96 I. THEORETICAL  PERSPECTI vES AND  CONCEPT uAL uNITS
potential to grow and improve over time. 
Those receiving this intervention, when as -
sessed 9 months later, showed a reduced 
incidence of clinically significant levels of 
depressive symptoms compared to control 
participants. Another study using this kind 
of intervention showed relatively long-term 
decreases in stress among adolescents (Yea -
ger et al., 2014; see also Schleider & Weisz, 
2016, for related interventions for depres -
sion and anxiety).
Openness to  Experience
Short-term experiments from our laborato -
ry, although they are not interventions, sug -
gest the possibility of enhancing openness to 
experience. Students who received “process 
praise” (for hard work, strategies, etc.), as 
opposed to “person praise” (for intelligence 
or ability), showed a greater desire for in -
tellectual challenge, an aspect of openness 
to experience (Mueller & Dweck, 1998). 
In a later, longitudinal study, mothers who 
gave more process praise (as a proportion of 
total praise) to their toddlers had children 
who showed higher levels of intellectual 
challenge-  seeking 5 years later (Gunderson 
et al., 2013; see also Pomerantz & Kempner, 
2013).
Researchers within the five-  factor tradi -
tion are also creating interventions that are 
successful in altering traits such as openness 
to experience and conscientiousness (see 
Jackson, Beck, & Mike, Chapter 38, this 
volume, for a review). In one study, Jackson, 
Hill, Payne, Roberts, and Stine-  Morrow 
(2012) gave older adults 12 weeks of train -
ing in inductive reasoning, along with cross -
word and Sudoku puzzles. Compared to 
a control group, these adults reported in -
creased openness to experience, as shown by 
greater openness to and enjoyment of cogni -
tively engaging activities.
In contrast to our approach, which chang -
es beliefs to change behavior, such studies 
have typically taken the route of training 
trait-  consistent actions, with changes in re -
ported traits following suit over time. This 
is completely consistent with the current 
theory, in which changes can be brought 
about by changing any of the three types 
of representations: stored beliefs, emotions, 
or action tendencies. It may also be the case that sometimes changing one type of repre -
sentation will change others. The Jackson et 
al. (2012) intervention targeted actions but 
may also have changed people’s beliefs about 
and emotions toward cognitively engaging 
activities.
A Research Agenda
The present theory, by pointing the way to -
ward a synthesis of motivation, personality, 
and development, can also point the way to -
ward future research.
Personality
The current theory portrays traits as the 
end product of a series of motivational and 
social-  cognitive processes. These processes 
have been molded over time as individuals, 
with their biological endowment, interact 
with their environment and form mental 
representations of their experiences. Why 
do people differ? Within the current theory, 
they may differ, for example, because their 
needs differ in strength, they have different 
highly accessible BEATs, or they pursue dif -
ferent goals in different ways. Thus, future 
research needs to further explore the moti -
vational and social-  cognitive bases of char -
acteristic patterns of online acts and experi -
ence.
1. First, researchers can identify new rep -
resentations (BEATs) that are relevant to 
personality, such as potentially important 
but unstudied or understudied beliefs. They 
can then test hypotheses about the goals and 
the traits that these BEATs foster. I have 
suggested two dimensions of beliefs (good -
ness and controllability). Many variants of 
these beliefs have been studied but many re -
main to be understood, such as beliefs about 
goodness and controllability within differ -
ent need domains or with respect to differ -
ent aspects of people or the world (e.g., the 
goodness or controllability of one’s fate or 
destiny).
2. Researchers may also begin with par -
ticular patterns of acts and experiences, 
other than Big Five traits, that play an impor -
tant role in effective functioning and well-