Deputy Editor of Psyche, a global digital magazine that illuminates the human condition through psychology, philosophical understanding and the arts.

Eric and Christian discuss his latest is Be Who You Want: Unlocking The Science of Personality Change.

But wait, there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you!

Christian Jarrett and I Discuss The Science of Personality and …

His book, Be Who You Want: Unlocking The Science of Personality Change
How some traits are genetic but don’t entirely influence our personality
Deliberate actions can short circuit our innate tendencies
How cognitive and physical exercise builds confidence and encourages open mindedness
The link between mood and personality
Defining mood as the temporary state of how you feel
How extroversion and introversion personalities are affected by habit
The 5 main traits of personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
The maturity principle and how personality traits change as we age
How those who are more open and resilient are less prone to dementia
Social investment theory refers to how the roles we take on in life shape our personality
Will power and the ego depletion theory
The importance of being realistic and honest with ourselves when wanting to change