Questions and Answers About the Policy Relevance of Personality
Personality traits are increasingly being considered as useful tools in applied settings, including education, health, industrial psychology, and economics. The initial use of personality traits in applied settings has been predicated on their ability to predict valued outcomes. Most of these initial efforts have focused on using traits under the assumption that traits are functionally unchanging. The assumption that traits are unchanging is both untrue and a limiting factor on using personality traits more widely in applied settings where the emphasis is on both selection and development. To address the misconceptions concerning personality trait change, we address seven related questions surrounding the stability and change of personality traits and their relevance to interventions. In so doing, we present a case that traits can serve both as predictors of success in applied settings, as well as potential intervention targets across different domains. Though trait change will likely prove a more difficult target outcome than typical targets in applied interventions, it also may be a more fruitful one given the variety of life domains affected by personality traits.