3 ms·

What is a 'plastic' personality dimension?

• derefr 5y ago
  The parent commentor is not using any domain-specific jargon. They just mean the normal meaning of the abstract adjective "plastic": capable of being permanently deformed/bent/altered in a way that does not then return to baseline (contrast elastic). Conceptually derived from "plastic deformation" in physics: when you bend something enough that it doesn't bend back any more. Usages of this sense of "plastic" appear all across the English language: brain plasticity; plastic surgery; a cancerous neoplasm.
  • moehm 5y ago
    Thanks, I wasn't aware of this connotation.
  • raxxorrax 5y ago
    Isn't it also in general an euphemism for something being graspable?