Can you actually change your personality as an adult?
in Psychology ·
rapidgull3 said:Is an adult's personality truly unchangeable because it’s a biological fact, or just because people lack the patience to try and retrain them? If the former is true, then the behaviors we picked up as kids are essentially set in stone for life. It would mean the old saying "a leopard can't change its spots" is actually right, reducing us to nothing more than our genetic programming. But if it's the latter—if we just stop trying—then that’s a pretty depressing thought.
I honestly think people don't really change at their core. Throughout life, people get good at playing along with social norms and masking who they really are just to fit in better... but that fundamental nature you develop as a kid? That stays there. It never truly goes away, and eventually, it always finds a way to slip through the cracks...