quiet-the-power-of-introverts-in-a-world-that-cant-stop-talking-susan-cain

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behavior of people like Brian Littlemuch better than supposed personalitytraits.For the next few decades, Situationismprevailed. The postmodern view ofself that emerged around this time, influencedby theorists like Erving Goffman,author of The Presentation of Selfin Everyday Life, suggested that sociallife is performance and social masks areour true selves. Many researchersdoubted whether personality traits evenexisted in any meaningful sense. Personalityresearchers had trouble findingjobs.But just as the nature-nurture debatewas replaced with interactionism—theinsight that both factors contribute towho we are, and indeed influence eachother—so has the person-situation debatebeen superseded by a more nuancedunderstanding. Personality584/929

psychologists acknowledge that we canfeel sociable at 6:00 p.m. and solitaryat 10:00 p.m., and that these fluctuationsare real and situation-dependent.But they also emphasize how muchevidence has emerged to support thepremise that notwithstanding thesevariations, there truly is such a thing asa fixed personality.These days, even Mischel admits thatpersonality traits exist, but he believesthey tend to occur in patterns. For example,some people are aggressive withpeers and subordinates but docile withauthority figures; others are just the opposite.People who are “rejection-sensitive”are warm and loving when theyfeel secure, hostile and controllingwhen they feel rejected.But this comfortable compromiseraises a variation on the problem offree will that we explored in chapter 5.585/929

psychologists acknowledge that we can

feel sociable at 6:00 p.m. and solitary

at 10:00 p.m., and that these fluctuations

are real and situation-dependent.

But they also emphasize how much

evidence has emerged to support the

premise that notwithstanding these

variations, there truly is such a thing as

a fixed personality.

These days, even Mischel admits that

personality traits exist, but he believes

they tend to occur in patterns. For example,

some people are aggressive with

peers and subordinates but docile with

authority figures; others are just the opposite.

People who are “rejection-sensitive”

are warm and loving when they

feel secure, hostile and controlling

when they feel rejected.

But this comfortable compromise

raises a variation on the problem of

free will that we explored in chapter 5.

585/929

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