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More neurotic, less agreeable, less conscientious: how job insecurity shapes your personality
Job insecurity
The psychological effect of job insecurity can last a lifetime.
Studies have shown a causal relationship between unemployment and mental health. However, the effect of job insecurity has been less researched. One large-scale study suggests job insecurity over a prolonged period can change your personality.
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Key Ideas
Our personalities can change
Many of us think our personality is fixed and unchangeable.
But according to a recent study, while our early personalities may provide a baseline, they are pliable as we age. People's personality traits may change drastically over time.
Why personality changes matter
Thinking of personality as fixed could leave us feeling like we can never grow or dismiss people with certain qualities, believing that change isn't possible. However, we don't simply change our personalities in random ways. The relationship among all of our personality traits seems to be more consistent.
If someone was really conscientious but slightly disagreeable, they might keep that personality profile as they age, even if their other traits changed a bit.
Our personalities are a mix
Personality seems to change cumulative over our lifespan and likely happens in response to our life experiences. Therefore our personalities are a mix of stable and unstable.
- Parents and teachers should keep that in mind when they try to influence a child's personality.
- Even the elderly, whom we might expect to be more set in their ways, can change.
- Partners would be better served by learning to value what remains constant in someone's personality while embracing personality shifts as they happen.
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Key Ideas
The Dark Side Of Self Control
Agreeable, organized individuals seem to have a suppressed, dark side in their personality.
Model citizens, and people with high self-control, and those who are resistant to impulsive behaviour in daily life, maybe âburstingâ out their inner desires in one go all of a sudden, letting go of their willpower and even morality.
Self Control And Moral Character
People with high levels of self-control are generally seen to be healthy, well-rounded individuals who are ideally less likely to act violently or aggressively.
New research shows that this behaviour pattern may be to gain acceptance and tread the social norms as a means to oneâs end, being selfish and self-centred in private.
High Self-Control
People with high self-control have a surprising behavioural trait of being shrewd and cruel according to various studies:
- They are more likely to cover up an anti-social act to avoid getting caught, like for dangerous driving.
- They ended up being keener to kill hundreds of bugs in a grinder, without any feeling of remorse.
- They electrocuted their opponents in a TV game to a much higher degree than others, not knowing that the electrocution is being feigned by the contestant.
But more research needs to be done before we slot someoneâs moral values and behavioural traits into predictable patterns.
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Key Ideas
The Big Five
- Openness to experiences
- Conscientiousness
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Openness to Experience
It describes people who enjoy the arts and new experiences. Possible facets:
- Fantasy: they have a vivid imagination
- Aesthetics: they believe in the importance of art
- Feelings: They experience emotions intensely
- Actions: They prefer variety to routine
- Ideas: they like complex problems
- Values: they tend to vote for liberals.
Conscientiousness
People that score high on this are organized, methodical and tend to keep going and going. Possible facets:
- Competence: they complete tasks successfully
- Order: they like order
- Dutifulness: the follow the rules
- Achievement-striving: they work hard
- Self-discipline: they get chores done right away
- Deliberation: they avoid mistakes.