The message from the broader scientific literature on personality change is positive. People are adaptive, for example, people’s awareness tends to increase when they take on a demanding role, and their traits recover positively after leaving a difficult relationship, suggesting that we will find a way to cope with what the future awaits us. .
However, Shiner cautions that introverts like me might encounter a particular challenge, at least at first. “During the lockdown, introverts have been able to avoid the social pressure for interaction that is so common in places like the United States, and this can make re-entry difficult,” he says. Her advice is to spend time with “more familiar friends one-on-one or in very small groups, which is certainly more compatible with social distancing anyway, as they navigate re-entry.”
Damian is optimistic about our collective ability to adjust as the blocking measures increase. “I don’t think people should worry about changing their traits back to the previous block,” she says. “I hope that change will happen gradually and naturally for most people, once the environmental pressures change. It will only take time. “
In any case, his advice is not to go back to the old ways. In Texas, where Damian is located, hospitals are at capacity after a surge of new infections after the blockade was lifted. “I think people have adjusted their pre-closing behaviors too quickly, so I wouldn’t recommend that the rest of the world do the same at this point,” she says.
* * Dr. Christian Jarrett is a senior editor at Aeon + Psyche. Her next book, on personality change, will be published in 2021.
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