Personality Changes

Personality is often considered a fixed characteristic or function within a person's psychology, however, this is far from the case. Personalities can change as much as any other psychological function.

In a previous article, I described the four basic types associated with personalities – thinking, sensation, feeling and intuition. Thinking is concerned with details. Sensation stays focused in the moment, helping us know that something simply exists. Feeling evaluates people and situations, as does the thinking type but does so in a different way. This type uses an inner sense of assessing a situation. For example, it's not unusual to hear a person say: I feel that he is not being honest. Intuition considers possibilities.

In addition, there are two attitudes related to personality: introversion and extraversion. The introvert relates all experiences to her/his inner psychology, while the extravert relates all experiences to the outer world.

Changing the use of these personality traits can be done in two significant ways. First, we can attempt to develop the traits that are not being used. Typically, we use one or two types and one attitude more often than the others. By focusing on the unused traits, which are found in the unconscious (hidden psychology), we can begin to develop the unused traits, as we might exercise our muscles.

Eventually, changes in personality occur due to using the newly developed traits. In this way, a greater balance develops between the new and previously used traits. A person's personality becomes more full and complete.

Personalities also change with aging. As we know, aging produces many natural changes not only in a person's body, but also in person's psychology. As we get older, the unconscious personality traits tend to become more conscious, replacing the more commonly used traits.

This can be troublesome in many ways, since a person is now experiencing life, and expressing her/himself, with a somewhat different personality. Since a person has not attempted to use and develop the unconscious traits earlier in life, these traits seldom develop very much even after becoming active. This change produces less balance between the new and used traits.

One of several troublesome experiences that can follow from the aging change is memory functioning. Since the commonly used traits are being replaced by the unconscious traits, a person's typical way of remembering also is being modified. Since the new traits are less developed, memory suffers.

So, since personality changes appear to be unavoidable, perhaps you can discover your unconscious traits and begin exercising them to become more psychologically balanced.