The Power of Projects

My Don’t Rest in Peace  book is subtitled “Activity-Oriented, Integrated Physical and Mental Health” for a good reason:  activities structure and channel our behavior.  Projects, a subtype of activity, provide similar benefits.  Therefore, I strongly agree with Dr. Brian Little’s views on projects and personality which I now will review.

Little believes that projects provide an arena where personality traits and contextual factors combine to produce a positive or negative outcome. Imagine William, a stereotypically introverted certified public accountant of a large corporation, whose boss assigns to organize and emcee a staff development project.  To be reasonably successful, Will must act out of character.  That is, he needs to overcome his characteristically shy, withdrawing demeanor and to engage in a relatively outgoing, active fashion.  Brian Little perceives three levels of challenge:  biogenic, sociogenic, and idiogenic.

The biogenic challenge concerns introverted William’s sensitivity to emotional overstimulation.  His heart rate always accelerates when he is center stage and he feels on the verge of panic.  The sociogenic pertains to his feeling uncertain and insecure about how one conducts himself when addressing a group.  And the idiogenic refers to features of his personality rooted in his unique past experiences, such as when he failed miserably at class presentations during his schooldays. 

Clearly, bookish William is not the ideal candidate to organize and emcee the staff development project.  One might expect an extravert to do a far better job and to be immensely more comfortable when so involved.  That, at least, is the traditional trait-oriented interpretation of who is best suited to do what.  Brian Little does not necessarily dispute that contention; however, his is a “free trait” theory that offers the possibility that projects can enable an individual to overcome trait limitations, at least in a short term, circumscribed situation.

Let’s assume that William’s staff development project is a day-long affair and that he has been given two weeks to implement it.  Features of the project can be manipulated to his advantage.  William can deal with the biogenic in any number of ways.  For instance, he can create a PowerPoint presentation that is sufficiently detailed that he virtually can read everything that needs to be communicated in the group setting.  The more he rehearses that and other features of his “performance” the calmer he will become.  Moreover, William can learn relaxation techniques and/ or get an anti-anxiety medication, such as Propranolol.

To deal with sociogenic features concerning not knowing how one conducts himself when addressing a group, William can confer with colleagues or friends more adept at public speaking.  If time permits, he could be an assistant for one of their speeches.  Alternatively, Will might refer to the Internet or to other tutorials in order to receive formal training.

Finally, William could deal with his idiogenic challenges by self-talk of the type advocated by cognitive behavioral therapies.  In that case, for instance, he could tell himself that he no longer is either immature or a student.  William would work through the fact that he need only be the emcee for one day, and rehearse how he would deal with the probable, ideal, and unsettling emcee situations that might arise during his presentation.

By coping with the short term biogenic, sociogenic, and idiogenic challenges, specific to his project, William becomes his own particular version of a “free trait” extravert-for-the-day.  That is, he manages to overcome his introversion trait to the extent necessary.  And in so doing, Will proves to himself that he can take control of his personality and situations adequately to successfully complete projects that need to be done.

Projects/activities, then, are opportunities for physical and mental growth.  Traits, such as the Big Five traits of openness-closedness, conscientiusness-non-conscientiousness, extraversion-introversion, agreeableness-disagreeableness, and neuroticism-stability, might describe some aspects of your personality, but you are not a prisoner of those traits.  You can adopt "free traits" at times - traits uncharacteristic of you. Projects and activities help you enact the free traits,and, therefore, to experience new thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.  Take maximal advantage of such opportunities for free trait forays by dealing with your particular biogenic, sociogenic, and idiogenic factors proactively as William did.

References
  
Little, Brian (2008).  Personal projects and free traits: Personality and motivation reconsidered.  Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 3