YOUR PERSONALITY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3979, 3 August 1929, Page 4

YOUR PERSONALITY.

ICHANGE IT AT WILL. PSYCHOLOGIST'S IDEAS. Society is in a chaotic state today, because people liave . not learned t)ie art of living together’,” says Dr. John’ B. Watson. “Everywhere .there .are evidences of friction. In the home as well as in the •business ,w OJ M. “Thousands of youngsters suffer from neuroses and complexes. They are unhappy with their par - ents. Innumerable marriages go to pieggs. Countless men and women cannot get along with their business associates and fail in their jobs. “A nice picture of modern life, isn’t it? And why does such a condition exist? iSimply because human beings alre unable to co-op-erate and to live harmoniously with each other. “Just think; how much more the average person would get out of life if instead of going to school and learning to ibe proficient in Latin and geometry and other comparatively inconsequcntal subjects, he would learn how to get along with people. “Where are schools and instructors for every .conceivable subject —law, banking, spoi'ts, driving a car, flying an aeroplane, but for the (knowledge that would bring us the greatest amount of happiness,. living harmoniously with one’s mates, one’s children, and one’s business associates —there are no teachers.” Dr. Watson is considered one of the most brilliant psychologists of the day, says an exchange. He once experimented on 500 infants ami evolved his theory of behaviourism, a theory which has changed the whole course of psychology. Briefly it is that our fundamental instinlcts and emotions are not inherited hut acquired or built in after birth. His theory of behaviourism is regarded as one of the most important of the day because it points the way to ia better and happier type of individual than the world has yet known. FAULTY EMOTIONS. Questioned as to the chief causes of friction in the occupational side of life, Dr. "Watson said: “Faulty- .emotional organisation is at the iroot of the trouble. People get their feelings hurt very easily. They weep, or they get angry. They are shy, sensitive or afraid to tackle “They .are lazy, they don’t want to accept responsibility or they feel that they don’t get enough money for; their work. Men and women don’t 'fearn to Ibe objective in business. They are thin-skinned. They take everything so personally that, they cannot get along with

their business associations or their employers and they consequently hinder their own progress in business. Wjomen are particularly supersensitive. It is almost impossible to criticise a woman. One must always ibe careful of her feelngs. Let an employer tell a stenographer that her letter isn’t exactly right, and she may immediately give way to a paroxysm of weeping. The probabilities are that she will not turn up the next morning. ‘She has to remain at home for a- day in order to recuperate from the shock of her employer’s unjust criticism. “It is also more difficult for women to work together peaceably. They quarrel on the slightest provocation, and they tend to be jealous of each other. “These bad emotional habits of people which cause so much friction are due to the home training they have received. 'Mothers coddle or caress their children to death when they are small. They rear them Jilke hot-house plants. “Mother makes everything easy for them. She shields them from wounds, privation, and humiliation. She helps them to fight their battles and she stands between them and danger. She lightens their tasks and surfeits them with pleasure and luxuries.

CHOOSING a vocation. “W|hen the time comes for the young unan to choose a vocation, we find that he is, not hardened for work. He wants a jobUhat is coinfo'rtable and soft, and he wants-his superiors to treat ‘him the way his own parents treat him. He wants to he encouraged, praised, and helped. He has not ibeen taught to face life, meet its exactions, and cope with its problems. " “The man who wants to achieve success in business and who finds that ho is unable (o work with others, must take himself in hand ..and get himself to do! it. If necessary, he should try bo change his personality. “The ayeiage person thinks of personality as some vague, mysterious power with which one is horn. But that is not so. Personality can be built into each and every) individual. It is nothing more than the sum total of our ha'bits. The man, therefore, whose habits are of such a nature that he cannot work ha/rmoniously with other people, should change his personality. It can be done. “But,” Dr. Wja'tson explains, “there is no trielk or pill that will change personality in a short time. The person first has to unlearn all the hatoits which have been built in from childhood and then start to learn new ones.

“To do this,” says the psychologist, “he should change his job, his environment, and his friends. If his reading consist of the cheap

magazines and 'books, he should cultivate the habit of reading the better type of periodicals. If he is shy and awkward in expressing himself, and if his English is poor, he should take up the study of

languages. All this takes considerable time and unless one possesses a good deal of ambition and initiative, it is difficult to do alone. “Perhaps some day we shall have hospitals devoted to helping unehahge our personalities, been use they can Ibe changed as easily as the shape of the nose. Then, too, it will Ibe possible for people to ,‘il.eaa'n something of the art of living together. TEN GOOD RULES. “Another cause of friction is the fact that our young men want to be financial successes too quickly. They aren’t willing to start low on the ladder, accept a small salary and work hatrd for a number of years until they are worthy of more money.” 1 The following ten commandments j for success in business summarise Dr. Watson’s opinions on the subject : 1. Don’t be thin-sfkinned. Try to get. along with people. 2. Don’t ovCr-specialise. Learn the collateral lines of your business. 3. Don’t try to be president •without first learning wliat the office has to do. 4. Don’t Ibe afraid of working overtime. 5. Don’t mairry too soon. Lay the foundation of your career first. 6. Don’t be afraid to dress well. 7. Don’t use slang. Learn to use correct English. 8. Don’t talk too much. 9. Don’t talk too loudly. 10. Don’t get the reputation, while young, of being a boozer, a , gambler, or a “fast” man. You will .have plenty of time to do these things after you have established yourself. It is Dr. Watson’s opinion that many of the causes of friction in the occupational side of life also hold true in matrimony.