Volitional Trait Change in Selection: It's About Time, but Also Degree and Perspective

Abstract

Volitional trait change—the idea that people can willfully change their personality—marks an important advancement for personality science beyond historic views of traits as relatively immutable. We applaud Dupré and Wille's (2024) extension and application of how volitional trait change could impact personnel selection. In this response, we aim to contribute to this discussion by focusing on three critical considerations for the applicability of PDGs to personnel selection—time (how quickly traits can change), degree (how much traits can change), and perspective (who perceives trait change). We concur that personality development has untapped potential in personnel selection and offer suggestions and caveats for how organizations might best realize it. We are excited about a new frontier in extending personality development to organizational settings and are optimistic that doing so would appreciably benefit employees, organizations, and the selection literature.