Vistopia
To Your Unique Self: 40 Lessons in Personality Psychology
Wang Fang

Introduction

Hello, I’m Wang Fang. At the start of a new week, greetings to you listening now. The Q&A is over, and we return to our course with Part Two.
Part One used personality traits to describe who I am. Part Two focuses on the next question:Where did I come from?
It askshow personality arises, orwhat made us who we are today.Across the history of thought and science, one fierce and enduring controversy has been nature versus nurture. This elegant pairing coined by the brilliant British polymath Francis Galton remains unresolved today.
On one side, experts in bestselling self-help books about raising outstanding children offer earnest advice, embedding the belief that family upbringing determines personality and even achievement. On the other, worldwide consumption of drugs treating psychological disorders and emotional distress has risen sharply in the twenty-first century. If drugs act on the brain and nervous system and alter emotional states, thought, and behavioral responses, do they also change personality slightly? If so,how should we understand the forces shaping personality—as biological or sociological?
I do not intend to take sides. Abundant scientific evidence shows that both extreme biological determinism and extreme environmental determinism are biased. Human beings are neither blank slates awaiting the environment’s inscription nor blueprints fully planned at birth and merely waiting to unfold. We need instead tounderstand objectively how biological and social factors, and their combined force, affect personality. This is more meaningful than endlessly debating nature and nurture.
In Part Two, I will follow two paths toward the origin of what makes the unique you unique. One isbiological, proceeding from proximal to distant causes: physiology, genetics, and evolution. Our immediate physical structure may be inherited, and heredity carries the legacy of long evolution. The other path issociological, briefly considering how family, culture, and the social-ecological environment influence personality formation and change. These paths are neither opposed nor separate; we discuss them one by one only for clarity. Together, through intricate interaction, these forces shaped us into who we are today.

The Biology of Personality

Episode editor: 夏夏
2021.12.21
Audio in Chinese

Related programs

Cover of The French: Life Is a Stage
Zhang Jiawei
The French: Life Is a Stage
Thirty insiders propose an art of living
¥98.00
Included with membership
Cover of Workers' Big Questions: The Infinite Life Reading List, Season 14
Qian Jing
Workers' Big Questions: The Infinite Life Reading List, Season 14
A Guide to Growth Through Workplace Difficulties
¥48.00
Included with membership
Cover of Between Life and Death: Ten Lessons on Living with Illness
Harry Wu Yi-jui
Between Life and Death: Ten Lessons on Living with Illness
How modern people understand disease
¥48.00
Included with membership

Featured comments

48 comments
  • 猫也耶
    2021-12-22 09:38:44

    王芳老师真的太治愈了！！现在成了每天起床后的必听！起床气都能好不少！一天的好心情都被点亮👌🏼喜欢王芳老师！！！

  • 1379号监听员
    2021-12-21 08:22:04

    多巴胺带来的是欲望，所以修行者吃素是有道理的。肉类的酪氨酸含量比较高，而酪氨酸是合成多巴胺的重要物质。

    1379号监听员 Reply . ：内啡肽是直接的快乐分子，能带来欣快感，这也是人爱吃辣的一个原因。

    Joe ：内啡肽啥作用呢？

  • 非凡公子
    2021-12-28 16:34:56

    神经质的这种倾向与大脑中更强的杏仁核活动有关，杏仁核是情绪控制塔，尤其是负面情绪焦虑恐惧

  • 屿白
    2026-08-25 13:07:42

    柠檬汁实验中外向的人分泌的唾液更少，内向的人分泌的唾液更多。为啥是探究外向型的生理基础，它探究的不应该是神经质吗

  • RichardZhang
    2026-01-26 14:26:10

    这个读国际学校那个IB的知识论里面提到过

  • 1
    150****2324
    2025-10-24 12:38:03

    瞬间想到神奇的广东人，这会受到饮食习惯习俗影响吧

    150****2324 ：但我来广东一段时间后对辣的生理敏感上升了，但是味觉上没有偏好的变化，是两套系统吗

  • 林
    林一二
    2025-01-22 10:30:03

    原来如此啊，原来神经质高的人更容易害怕，我胆子小的离谱。

  • H
    Hijojudy
    2024-09-18 10:34:05

    中秋前经历了有史以来最让人焦虑的项目，甚至不眠不休了两天两夜，还出现了肠应激，每天至少拉两次，最多拉四次。但神奇的是，那几天皮肤居然变好了！化妆都服帖了！中秋这几天在家休整，皮肤反而越来越差，回到了最初的状态。很好奇焦虑和如此差的作息，到底是怎么让皮肤变好的？

  • 内
    内酷
    2024-08-20 09:16:23

    不好意思但是我不相信进化论

  • 139****3250
    2023-12-20 18:27:11

    这段听的我眼泪💧都掉下来了！

  • 人生何处不相逢
    2023-12-03 01:23:01

    压力是身体在帮助我们应对挑战

  • 星
    星空
    2023-11-23 08:17:52

    我都不需要柠檬汁，吞咽三次口水。唾液开始疯狂分泌

  • 1
    151****9207
    2023-07-29 21:39:08

    在面对相同刺激时，偏内向的人的确会比偏外向的反应更敏感，但是在平静的情境下，典型外向和典型内向者大脑的基线唤醒程度可能并没有太大差别，只有当那些吵闹的、令人兴奋的刺激出现时，典型内向者要比典型外向者的反应更加强烈（Zuckerman, 1998），正是这种反应让他们回避人群和噪音，看起来与外向者有所不同。 ——相对于能量来源和释放的解释，这个洞察对于我更有启发性。我的内外向人格应该没太大变化，虽然我以前只喜欢独处，现在需要独处和社交的交替，但这并不是因为我变得外向很多，而是我的自尊和自信提升，敢于去接触、去表达

  • 青皮子🍊
    2023-07-28 17:19:42

    身心不二(●'◡'●)

  • 李保欢
    2023-01-27 10:25:50

    普通话标准，逻辑严密，没有一个字多余，声调适中，语速舒缓，内容精彩，我来晚了。