Our personality is determined by two decisive components: Our biostructure (disposition) and our character (environment). And contrary to what is still often proclaimed, people cannot change at will, even if they want to.
The individual interaction of these three components results in a kind of “genetic
fingerprint” of our personality.
Every person thinks differently, as researchers at Yale University confirm. They published their findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience in 2015. According to them, our brain activities have a characteristic pattern that is as unique as our fingerprint or our DNA.
These genetically predisposed personality traits are closely related to the three brain areas and significantly determine our biostructure and thus the stable core of our personality. They are the breeding ground on which the various stimuli and
influences of our environment meet. This interaction of biostructure and character, which is referred to as the endowment-environment-interaction, ensures that the same environmental conditions have different effects on different individuals.
Our personality is therefore determined by two decisive components: our biostructure (disposition) and our character (environment). Twin research has empirically proven that a person already has certain predispositions to a large extent from the day of birth. This becomes striking if we use sport as an analogy.
While it is undisputed in sports science that people are more or less well suited to certain sports due to their genetically predisposed physical characteristics, this finding is often ignored in other fields. No one would seriously think of trying to retrain a long-distance runner for sumo wrestling. The physical requirements are simply too different for that. Even within a sport, a good coach will train his athletes in a differentiated manner depending on their disposition, because despite a basic similarity in many characteristics, everyone reacts differently to
certain training stimuli: Certain muscles develop more or less well and the risks of overuse and injury also vary from individual to individual. The principle of “self-reinforcement” applies to all areas of life.
Contrary to what is still often proclaimed, people cannot change at will, even if they want to. Even when it comes to the question of whether we behave more rationally (homo economicus) or more emotionally (role model Homer Simpson), our genes provide the framework. Therefore, in order to find a personally suitable, effective strategy for success, it is indispensable to know exactly what our personal potential is – and our biostructure is the key to this! Because, as you will see, this has a significant impact on what motivates us, what goals we are more likely to achieve and to what extent we can develop discipline and willpower.
Neurotransmitters, the messenger substances in our brain, play a central role in
this.”