The short answer

Yes. Conscientiousness, the trait discipline falls under, is one of the traits research has actually tracked people successfully increasing, not just wanting to increase. The catch is the same one that applies to any personality trait: it takes a specific goal and a real plan, not just deciding to be more disciplined.

What the research actually found

In a 16-week study, college students who set a clear goal to change a specific trait and then stuck with it measurably changed that trait, not just how they rated themselves on a questionnaire.[1] The people who saw the biggest jump weren’t the ones who wanted it most. They were the ones given a structured technique: planning specific “if this happens, I’ll do that” responses tied to their goal. That single addition roughly doubled how much people changed.

A larger study backs this up outside a lab setting. Around 1,500 adults used a three-month phone-coaching program built around exactly that structure — a specific trait goal, daily nudges, and self-tracking. Increasing Conscientiousness was one of the three most common goals people worked on.[2] People who stuck with the full three months saw real change; their friends and family noticed it too, not just the participants themselves, and the change was still there three months after the program ended.

So what actually works

Based on what moved the needle in both studies:

  1. Pick one specific behavior, not “be more disciplined” in general. “Plan tomorrow’s top three tasks the night before” beats “get organized.”
  2. Write an if-then plan for it. “If it’s 9pm, then I write tomorrow’s task list” outperformed just having the goal.
  3. Keep at it for months, not days. Both studies ran for a minimum of three to four months before the change took hold.
  4. Track it. Self-monitoring was part of the structure in both studies, not an optional add-on.

Why “which part of discipline” matters

Discipline isn’t one thing. It’s one specific facet inside Conscientiousness, not the whole trait. The model this platform is built on splits Conscientiousness into six facets: Self-Efficacy, Orderliness, Dutifulness, Achievement-Striving, Self-Discipline, and Cautiousness.[3] Two people can land on the exact same overall Conscientiousness score with completely different facet profiles. One might already have plenty of Self-Discipline but weak Orderliness, so tasks get done but nothing has a system. Another might be well-organized but keeps abandoning things halfway through, which is a Self-Discipline gap, not an organization one.

Point 1 above, pick one specific behavior, is a lot easier when you already know which facet is low. A single Conscientiousness number won’t tell you that. A facet-level breakdown will. See what your Conscientiousness facets look like →

What doesn’t work

Wanting to be more disciplined without a specific plan attached showed the weakest results in both studies. Motivation on its own wasn’t the active ingredient. Structure was.

The honest limit

This isn’t instant, and it isn’t effortless. Both studies required months of consistent follow-through, and the people who didn’t follow through didn’t see the change.

References

  1. 1.Hudson, N. W., & Fraley, R. C. (2015). Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), 490–507.
  2. 2.Stieger, M., Flückiger, C., Rüegger, D., Kowatsch, T., Roberts, B. W., & Allemand, M. (2021). Changing personality traits with the help of a digital personality change intervention. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(8), e2017548118.
  3. 3.Johnson, J. A. (2014). Measuring thirty facets of the Five Factor Model with a 120-item public domain inventory: Development of the IPIP-NEO-120. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 78–89.