Personality Analysis

A review of the literature on stability versus change in personality disorders (Clark, 2009) concluded that maladaptive personality traits are more flexible and amenable to change than is suggested by the "standard view". A 12 week study of 681 depressed individuals found that therapy for depression benefited those without these dispositions and that it ameliorated the dysfunctional personality traits in the process. These findings suggest that even more extreme dysfunctional personality traits respond to psychological interventions, and that meaningful changes in problematic traits (e.g. depression) can be achieved in as little of 12 weeks.

A number of studies suggest that shorter term psychological and drug interventions result in personality change, even when personality change is not the focus of the interventions. For example, trait changes were evident during a six-week outpatient drug rehabilitation programmed study (Piedmont& Ciarrocchi, 1990), and in both an eight-week anti-depressant treatment group for depression (Tang at al, 2009). A coaching study (Spence & Grant, 2005) found that the openness-to-experience trait increased during 10 weekly coaching sessions, while it reduced for control group participants.

Finally, a longitudinal study of 8625 Australians using data selected in 2005 and 2009 explored whether individuals' personalities changed significantly during this period, and whether such change was meaningful, in terms of life satisfaction. The authors concluded that although personality was traditionally considered as stable and no changing, it did in fact change over time, and that such change was at least as great as changes in external influences on life satisfaction (e.g. getting married, being employed, and earning more money).

In combination these studies provide support for the concept that personality can change in response to a range of variables, over relatively short periods of time. Although only one study of personality change in a coaching context was identified (Spence & Grant, 2005), the evidence points to intentional targeted change via coaching achievable. As these findings suggest that personality is likely to be amenable to targeted change, it is useful to consider whether such change, it is useful to consider whether such change is i9mportant enough to warrant research exploration.

What role does personality play in how people expect others to react to their behavior? Nearly all of the research on perceiver effects in social perception has examined personality effects at the level of person schemas-the tendency to impute particular qualities or dispositions to most people (Kenny, 1994; Srivastava. 2010; Wood, Harms & Vazire, 2010). A person who is highly disagreeable, for example, might perceive most others as hostile and untrustworthy (Dodge & Crick, 1990; Graziano, Bruce Sheese, & Tobin, 2007). Whereas a person who is