Summer School of Personality Science (SSPS)
Emorie D. Beck
A Story of Firsts: The Summer School in Personality Science 2018
On July 10, 2018, 16 current graduate students in psychology walked into the Hotel Zadar in Zadar, Croatia, to take part in the first Summer School in Personality Science (SSPS). Most of us didn't know more than one or two others, if any, and I imagine all of us were nervous (and not just because we knew we were going to be randomly assigned roommates). We'd all received a copy of the schedule for the week. 6 days. 7 AM to 8 PM. Each day with a different topic - Methodology, Relationships, Dynamics, Biology, Culture, and Development. We also had bios on all the other participants. We all knew we were lucky to be there. We both knew what we had in store (the schedule was quite detailed) and had no idea what was in store.
I arrived around noon to the Hotel Zadar and was checked in by a stocky Croatian man drinking a beer. Although he was not happy I arrived early, I left my bags in the office and wandered up the coast to Old Town Zadar, where the streets were narrow and bricked. Small shops lined the streets, with clothes, beer, and much more. After three hours or so, I returned the hotel to check into my room and change for the initial reception that evening and met my roommate, Julia Jünger. After a few minutes of conversation, we already knew we would be good friends. Together, we went to meet the others.
Julia and I found the other participants sitting in a large circle in the outside dining area. Most people were sitting quietly, a little uncomfortable. We joined the circle and started making separate conversations, quickly learning others' names and bits about their background. After about 30 minutes of small talk, we moved to the opening reception, where we all continued to get to know each other. The reception was in the same location the summer school would take place, which was the University of Zadar in Old Town. The building we would inhabit opened up directly on the Adriatic Sea, not to a sand beach, but to a stone walkway that ended in a ledge. We stood near the ocean, enjoying the breeze, and continued to get to know one another.
The next morning, Julia and I slept for as long as we can reasonably justify to give us 15 minutes to eat breakfast. We were last to arrive, which would be a recurring event for the rest of the summer school. At 8:30 AM, John Rauthmann reminded us it was time to go and began leading us to the University. In what would become another theme, we all walked too slow, so John tended to be a few hundred feet ahead of us, reminding us we needed to move faster to get there in time.
We spent the next six days learning about a variety of topics. The organization of each was similar, with a keynote in the morning, followed by a second session before lunch, a mentoring lunch, then one session after lunch followed by a panel discussion and dinner. Lunches at the summer school were mentoring lunches, eaten at the University of Zadar cafeteria. During the meals, we would talk with various experts about a number of different topics, including publishing, peer reviewing, finding a job, getting grants etc. Each day, we would generally sit with different experts, so we were able to get a number of different perspectives, which was helpful.
The first day was Methodology Day, led by Simine Vazire and Katie Corker. The day started with Simine giving a keynote on the background of open science — what norms foster it, what can we do, how did we get here. Next, Katie led a hands-on demonstration of practices in open science, including using R for reproducible research and the OSF for sharing materials and pre-prints. We ended the day with a discussion of the challenges facing open science in personality.
The second day was Relationships Day, led by Mitja Back and Marius Leckelt. Mitja gave the keynote, outlining the how personality and relationships are related, and why we should care about this in personality research. We also had a tutorial on the methods used to study the dynamics of personality and relationships to help us understand how this perspective could inform our own research.
The third day was Dynamics Day, led by Chris Hopwood and Colin DeYoung. Colin and Chris both shared with us their theoretical models and discussed the similarities and difference between the two. Chris talked about interpersonal theory, asking the question of whether personality existed in the absence of a social context and charting how this question has led to increased interests in dynamics in personality. Colin followed up with a discussion of Cybernetic Big 5 Theory and how cybernetics might provide the framework for how dynamics and systems underlie personality.
Diverse expertise among the participants became most salient on Biology Day, which was the arguably the day that the fewest of us had a good grasp on. Led by Lars Penke and Colin DeYoung, we learned about research investigating the biological underpinnings of broad personality traits, how to think about the relationship between personality and neuroscience, and what behavioral genetics can teach us about causal mechanisms in personality development.
On Culture Day, led by Verónica Benet-Martínez, we addressed the question of cultural differences in the manifestation of personality, including discussing the mechanisms through which these differences might emerge. Given that we were all immersed in a new culture in Croatia and that the participants in the summer school hailed from all over Europe and North America, cultural differences (and similarities) were already striking, making this already poignant topic even more so.
The final day, Personality Development Day, led by Wiebke Bleidorn, ended early. The timing of SSPS overlapped with the World Cup, and Croatia had made it to the semi-finals and then finals during the summer school. Sunday, July 15, was the day of the World Cup Final, and it began during the scheduled sessions for development day. We spent the morning talking about what it even means that personality changes or develops and reviewed several prominent models for estimating this. Two big questions concerned whether life events change personality and whether it's possible to change personality through intervention. The evidence on both counts is mixed, despite anecdotal insistence that our experiences shape us and that intentional changes can do so.
As is typical in science, we left without a satisfactory answer to the question of how experiences shape personality and all left to watch the World Cup Final in the Forum. Standing in the packed square with the sun beating down, we watched France gain an early lead that they maintained through the rest of the match. When it ended, something entirely unexpected happened, at least for me as an American. Rather than a bitter defeat, the Croatians saw their loss as a victory. They had never made it this far in the World Cup before. Their small country had just demonstrated that they were at the top of the world. They didn't see second as "first loser." They were proud of everything they accomplished. There was almost no difference between their celebrations when they won in the semi-final and lost in the final. Flares went off. People climbed on whatever they could to sing and wave flags. Happy tears and hugs were everywhere. We all watched, somewhat astounded, moved to be experiencing these moments with the Croatians.
While I watched, I continued to think about the question of how experiences shape us. For the Croatians, as they cried, embraced, and celebrated with one another, it was hard to imagine that the event would not shape them, perhaps through how Croatian national narrative would be shaped by this successful participation in one of the biggest (largely) non-political global events. We stayed in the Forum for hours, until long after dark, where eventually there was a concert-like celebration of their victory. I know for many of us, we will cherish those moments for sharing them with people who welcomed us to share a key even in their nation's recent history with them. But we will also cherish all the moments of SSPS both for everything we learned and for sharing them with people who we will call friends and colleagues for decades.