“I make an effort to accept the new. It seems to me that it is something that makes you live in this world. And, apart from that, I am forced by my profession.” These words correspond to Guillermo Sánchez, a 29-year-old secondary and high school teacher. He deals daily with the novelty in front of dozens of young people who confront him with their own worlds, woven in a generation different from that of the teacher.
“If I want to understand what is happening to my students, their sensitivity about things or how they think about news, I cannot take the position of distancing myself from them. It could serve as a lifeline for my identity, but it would not allow me to create bonds with them,” she says.
The new costs. Whether due to fear, laziness, uncertainty or because he shakes the pillars of identity, as Sánchez mentions. But there are those who handle it better. Behind this ability to “update” lies cognitive flexibility.
Unai Aso, health psychologist on the Buencoco professional platform, defines it as the ability to consider different perspectives, adapt to new circumstances, accept them and/or be willing to change one’s opinion or behavior in the face of new evidence. For the psychologist it also has to do with the ability to adapt to adverse situations and resilience.
A somewhat exaggerated example of cognitive rigidity would be continuing to push a door to exit a building, because that is usually the necessary action, despite the presence of a pull sign.
Such ability depends on both biology and environmental factors. “Genetics deals the cards, but then you play the game,” says Aso. Thus, there will be people with a greater innate capacity to deal with situations that require a change or a certain reaction.
At the other extreme of the biological, neurological disorders can reduce this capacity so much as to prevent making the necessary adjustments to adapt to situations. “There is a pathology called perseverance. It happens in some dementias and those who suffer from it, although they generate many errors, continue to persist in the same strategy,” explains the psychologist. The example of the door would go along this line.
All life experiences are included in the environment. Aso gives the following example: growing up in a very strict and inflexible family is not the same as one where the free exchange of opinions has been encouraged. Also mention who the person relates to, what they read, listen to, whether they have traveled a lot or what school they were educated at.
As a mix between genetics and environment are the personality traits of each individual. “When I perceive a change in the environment or in society, my first reaction is usually not rejection, but curiosity. […] I think my personality is in line with it. “I am open to change, to novelty,” says Sánchez.
The teacher probably scores high on openness to experience, the name psychologists give to the personality trait that can move a person to try things for the first time, change their mind, or be more flexible. In short, not to do the same thing and open your eyes to the new. Another personality trait, neuroticism, also plays a role here, but in the opposite sense. This would lead the person to focus more on the negative, tripping up their ability to adapt, as Aso explains.
For this reason, the psychologist affirms that there is quite a myth that turning older solidifies flexibility. The weight, however, is carried by environmental stimuli.
“As you get older, perhaps you come into less contact with so much new stimulus. Relationships are lost, the environmental experience is reduced. But resistance to change is not something that occurs per se in older people,” she says.
For him it is not the age that is important, but the environment where one is. A person who travels a lot or someone who is young, or in contact with young people, probably has greater environmental stimulation that places them in a position of continuous adaptation, in the same way that the absence of novelty can lead to mental stagnation.
The desirability or not of cognitive flexibility presents a double standard. A priori, it is positive. Because this ability allows adaptation to a changing environment, it is important as the world changes. But everything in its proper measure. And, above all, depending on the contexts in which the person moves.
Living in a big city with a lot of stimulation and full of new developments is not the same as living in a smaller and, probably, more stable population center. Or in a more tolerant family versus a rigid one. In the second cases, a certain inflexibility would even be beneficial.
Aso states that “the genetic part does not determine, it influences.” So yes, this skill can be trained. The important thing is to get out of the routine and enrich life with experiences.
“Exposing yourself to different ideas and cultures, traveling, interacting with different people or learning different skills […] And it is important to get out of the social media bubbles. There we only interact with our social group and there is a confirmation bias when we only read what we are similar to,” says the psychologist, who adds that in therapy they also have different techniques to promote adaptability.
