Towards a Developmentally Integrative Model of Personality Change: A Focus on Three Potential Mechanisms.

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Personality psychology
• Clinical psychology

Background:

• Personality is generally stable, but incremental changes occur across the lifespan.
• These changes can influence life trajectories positively or negatively.
• Existing models inform a new integrative approach to personality change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a new, developmentally-oriented model of personality change.
• To explore factors contributing to changes in personality traits, particularly urgency.
• To examine implications for clinical psychology and future research directions.

Main Methods:

• Drawing from prior theoretical and empirical work.
• Utilizing longitudinal studies of personality change and risky behavior in youth.
• Integrating neurocognitive, puberty-based, and behavior-based models.

Main Results:

• Focus on the high-risk trait of urgency, defined as rash action during high emotion.
• Exploration of biologically-based and behavior-based pathways of personality change.
• Identification of a positive feedback loop between maladaptive behaviors and high-risk traits.

Conclusions:

• A new model integrates biological and behavioral factors in personality change.
• A risk feedback loop exacerbates maladaptive behaviors and traits.
• Future research should consider trauma and therapeutic interventions for personality change.