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According to hundreds of websites across the Internet, your personality is 100% something you're born with.
根据互联网上数百个网站里的内容显示，你的性格是与生俱来的。
So whether you get hyped up by huge crowds or people tire you out… well, you just have to deal with it.
所以，无论你和一大群人在一起时会激动兴奋，还是感觉疲惫不堪，你都得去应对。
Except, like many things online, that isn't true.
但是，就像网上的很多事情一样，这并不是真的。
Research suggests that you can change your personality if you're willing to work for it.
研究表明，如果你愿意为之努力，你可以改变自己的性格。
You just have to know how.
你只需要知道怎么改变。
Today, most psychologists define personality as the automatic pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that come out in certain situations and that change from person to person.
今天，大多数心理学家将人格定义为思想、情感和行为的自动模式，这些思想、情感和行为会在特定的情况下出现，还会在人与人之间发生变化。
In other words, if you're an extravert and get energized by being around people, you probably don't walk into a party and go, "Time to act extraverted! Pa-pow!"
换言之，如果你是一个外向的人，和别人待在一起会让你精力充沛，那么你在走进一个派对时，不会说“现在要表现得外向点了！变身！”
You just do it automatically.
你只是会很自动地去做。
Especially in the early days of psychology, many scientists did think these traits stayed the same throughout your lifetime.
尤其是在心理学发展的早期，许多科学家认为这些特征在人的一生中都保持不变。
That could be because plenty of people thought personality was only determined by tiny differences in your brain and nervous system.
这可能是因为很多人认为，性格只是由大脑和神经系统的微小差异决定的。
Today, though, most researchers agree there's much more to the story.
但现在，大多数研究人员都认为情况要复杂得多。
Recent studies do suggest that some of your personality is related to your genetics, but there are plenty of other factors, too.
最近的研究确实表明，某些性格与遗传有关，但也有很多其他的因素。
Many of these studies break down personality using the five-factor model, or the Big Five.
许多研究都是采用五因素模型或大五因素模型来分解人格。
It puts personality traits into five general categories: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and neuroticism.
这种模型将人格特征分为五大类：外向性、宜人性、认真性、开放性和神经质性。
That last one is also sometimes called emotional stability.
最后一类有时也称为情绪稳定性。
The degree to which each of these traits shows up in your personality is pretty stable, for the most part.
在很大程度上，这些特征在性格中的表现相当稳定。
But it does change throughout your life.
但确实会在你的一生中改变。
For example, as people age, studies suggest that they tend to become more conscientious.
比如，研究表明随着年龄增长，人们会变得更加认真。
And life events like getting married have been shown to increase emotional stability.
像结婚这样的生活事件已经被证明可以增加情绪的稳定性。
So, sure, your personality can change.
所以，性格是可以改变的。
But the real question is, can you change it on purpose, without waiting for your life to change?
但真正的问题是，你能刻意去改变性格，而不是等待生活发生变化吗？
Well, yeah!
可以的！
For some people, that's actually the goal of therapy.
对一些人来说，这实际上是治疗的目标。
Like, someone might start counseling to help them become more social or more organized and on-task.
比如，有人开始咨询，可能是想帮助他们变得更爱社交或更具有组织性、更加专注。
But there also seems to be other ways to do it.
但似乎还有其他的方法可以做到这一点。
Let's say you want to become more extraverted, because you're sick of being tired out by big parties.
假设你想变得更加外向，因为你厌倦了参加大聚会时感到筋疲力尽。
Well, good news: Extraversion seems to be one of the more malleable traits out there.
好消息是：外向性似乎是一个更具可塑性的特质。
Take the results of a 2015 study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
以2015年发表在《性格与社会心理学期刊》上的一项研究结果为例。
In it, researchers had 151 undergraduates choose specific traits they wanted to change, make specific goals to accomplish that, then work toward these goals over a period of four months.
在这篇文章中，研究人员让151名大学生选择他们想要改变的特定特质，制定具体的目标来实现这一目标，然后在四个月中朝着目标努力。
Throughout that time, they checked in by occasionally taking the same self-guided personality test.
