I think Kathleen hit the nail on the head with the behavior you described as being maturation.

I believe real change in basic personality is rare. I also believe that it is usually due to a major life event and most often for the negative.If positive change was easy and lasting, psychologists would be out of jobs and there would be no need for AA, Weight Watchers, and the like. Those are the reasons I opted to go into psychometry (diagnostics) rather than counseling. I honestly do not believe most people can be "fixed."