Who wants to change their personality and what do they want to change?

Abstract

Recent findings suggest that personality is amenable to change via interventions and that such change may be beneficial. However, there is a gap in the literature concerning what aspects of their personality individuals in non-clinical populations wish to change, and if the personality of individuals who choose to change their personality differs from the normal population. Clarification of these questions may help inform the development of personality change resources and interventions. The current study explored the personality profiles (as measured by the NEO PI-R) of 54 volunteers for an intentional personality change coaching study, and describes the personality facets they chose to target for change. The results of this study indicated that participants had significantly higher openness and emotionality. Targeted personality facets primarily fell within the domains of emotionality (48.17 per cent) and conscientiousness (28.04 per cent). Anxiety (N=28), self-discipline (N=19), angry/hostility (N=17), depression (N=11) and self-consciousness (N=11) were the most commonly targeted facets. These results inform the literature regarding which individuals may be motivated to change their personalities and for what purpose. There may also be wider implications regarding how the personality of volunteers for intervention research may differ from the general population.