在这段时间里，他们偶尔会接受相同的自我引导人格测试。
In the end, those tests showed that participants were successful at boosting their levels of extraversion and emotional stability.
最后，这些测试表明，参与者在提高外向性和情绪稳定性方面取得了成功。
A 2018 study with almost 400 participants did something similar over the same timeframe.
2018年的一项研究中，近400名参与者在相同的时间段内做了类似的事情。
But instead of letting participants make their own goals, they got to sign up for a few "challenges" every week that helped them change their chosen traits.
但是，他们不是让参与者制定自己的目标，而是每周报名参加一些“挑战”，帮助他们改变自己选择的特征。
For example, someone who wanted to become more extraverted might be challenged to have a conversation with a stranger.
例如，想要变得更外向的，可以把与陌生人交谈作为挑战。
When it was all said and done, most people were able to increase their extraversion, emotional stability, and conscientiousness if they completed the challenges, but not their openness or agreeableness.
大多数人如果完成了挑战内容，他们的外向性、情绪稳定性和认真性都能够提升，但开放性或宜人性却不行。
Of course, that's not to say you can't improve those traits.
当然，这并不是说你无法改善这些特质。
The 2015 study saw similarly mixed results, and those authors pointed out that they could be due to small sample sizes.
2015年的研究也看到了类似的混合效果，研究的作者指出，这可能是因为样本量小所致。
Overall, though, the authors' takeaway was that you seem to be able to change your personality if you want to.
不过，总的来说，作者的结论是如果你愿意的话，似乎可以改变自己的性格。
But before you click away from this video and try this for yourself, know that some methods for doing this are likely better than others.
但是，在你点击离开这个视频并自己尝试之前，你要知道某些方法可能比其他方法更好。
Like, in a different 2018 study, scientists didn't have people set specific goals.
比如，在2018年的另一项研究中，科学家没有让人们设定具体的目标。
They just asked some participants—who were both introverts and extraverts—to act extraverted for a full week.
他们只是要求一些既内向又外向的参与者在一周内表现出外向性。
And it wasn't all sunshine and roses.
结果并不都是美好的。
The participants who were naturally introverted reported feeling less happy and more tired than the extraverted group.
与外向组相比，天生内向的参与者感到不快乐，也感觉更累。
Maybe most understandably of all, they also said they felt less authentic.
也许最合乎常理的是，他们还说觉得自己不够真实。
This suggests that just acting differently isn't a great way to change your personality.
这表明，仅仅以不同的方式行事并不是改变性格的好方法。
Instead, the key might be to find specific actions that can help you practice your chosen trait.
关键可能是要找到具体的操作方式，帮助实践所选择的特质。
So, if you want to be more extraverted, don't just throw your alone time out the window.
所以，如果你想更加外向，不要抛弃你的独处时间。
Start small—maybe by setting a goal to finally invite that coworker to coffee.
从小事做起，或许是设定一个目标，最终能够邀请同事喝咖啡。
Or if you want to be more conscientious, you could practice that by volunteering to take on a project at work.
或者，如果你想更加认真，可以通过自愿参加工作中的某个项目来实践。
Ultimately, you probably can change parts of your personality if you want to.
最终，如果你愿意的话，可能会改变部分性格。
But it seems to be just like any other goal: You have to make it concrete, and you have to take specific steps to get there.
但这似乎和其他目标一样：必须使它具体化，采取具体步骤去实现。
Thanks to our patrons on Patreon for supporting this episode of SciShow!
感谢我们在Patreon上的赞助人支持这一集的心理科学秀！
Every contribution you make helps us do more research, make more graphics, and produce more episodes like this one.
你所做的每一点贡献都能帮助我们做更多的研究，制作更多的图片和类似的剧集。
Basically, you're the best.
你是最棒的。
If you want to join our Patreon community and help us make more episodes, you can go to patreon.com/scishow.
如果你想加入我们的Patreon社区并帮助我们制作更多的剧集，可以访问patreon.com/scishow。
