How Psilocybin Changes Your Personality: The Openness Effect

Psilocybin is the only substance known to produce lasting changes in personality — specifically, dramatic increases in 'openness to experience.'

How Psilocybin Changes Your Personality: The Openness Effect

Direct Answer: Psilocybin is the only substance known to produce lasting personality changes. A Johns Hopkins study found a single high-dose session produced significant, lasting increases in "openness to experience" — persisting for over 14 months.

The Johns Hopkins Personality Study

2011 study: a single high-dose psilocybin session produced increases in "openness to experience" persisting for over 14 months, with magnitude larger than typically seen over decades of normal adult development.

What "Openness to Experience" Means

Curiosity and intellectual engagement, aesthetic sensitivity, imagination and creativity, tolerance for ambiguity, and emotional depth. People high in openness tend to be more creative, more empathetic, and more psychologically flexible.

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FAQ

Does psilocybin change other personality traits?

Some studies also show decreases in neuroticism and increases in agreeableness. The changes are generally positive and associated with improved well-being.

Research Hub

Psilocybin & Microdosing Research Hub

Explore 80+ articles on psilocybin research organized by topic — mechanisms, protocols, comparisons, and more.

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