Is it true that acting can affect one's behaviour?
For example, if someone plays a protagonist, can this affect them to be a good person? Is there any solid evidence for this?
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This is true. Mot et al. (1994) published scientific research about it. Also there are a lot of actors that claim they feel that their personality has changed since they played a role.
Also a similair practice can be used for insecure people. If they act confident it has been proven that after some time, they feel more confident as well.
Edit:
Since I'm new to stackexchange I did not know how much detail is desired. Therefore, let me expand upon my original comment.
The article states the following hypotheses:
(1) the actor chosen to play a given character would have personality characteristics similar to that of his or her corresponding character
(2) the actor′s self-perceived personality profile would become more similar to the character′s during the rehearsal and production period.
Later on the article states that:
Support emerged for the second hypothesis, but not for the first. Observations regarding these findings and suggestions for future explorations are given.
The article expands upon this, but I can't access the paper, because it's pay-walled.
Reference:
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4I wonder if this study can also scientifically back the claim "fake it til you make it" – ESR Aug 30 '17 at 03:49
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@EdmundReed To break your question down further, the only difference between 'fake it till you make it' and this article is that in the article people act like a fictional character while with 'fake it till you make it' it applies to a non-fictional character. If I were to research it, my hypothesis would be that the effects would be more apparent by 'faking' since I think that people draw the line more between themselves and a fictional character than themselves and a 'fake' version of themselves. – Starcaz Aug 30 '17 at 07:40
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really interesting reply, I agree completely - thanks. – ESR Aug 30 '17 at 07:45