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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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    $\begingroup$ I wonder if this study can also scientifically back the claim "fake it til you make it" $\endgroup$
    – ESR
    Aug 30, 2017 at 3:49
  • $\begingroup$ @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. $\endgroup$
    – Starcaz
    Aug 30, 2017 at 7:40
  • $\begingroup$ really interesting reply, I agree completely - thanks. $\endgroup$
    – ESR
    Aug 30, 2017 at 7:45

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