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The 19 Traits Of Player Characters

High IQ is known to correlate with a number of generally desirable life outcomes. But IQ alone can’t single out the most exceptional individuals who will make the biggest impacts in their pursuits.

What combination of well-studied traits plausibly correlate with being a player character? Here’s 19 highly-measurable qualities that are more reliably found in those with high-impact lives:

  1. Psychological Resilience or Grit – correlates with Conscientiousness (r = .77)
  2. Growth Mindset – weakly correlates with Openness to Experience (r = .11)
  3. IQ – weakly inversely correlated with Conscientiousness (r = -.24)
  4. Rationality – correlates with IQ (r = .55)
  5. Decision Making Competence – correlates with IQ (r = .61)
  6. Actively Open-minded Thinking – correlates with IQ (r = .35)
  7. Cognitive Reflectivity – correlates with IQ (r = .43) and Rationality (r = .49)
  8. Internal Locus Of Control (High CSE) – correlates with Generalized Self-Efficacy (r = 0.56)
  9. Emotional Stability (High CSE) – correlates with Locus of Control (r = 0.40)
  10. Generalized Self-Efficacy (High CSE) – correlates with Emotional Control (r = 0.62)
  11. Self-Esteem (High CSE) – correlates with Generalized Self-Efficacy (r = 0.85)
  12. Self-Control – weakly correlates with IQ (r = .11)
  13. High Self-Monitoring – correlates with Self-Control (r = .25)
  14. Need For Cognition – correlates with Openness to Experience (r = .51)
  15. Typical Intellectual Engagement – correlates with Need For Cognition (r = .78)
  16. Openness To Experience – correlates with Typical Intellectual Engagement (r = .65)
  17. Extroversion – weakly correlates with Growth Mindset (r = .18)
  18. Epistemic Curiosity – correlates with Openness to Experience (r = .50)
  19. Conscientiousness – correlates with Need For Cognition (r = .40)

The literature on psychometrics consistently finds that these traits are largely (1) stable in individuals over time, and (2) correlate with each other.

But perhaps the stability of these traits is brought about by people not trying to train them? If you want to be more of a player character, here’s a few resources to get you started on improving along these 19 dimensions:

  1. Boost Grit with “How does one increase one’s ‘grit’?” or check out the American Psychologists Association’s “10 Ways to Build Resilience“.
  2. Cultivating a Growth Mindset with the book “Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential“
  3. It’s (rather controversially) thought to be possible to increase your IQ with Dual N-Back.
  4. Improve your rationality by reading Less Wrong.
  5. Decision Making Competence can likely be improve by attending a CFAR workshop.
  6. “Thinking and Deciding” covers how to perform better at Actively Open-minded Thinking.
  7. Cognitive Reflection might be augmented by meditation since “Meditation Trains Metacognition“.
  8. Internalize your Locus Of Control with counseling methods designed for this purpose or by attending a Landmark Forum.
  9. Improve Emotional Stability with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
  10. Generalized self-efficacy improves in people who hang out with others who succeed at their goals. Check out “The Good News of Situationist Psychology“.
  11. Self-esteem can be boosted directly with self-help, or in some cases, indirectly by being happier.
  12. Master Self-Control with “How to Beat Procrastination“.
  13. Heighten your Self-Monitoring with interventions designed to help students track their behavior.
  14. Need For Cognition may be peaked by stimulant-based nootropics like armodafinil, phenylpiracetam, and coluracetam.
  15. Maintaining “Flow States” boosts Typical Intellectual Engagement.
  16. Extroversion takes time and effort to cultivate but commonsense guides like “How to be an Extrovert” or “Quiet” sum up the core advice needed to attempt this change.
  17. There’s early evidence that Openness To Experience can be stably increased with a single high dose of mushrooms. But be careful. You probably don’t want excessive openness.
  18. Increase Epistemic Curiosity by reviewing “The Neglected Virtue of Curiosity” and doing the exercises from “Get Curious“.
  19. Consider using “The Power Of Habit” to train conscientiousness.

Author Description

Louie Helm is a Machine Learning Engineer

15 Responses to “The 19 Traits Of Player Characters”

  1. May 5

    Marius van Voorden

    *Likes*
    *Wonders if he’s just liking because of a sense of recognition of traits*

  2. May 5

    Jonas Eicher

    or maybe it is like reading a horoscope

  3. May 5

    Brittany Jencks

    Great summary and resources, but I’m wondering… how does “Quiet” teach you to be an extrovert?

  4. May 5

    Gladstone Alves

    Nice summary. Do you recommendations for some of the underlying correlation studies?

  5. May 5

    Gladstone Alves

    Nice summary. Do you recommendations for some of the underlying correlation studies?

  6. May 5

    Gladstone Alves

    Do you have*

  7. May 5

    Gladstone Alves

    Do you have*

  8. May 5

    Joe Mustard

    Is there evidence that reading Less Wrong makes you more rational, or is this based on anecdata/estimates?

  9. May 5

    Louie Helm

    Joe: All the interventions suggested are more or less unproven. No proven interventions exist to modify almost all of those traits.

  10. May 5

    Louie Helm

    And I like how my only recommendation that’s questioned is “try reading Less Wrong”, and not “try illegal drugs”.

  11. May 5

    Kaj Sotala

    “For twice the effect, try reading Less Wrong while doing illegal drugs”

  12. May 5

    Misha Gurevich

    What if I just want to be a really cool NPC?

  13. May 5

    Louie Helm

    Misha: Follow all the guides linked from the post, but then take mushrooms every day.

  15. May 10

    Jonas Vollmer

    Why “player characters”?