The science of personality and the art of well-being with Brian Little | ReThinking with Adam Grant

Award-winning researcher and pioneering psychologist Brian Little has plenty of accomplishments under his belt. He’s the author of the bestselling books, “Me, Myself, and Us” and “Who Are You, Really?” His TED talk on the science of personality has tens of millions of views, and he’s been elected a Favorite Professor multiple times at Harvard. And he’s also Adam’s favorite psychologist – and personal mentor. Brian and Adam talk about how our personal projects shape our well-being, the nuances of introversion and extraversion, when it makes sense to act out of character, and what our daily pursuits reveal about us. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.

Adam GranthostBrian Littleguest

Jul 25, 202333mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: July 25, 2023
Duration: 33m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Award-winning researcher and pioneering psychologist Brian Little has plenty of accomplishments under his belt. He’s the author of the bestselling books, “Me, Myself, and Us” and “Who Are You, Really?” His TED talk on the science of personality has tens of millions of views, and he’s been elected a Favorite Professor multiple times at Harvard. And he’s also Adam’s favorite psychologist – and personal mentor. Brian and Adam talk about how our personal projects shape our well-being, the nuances of introversion and extraversion, when it makes sense to act out of character, and what our daily pursuits reveal about us. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.

SPEAKERS

Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist and host of the ReThinking podcast.
Brian Little
guest
Personality psychologist known for research on personal projects, well-being, and acting out of character.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Adam Grant and Brian Little, The science of personality and the art of well-being with Brian Little | ReThinking with Adam Grant explores how personal projects and traits shape well-being, choice, and resilience Little argues that personality is not only traits but also the personal projects people pursue, which reveal the real intersection of dispositions and life circumstances.

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