Ellis and Healthy Personalities #5: Flexibility

Ellis, in describing the nine personality traits that make up a healthy personality, defines flexibility as being able to remain “intellectually flexible.” He then goes on to say that this involves being open to change and incorporating an unbigoted view of the variations of people, ideas, and things in the world. I don’t think that the majority of people would consider being open to change, and having unbigoted views toward the varied difference in the world as negative, or undesirable qualities, and most people would agree that these are things that most people could use more of.

The one part of Ellis’s explanation here that may cause some confusion is the idea of intellectual flexibility. In order to understand what being intellectually flexible means, one must examine what it means to be intellectually stubborn, stagnate, or dogmatic. When we get invested in particular ideas, to a point where we lose the ability to consider other perspectives or examine our own ideas objectively, we become intellectually stagnant. This happens quite often actually, in politics in particular. In politics, often two sides of an argument become more deeply entrenched in their own position as a debate or discussion carries on. When one is intellectually dogmatic in a particular idea, they also become more susceptible to logical fallacies, which they fall victim to in order to prevent pressure on the ideas they have become so steadfast and fervent in protecting, as if any give in their resolve would ruin the sanctity of their core ideas. Such fallacies as ad hominem attacks, false dichotomies, and over generalizations help one avoid confronting their own intellectual stubbornness.

In this way, I feel that intellectual flexibility and acceptance of uncertainty are essentially tied at the hip. When one holds a particular position, but can honestly say that they may be wrong, and that sufficient evidence against their point could sway them, they are evincing an acceptance that they are not entirely certain of their claim, and the intellectual flexibility to change, adapt, and continue in light of new evidence. That is not to say that the best position to take on any subject is one of “I don’t know, whatever,” but there is a healthy level of doubt and flexibility that individuals can exhibit. This is actually the backbone of scientific inquiry: To be able to test a hypothesis, and respect the outcome, whether it proves you right, wrong, or suppresses you with an unexpected outcome.

These two traits, when combined, can cause what some may describe as a sincere modesty. Many consider modesty to be a good thing, but on the other side of the coin, there is also quite a bit of admiration displayed in some media for the stoic, unwavering idealist, passionate about his cause, never losing faith in his ideas, even against the strongest winds of change. Is one who fights against opposing views with such passion actually a good thing to look up to? Are there some good qualities in this kind of personality? Perhaps the reality lies in the balance. Being able to reasonably change, and flex one’s ideas in the face of new evidence, yet also being fervent enough to fight for them in the first place, may be a very difficult, but manageable.

This actually reminds me of chapter 76 of the Tao Te Ching, on flexibility. This passage reads:

A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.

Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.

Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.

The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.

Sometimes it amazes me how insightful things like this can be. Perhaps it is the cultural lens that I am viewing it through, but passages such as this, and some of the philosophies that accompany many marital arts, promote a great deal of practices, ideas, and mindsets, that are adaptive and healthy. A quick internet search shows that many people agree. There a plethora of sites that connects the practice of martial arts with emotional and mental well being. Perhaps that is a discussion for another time.

Wow, I strayed a bit that time. Oh well, it was fun. Please come back bi-weekly for more. Next time I will began discussing the “big five” factor model, and after that Ellis’s number 6 personality trait for healthy personalities: scientific thinking.

Ellis and Healthy Personalities #4: Acceptance of Uncertainty

Ellis’s fourth trait of health personalities is acceptance of uncertainty. I feel that the wording here is pretty self explanatory, and the rationale behind this can be easily deciphered. The world is a naturally uncertain place. Regardless of numerous claims and attempts, there is no definitive and accurate way to decipher future events. There are many ways to react to the undeniable uncertainty of the world. Many have constructed elaborate scenarios and conspiracies in their minds to feign some understanding of the world’s workings, take practice in various rituals to promote luck so that they may have some control of the future, or turn to theology to provide some assured and definitive certainty in their lives. It is not a big leap to say that failure to accept the uncertainty that exists in life may lead to fear and anxiety. One of the cornerstones of Ellis’s idea of psychotherapy was to aid the individual into becoming minimally anxious. In this line of logic, gaining some acceptance of the uncertain future can help reduce one’s anxiety. This is a pretty simple idea to grasp, but there are a few finer points that could use some exploration.

What does it mean to accept uncertainty? Well, I believe that acceptance in this particular context comes in a few stages. Firstly, to accept something, one must first acknowledge it. Acceptance can not come from escapism, and hiding from the frightening idea of vast possibility and unknowable future only surrenders to the anxiety caused by lack of knowledge. Being able to acknowledge the uncertainty means that an individual can, when there is a lack of sufficient evidence, shrug one’s shoulders and say “I don’t know.” I don’t know what will happen, I don’t know how this will work, and I don’t know what is going on. Secondly, and likely a bit harder, is being okay with it. This is a complicated thing to do, with a simple way to say it. So now we can add “but that’s okay” to the end of our “I don’t know.” Thirdly, there is a healthy desire to investigate the unknown through exploration and discovery, rather than attempting to control the unknown through speculation and superstition.

One thing that I have been doing lately is a great deal of cross cultural research. One of the methods that researchers use to identify differences in cultures is Geert Hofsted’s five cultural dimensions. One of these dimensions in which cultural context is defined is avoidance of uncertainty. This means that an entire culture’s tendency to avoid or explore the unknown and uncertainty is one of the five traits that researchers have agreed are vital enough, and universal enough, to define the cultural context and pattern of thought of an entire people by. This means that avoidance of uncertainty is a cultural thing. It varies widely, depending on a plethora of cultural and theological factors. Also, across cultures the definitions and attitudes regarding healthy personalities differ. Admittedly, this casts some doubt on the use of Ellis’s model for a healthy personality across varying cultures. On the other hand, there are great similarities in many western cultures, and that is the cultural context that both I and Ellis reside. So, in the cultural context in which I live, is the same in which this concept was created and is applicable. This works for me, as this is the context that I plan on working in. Yet I think it is good to know where an idea falters, and where the weaknesses lie.

Next time I will begin discussing Gestalt psychology, and the time after that I will be discussing Ellis’s fifth trait of a healthy personality: Flexibility.