Excerpt:
When participants answered questions about their personality in a sad state, they scored “considerably” higher on trait neuroticism, and “moderately” lower on extraversion and agreeableness, as compared with when they completed the questionnaire in a neutral mood state. There was also a trend for participants to score higher on extraversion when in a happy mood, but this didn’t reach statistical significance. The weaker effect of happy mood on personality may be because people’s supposed baseline mood (after the neutral video) was already happy. Alternatively, perhaps sad mood really does have a stronger effect on personality scores than happiness. This would make sense from a survival perspective, the researchers said, because sadness is usually seen as a state to be avoided, while happiness is a state to be maintained. “Change is more urgent than maintenance,” they explained.
These results complement previous research suggesting that a person’s personality traits are associated with more frequent experience of particular emotions. For example, there’s evidence that high scorers on extraversion experience more happiness than lower scorers. However, the new data highlight how the relationship can work both ways – with current emotional state also influencing personality (or the measurement of personality, at least). We are familiar with this in our everyday lives – even our most vivacious friends can seem less friendly and sociable when they’re down. With strangers though, it’s easy to forget these effects and assume that their behaviour derives from fixed personality rather than temporary mood.
Although this research appears to challenge the notion of personality as fixed, the results, if heeded, could actually help us drill down to a person’s underlying long-term traits. As Querengässer and Schindler explained, “becoming aware of participants’ emotional state and paying attention to the possible implications on testing could lead to a notable increase in the stability of assessed personality traits.”
Relevance:
This study shows that mood can temporarily change one’s personality traits, especially when they are experiencing negative emotional states. Sad moods have a higher impact on one’s personality while happy moods have less impact on one’s personality. This reminds me that a friend of mine is pretty outgoing and easy to talk to all the time, but once she argued with her partner, she would talk less to me and have fewer reactions to me. The one that is easy and active all the time would suddenly become cold and hard to talk to.
Reference:
Jarrett, C. (2019, February 14). How your mood changes your personality. British Psychological Society. https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/how-your-mood-changes-your-personality
