Hello Phase blog! It's been a while.
Recently, I read Quiet by Susan Cain. The subtitle of the book is The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I'm hugely introverted. You might say I was easily sold on this book (though I think it's an equally important read for extroverts, too)!
You can find it here if you're interested. Or, of course, check out your local library.
Anyway, this might not be the last blog you read from me on something I learnt while reading Quiet. I loved it.
In the book, Susan Cain discusses a personality theory that I found particularly compelling, and I wanted to briefly blog about it today.
In the 1990s, a research psychologist named Dr Brian Little published papers outlining "Free Trait Theory." It is a theory that builds upon the Big Five personality model. If you haven't heard of the Big Five, essentially the idea is that each of us has a personality that uniquely dances across five key continuums: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. You can use the OCEAN acronym to help you remember.
There is/was a debate in personality theory between person and situation. Funnily enough, it is/was called the person-situation debate. The debate is/was all about whether a person's behaviour is shaped to a greater degree by their innate personality or the situation they find themselves in. "Interactionism" has largely settled the debate. Hence my use of is/was. Essentially, most modern psychologists believe that our behaviour is shaped by the interaction between our innate traits and our situation, rather than one or the other (most people credit Walter Mischel as the catalyst for this consensus).
Free Trait Theory works on the basis that we do have an inbuilt personality. In other words, one individual may be naturally more introverted than extroverted, and their brain may be predisposed to negative emotions (neuroticism). However, Dr Brian Little contends that we can override our innate personality to some extent when we find ourselves in a situation that aligns with our passions or interests, even if it's a situation that's out of our comfort zone.
This resonates with me.
Earlier, I said I'm introverted. I always have been. At school, I was frequently described as "shy" (which is not the same as introversion), "sensitive", and "quiet". Fortunately, my interest in football saved me from at least some of the usual ridiculous hardships a male teenager with these traits is likely to face. I digress - that is a blog for another time.
In my work at Phase, I am constantly working with people, presenting in front of a class or year group, and chatting to volunteers or teachers. How? I'm shy, sensitive, and quiet. How have I acquired the seemingly impossible (given my personality) skills of presenting and public speaking without burning out? Dr Brian Little would contend that it is because I'm using these skills to support my passions and interests. Public speaking, presenting, and leading groups are "free traits" I have been able to learn because my work aligns with my values.
I have always felt drawn to helping people, and I love supporting children and young people through their time at school. This has probably enabled me to acquire skills and walk into situations that I wouldn't have been able to if I was doing something I didn't care about. This is actually so, so amazing to reflect on. I can't stress enough how cool I find this discovery.
I want to remind you that this works in the other direction, too. If you are an extrovert with a passion for science, I'm sure that passion would assist you in overriding your innate personality to do independent research all day without becoming mind-numbingly bored.
On the contrary, if you try to acquire skills that are both uncomfortable and uninteresting, you will likely hit a brick wall pretty quickly. I guess that's probably a pretty obvious sentence, to be fair.
The key learning here is that we shouldn't limit ourselves to careers or situations that match our innate personality. Consider your passions and interests, too. They are absolutely vital for enabling you to step out of your comfort zone in a sustainable way.
If you want to read more about Free Trait Theory, I'm sure you can do some Googling. You're likely to run into details about high and low self-monitors and other cool stuff. Before I end, there is one more detail I would like to outline here. That is "restorative niches."
Restorative niches are the places you go to and things you do to recharge your batteries if your passions and interests have led you into situations that are out of your natural personality comfort zone. With this idea, Dr Brian Little reminds us that our passions cannot completely override our personality. We all need a regular return to our biological and neurological safe spaces in order to recharge. These safe spaces will look very different depending on how your innate personality dances along those Big Five continuums.
So, next time you do something impossible, ask yourself, "Does this align with my passions?"
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