Me, but Better Review: Personalitys ProgressTo combat social anxiety and overcome her introversion, the author tries improvisational comedy and forces herself to throw parties. By Meghan Cox Gurdon According to an old wives tale, you should be careful about allowing your face to remain in an ugly expression, lest the winds change direction and your countenance set in place, leaving you stuck looking and feeling bad forever.The old wives, whoever they were, may have been right.It seems that the attitudes we hold and how we comport ourselvesthe features we present to othershave a great deal to do with who we become on the inside. Grab a Copy Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change By Olga Khazan S&S/Simon Element 288 pages We may earn a commission when you buy products through the links on our site. Buy Book Olga Khazan, a staff writer at the Atlantic magazine, contends that what we think of as our personality is not something fixed or innate but rather an agglomeration of habitual behaviors and attitudes. In this understanding, personality can fluctuate and is subject to reshaping by the will.InMe, but Better, Ms. Khazan chronicles her attempts to modify elements of her own personality by tinkering with the so-called big-five traits: openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.The author is breezy about the origins of the psychological thinking behind these attributes, as well as the notion that together, in varying amounts, they explain the spectrum of human personality.She notes that, well into the 20th century, psychologists had competing theories and lists of different personality traits.She does not discuss the question of temperament, which is a whole other ball of philosophical wax.But for the purposes of her experiment, she accepts what has come to be the prevailing secular view.For the sake of enjoying this buoyant and entertaining account, the reader will be inclined to join her.Ms. Khazans goal is to transform herself, over the course of one year, from a disagreeable introvert into a sunnier, livelier, more amenable extrovert.She tells us that she was drawn to the project by the prospect of becoming happier, more successful and more fulfilled.Her investigation showed, she writes, that a slight improvement in the balance of ones personality can help a person enjoy life, rather than just endure it.Copyright 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8VideosMost Popular NewsMost PopularOPINIONFurther ReadingAdvertisement