ARP-Sponsored Pre-Conference on Personality Dynamics, Processes, and Functioning at SPSP in Atlanta (2018)

John Rauthmann and Eranda Jayawickreme

Wake Forest University

Eranda JayawickremeJohn Rauthmann

Early personality psychologists such as Gordon Allport, Raymond Cattell, and Hans Eysenck have stressed the importance of dynamics, processes, and functioning going on within a person. However, in later years interest in those aspects of personality psychology seemed to have waned in favor of strictly nomothetically oriented, structural approaches focusing on the organization of traits across persons. To be sure, such research has yielded important insights to personality and fostered many lines of productive research (e.g., taxonomic research on the Big Five). However, in the last 15 years, the field has moved from simply focusing on descriptive research (How can individual differences be described? Which trait structures are there?) to a more explanatory and dynamic science of personality, focusing on questions including: Which processes underlie traits? How and why do traits manifest? How does personality "function" in different contexts? This new emphasis thus bridges structure- and process-based approaches to personality. In other words, the field is not just interested in the number, nature, and corresponding measurement of traits, but also in mechanisms that constitute traits or give them their power (e.g., to predict various real-life consequences). Thus, for a more complete science of personality, we need to attend not only to structures, but also to dynamics, processes, and mechanisms.

Currently, we are growing more and more interested in the dynamic organization and interplay of thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions within persons who are always embedded into social, cultural, and historic contexts. "Hot topics" in the field include (but are not limited to):

These topics are studied with a range of methods which are geared towards assessing and analyzing their dynamic nature, such as (but not limited to) ecological momentary sampling of personality manifestations in real-life; dynamic modeling of time-series or longitudinal personality data; network modeling and simulations; and systems-theoretical models of dynamic processes. Although the topics and methods seem varied, they are tied together by the motivation for a more dynamic understanding of personality and individual differences.

The pre-conference – generously sponsored by ARP and organized by John Rauthmann, Eranda Jayawickreme, Mike Furr, and Will Fleeson from Wake Forest University – will bring together experts and novices interested in a dynamic and process-focused science of personality. It is timely to convene in such a pre-conference as the interest in and popularity of dynamic personality psychology seems to be ever-growing, with special issues and handbooks devoted to the topics popping up. Most recent examples include: a target article on "Integrating Personality Structure, Personality Process, and Personality Development" by Baumert and colleagues in the European Journal of Personality (with several commentaries and a rejoinder); a special issue on "Within-Person Variability" in the Journal of Research in Personality, edited by Vazire and Sherman; a special issue on "Dynamic Personality Psychology" in the Journal Personality and Individual Differences, edited by Rauthmann, Beckmann, Noftle, and Sherman; and a Handbook of Personality Dynamics and Processes (slated for late 2018), edited by Rauthmann. Also, outside of such specialized venues, a lot of theory and research on personality dynamics, processes, and functioning is published.

We have four symposia (each 90 minutes) planned at the preconference, with four to five presentations each. The first two focus on substantive research areas, the third deals with methodological and statistical issues when studying personality dynamics, while the fourth combines a substantive and methodological perspective. Additionally, we have a 60-minute poster session planned, where we can accommodate a maximum of 20 posters. Please submit abstracts (max. 200 words) for posters to be considered for this pre-conference to arp.precon@gmail.com until December 13 at the latest.

More information on the preconference can be found at: http://meeting.spsp.org/preconferences/pdpf



Symposium #1: Dynamics of Personality Change and Growth
Chairs: Jayawickreme & Noftle

Features talks that look at personality dynamics and processes across the lifespan, especially as they pertain to systematic ways of personality change and growth (e.g., following adversity)

Speakers:


Symposium #2: Processes and Dynamics of Personality-Situation Transactions
Chairs: Rauthmann & Sherman

Features talks that examine how transactions between persons and situations or environments can explain personality variability and stability

Speakers:


Symposium #3: Methodologies for Studying Personality Dynamics and Processes
Chair: Furr

Features talks that detail state-of-the-art and advances in methodologies (e.g., designs, methods, statistics) of studying personality dynamics, processes, and functioning.

Speakers:


Symposium #4: Extreme Groups as a Key to Understanding Personality Dynamics and Functioning
Chairs: Fleeson & Wright

Features talks on personality psychopathology and exceptional morality that demonstrate how extreme groups yield unique insights for "normal" personality dynamics in a more concentrated and more effective way

Speakers: