Chemistry

"New product sales increased by 250%"

"Hiring Accuracy increased by 300%"

"Attrition reduced by 85% in 9 months"

We all talk about our personality as if it is our very soul. We cannot remember a time when we were or felt that different. We say, "It's part of my personality" and "I don't feel any older!" But how stable is personality? How much does it migrate during our lives? Are some elements truly unchangeable while others are not?

As you can imagine, there are thoughts on either side of the debate. What are the arguments and what does the evidence tell us? The question for this month is:

We all talk about our personality as if it is our very soul. We cannot remember a time when we were or felt that different. We say, "It's part of my personality" and "I don't feel any older!" But how stable is personality? How much does it migrate during our lives? Are some elements truly unchangeable while others are not?

As you can imagine, there are thoughts on either side of the debate. What are the arguments and what does the evidence tell us? The question for this month is:

Are we stable?!

Social Psychologists 
Goleman, a leading thinker in the world of social psychology, has worked predominantly in the areas of social and emotional intelligence, believes that there are core traits that remain remarkably stable. Studies show three clear unchangeable traits as:

1.    Anxiety level
2.    Friendliness
3.    Eagerness for new experience

You'll be pleased to know that we measure these 3 key areas in our Orpheus questionnaire - Emotion, Fellowship and Conformity.

These, along with some other traits, remain constant throughout our lives and will help determine the different choices that we make. Even research into the mellowing nature of midlife reflect changes in behaviour and how people deal with their preferences, as opposed to changes in those actual preferences. It appears that a calm and laid back 25 year old will also be a calm and laid back when 65 year old.

However, there are also some other traits that change from age to age. These include such things as  satisfaction, morale and alienation. These are much more affected by the path our lives take, although everyone starts with a basic, underlying temperament.

Most work in social psychology shows that our major personality traits are set at a very young age, with small adjustments occurring throughout our childhood up to the age of 18. After this, very little changes at all, with the exception of emotional intelligence, areas of which we can continue to develop as we have more complex relationships. However, after the age of 30, even these attributes become difficult to work on.

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