Personality and Individual Differences Possibilities of Personality Change

Question:-

What is the Possibilities of Personality Change?

Answer:-

The arguments presented by Martin, Oades and Caputi in 2012 express that there is lack of studies which explore the concept of personality trait changes through coaching. They have identified three conditions of stability which can affect personality traits. These are response to life events, different social contexts and response to medical, therapy and coaching interventions. The study explores the changes in personality over shorter period of time and therefore any significant changes in personality traits in an individual’s lifetime cannot be determined. This leaves a gap which can be comprehended through the study of other articles in the same field. The study states that biological factor, social environmental influence and behaviour together shape and modify personality. This claim is supported by other evidences which point out that personality changes have been observed in a variation of social settings and personal experiences.

Therefore, it is possible and most likely that personality traits are not fixed throughout the life of an individual, rather it is highly susceptible to changes during any time of life. These mostly refer to the unintentional or natural changes in personality. For intentional changes, personality change coaching is implemented (Allan, 2017). Psychological interventions can modify personality disorders. The changes impact a person only when the effect is significant. This study rather points out that the change is noticeable only when it is significant.  The personality change possibility factor is examined alongside the desirability of such change. Personality changes are desirable when it improves the physical and emotional well-being of a person or changes a negative psychological condition to positive outcomes. These facts and probabilities further emphasize the need for personality change interventions as it is beneficial in rectifying negative personality traits. In studies concerned with long-term changes in personality traits, it has been found that personality changes can happen in old age due to multiple reasons. Some personality traits are affected in this case which can be either homogeneous and heterogenous. Homogenous nature can be due to similar experiences or similar environmental exposure and similar reactions to changes and heterogeneous nature could be due to Neuroticism. Studies also show that personality differences become more prominent with old age. Therefore, long-term personality changes are also a probability (Işık & Üzbe, 2015).