Can Personality Be Changed? The Role of Beliefs in Personality and Change

Author: Dweck, Carol S.

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Number 6, December 2008 , pp. 391-394(4)

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Abstract:

Using recent research, I argue that beliefs lie at the heart of personality and adaptive functioning and that they give us unique insight into how personality and functioning can be changed. I focus on two classes of beliefs—beliefs about the malleability of self-attributes and expectations of social acceptance versus rejection—and show how modest interventions have brought about important real-world changes. I conclude by suggesting that beliefs are central to the way in which people package their experiences and carry them forward, and that beliefs should play a more central role in the study of personality.

Keywords: personality; personality theories; change; self-beliefs; interventions

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00612.x

Affiliations: 1: Stanford University

Publication date: 2008-12-01