title: Changing for the Better? Longitudinal Associations Between Volitional Personality Change and Psychological Well-Being.
abstract: Recent research has found that a vast majority of people want to change their personality traits--and they may be able to find some degree of success in doing so. However, desires for self-change have been theoretically and empirically linked to reduced well-being. The present study utilized a longitudinal design to better understand the associations between people's desires and attempts to change their personality traits and their psychological well-being. Results indicated that possessing change goals did not necessarily predict growing deficits in well-being over time. In contrast, people who were able to change their personality traits in ways that aligned with their desires tended to experience increases in well-being over time. These findings are consistent with theory that dissatisfaction can precipitate change goals, and successful change can ameliorate dissatisfaction.
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA nwhudson@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Nathan W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.affiliation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
authors.forename: R Chris
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fraley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010551:Personality; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012649:Self Concept; D014836:Volition; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: personality development; volitional change; well-being