Why You Should Break Out Of Your Personality Comfort Zone

Breaking out of your personality comfort zone can help you feel better about yourself, suggests a new study in the Journal of Personality.

In fact, you may even feel you’re being truer to yourself when you adapt to a situation and act counter to your usual traits, according to the study’s co-author William Fleeson, a Wake Forest University psychologist. For example, if you’re a self-proclaimed introvert but decide to party like an extrovert, you may feel more authentic and enjoy the experience more. Similarly, if you think you’ve got a disagreeable streak, you may actually feel more true to yourself when you’re kind, according to Fleeson, who bases his conclusions on research with close to 150 college-age volunteers.