“In this paper, we present the case that traits can serve both as relatively stable predictors of success and actionable targets for policy changes and interventions,” says coauthor Wiebke Bleidorn, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n

“Parents, teachers, employers, and others have been trying to change personality forever because of their implicit awareness that it is good to make people better people,” adds coauthor Christopher Hopwood, also a professor of psychology.<\/p>\n

But now, he says, strong evidence suggests that personality traits are broad enough to account for a wide range of socially important behaviors at levels that surpass known predictors, and that they can change, especially if you catch people at the right age and exert sustained effort. However, these traits also remain relatively stable; so while they can change, they’re not easy to change.<\/p>\n

Investments in costly interventions are unlikely to pay off because evidence about personality traits isn’t informing the interventions.<\/p>\n

“For that reason, it would be helpful for public policymakers to think more explicitly about what it takes to change personality to improve personal and public welfare, the costs and benefits of such interventions, and the resources needed to achieve the best outcomes by both being informed by evidence about personality traits and investing more sustained resources and attention toward better understanding personality change,” the researchers say.<\/p>\n

Research has found that a relatively small number of personality traits can account for most of the ways in which people differ from one another. Therefore, they are related to a wide range of important life outcomes. These traits are also relatively stable, but changeable with effort and good timing. This combination\u2014broad and enduring, yet changeable\u2014makes them particularly promising targets for large-scale interventions.<\/p>\n