 3. Toward an Integrative Theory of Motivation, Personality, and Development 95
social-  cognitive theories are sometimes said 
to be theories about individuals (their par -
ticular mental processes or situated behav -
ior) and not enough about what people or 
groups of people have in common (although 
see Mischel & Shoda, 2008). The current 
theory strives to portray the dynamic func -
tioning of individuals, while also highlight -
ing commonalities among people.
It does this by suggesting that all people 
come with the same basic needs and that, 
from the beginning, they all pursue need- 
related goals. Virtually everyone needs and 
seeks first acceptance, predictability, and 
competence and then trust, self-  esteem, con -
trol, and self-  coherence—  and there may be 
common ways in which infants and young 
children strive to fulfill these needs. Fur -
ther, children may live in social worlds that 
vary in common ways, such as their warmth 
(goodness) or responsiveness (controllabil -
ity), leading to common types of mental 
representations. These in turn can shape 
the pursuit of need-  related goals in common 
ways. Children, too, may differ in identifi -
able, measurable ways, such as in their tem -
peraments, and this too can help us map 
commonalities among people.
The important point is that, to the degree 
that people have similar needs, pursue them 
(at least early on) in a finite number of ways, 
and meet with a finite number of typical re -
actions, we can develop theories of person -
ality that capture both people’s differences 
and their commonalities.
Finally, the current perspective, in addi -
tion to fostering a greater understanding 
of the nature and workings of personality, 
could also foster a greater understanding of 
how to help people develop in optimal ways. 
I turn now to this issue.
Can Personality Be  Changed?
An enduring question in psychology is wheth -
er personality can be changed in meaningful 
ways. When a theory portrays personality as 
emerging, at least in part, from the pursuit 
of goals and the development of mental rep -
resentations, then the theory can more read -
ily offer targets of change. Below are some 
examples, mainly from our work, of how in -
terventions aimed at BEATs (beliefs) can cre -
ate meaningful changes in patterns of online 
acts and experiences. To be clear, I am not suggesting that changing a belief changes 
an entire personality trait, but rather that it 
can modify certain acts and experiences that 
typically fall within or characterize a trait.
Conscientiousness
Adolescents who received an eight-  session 
workshop that taught a growth mindset 
about intelligence (the belief that intelli -
gence can be developed) devoted more ef -
fort to their schoolwork and did not show 
the decline in math grades demonstrated by 
the control group (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, 
& Dweck, 2007; see also Aronson, Fried, 
& Good, 2002). In other research, African 
American college students who received an 
intervention conveying the belief that stu -
dents like them “belonged” in their school 
showed increases in study time, contact 
with professors, and grades over their col -
lege years compared to the control condition 
(Walton & Cohen, 2007). Short-term exper -
iments (not yet interventions) that fostered 
the belief that willpower can be abundant 
and self-  generating (as opposed to scarce 
and easily depleted) led people to exhibit 
higher levels of self-  regulation and perfor -
mance even after performing “depleting” 
tasks (Job, Dweck, & Walton, 2010; also see 
Job, Walton, Bernecker, & Dweck, 2015). 
In short, all of these studies, whether they 
targeted beliefs in the area of competence, 
acceptance, or control, suggest that aspects 
of “conscientiousness” can be increased by 
addressing relevant beliefs.
Agreeableness
Yeager, Trzesniewski, and Dweck (2012) 
conducted a six-  session workshop for high 
school students in which they were taught a 
growth mindset about personality (the idea 
that people have the potential to grow and 
improve) and its application to peer con -
flicts. Those participating in this workshop 
showed a clear decrease in aggression and 
a clear increase in prosocial behavior, com -
pared to an active control group.
Neuroticism/Negative  Affectivity
Miu and Yeager (2015) taught entering high 
school students a growth mindset about per -
sonality, which, again, highlighted people’s 