Abstract
This paper proposed that individual differences in personality should be studied during periods of environmental change because these periods provide an opportunity to discern the general mechanisms that govern the functions and processes of personality. The authors delineate the circumstances wherein personality differences are accentuated and then specific the conditions whereby change is produced. Personality differences are likely to be revealed during transitions into unpredictable new situations, when there is a press to behave but no information about how to behave adaptively. Dispositional differences are thus accentuated as each person seeks to transform novel, ambiguous and uncertain circumstances into familiar, clear, and expectable social encounters. The authors' theory also accounts for turning points in behavioural development: systematic change is likely to occur during transitions into new situations, when there is a press to behave and when previous responses are actively discouraged while clear information is provided about how to behave adaptively.