Why Change Is Harder As We Age

[blueberryline]

Recently, I began to ruminate on the idea of change. I’ve said “no” to a lot this year, including a man I loved, the opportunity to attend Harvard University to achieve my Master’s degree, living on a houseboat, and a position as a full-time writer. What happened to my determination, to my sense of adventure, to my ability to take risks and have

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[blueberryline]

What conditions allow and motivate us to embrace change and what makes us resistant to it? Are some people more open to change than others? According to the research summarized in Nikolas Westerhoff’s article, “Set in Our Ways: Why Change is so Hard,” published in the December 2008 issue of Scientific American, there are several predominant factors that affect our relationship to change.

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[blueberryline]

Age
Westerhoff states that we become less receptive to change as we age. “Psychologists have long identified openness to new experiences as one of the Big Five personality traits, which also include extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. Considerable disagreement exists about how much these personality traits change after age thirty, but most research suggests that openness declines in adulthood.” According to research conducted cross-culturally by the National Institute of Health, our twenties are typically the time we seek change as part of our personality and identity development. After thirty, stability becomes more important, especially as people get married, pursue a career, and start families. He argues that though people may seek change and yearn for something new as they grow older (or get inspired by hopeful, transformative rhetoric) they actually become more reluctant to invite change into their lives.

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[neoguru]

Какие-то нерусские буквы!!