Behavioral Grooves Podcast Can You Change Your Personality? | Olga Khazan
Jun 9, 2025
Olga Khazan, a journalist and author known for her insightful writing on health and culture, dives into the transformative potential of personality change. She shares her journey to become more extroverted and emotionally stable through improv and mindfulness. The discussion highlights the tension between nature and nurture, revealing that personality traits can be shaped by our environments. Olga emphasizes the importance of social connections for personal growth and explores the role of music in uplifting our moods.
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Deliberate Personality Change Possible
- Personality traits can be intentionally changed using targeted activities and strategies.
- Olga increased her extroversion and agreeableness and decreased her neuroticism through specific experiments.
Activities to Shift Traits
- To boost extroversion, engage in social activities like improv, sailing, or meetups.
- Reduce neuroticism through various meditation and mindfulness practices.
Nature and Nurture Both Matter
- About half of personality is genetic and half comes from environment and experiences.
- Environment factors like relationships and job influence your personality just as much as genetics.
