|  The 16th Japanese Conference of Personality Psychology
By Shinji Yamagata (Japan Society of Promotion of Science / Keio University)
On August 25 and 26, 2007, Japan Society of Personality Psychology (JSPP) held its annual meeting at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, which is located in the northern island of Hokkaido. The conference brought together approximately 170 participants from all over Japan.
There were three invited talks, three symposia, and 80 poster presentations, which covered a wide range of topics. In the first of the invited talks, titled “Personality as a cultural construct,” Professor Jaan Valsiner of Clark University suggested reconsideration of personality as semiotic constraints that influence our daily conduct and flows of thinking, and provided theoretical framework for studying dynamic relationship between culture and human behavior. In the second, Professor Yoshihiro Murakami of Toyama University explained how to develop personality scales, with a special emphasis on examining criterion-related validity when initially choosing items. In the last talk, Professor Hiroshi Suzuki of Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine introduced molecular genetic study of guide dogs for the blind, and explained how analyzing effects of genes on canine behavior could help efficient breeding of guide dogs. There were also three symposia: (1) Historical structured sampling and trajectory equifinality model, a new methodological framework in qualitative psychological research, (2) how natural environment, teacher behavior in the classroom, and outdoor life experience could influence personality development, and (3) strength and weakness of various research methods, such as questionnaire, interview, experimental and physiological approaches, and productive ways of their coordination.
Topics covered by poster presentations were also diverse. Some of the titles were “An item response model that estimates psychological trait values excluding influences of response bias,” “How people refer to their own ‘personality’: A study of weblog,” “Change in school adjustment from 6th to 8th grade: The role of sociability,” “Genetic and environmental influences in the development of personality: A cross-sectional twin study from infancy to adolescence,” and “A study of learning effects on a view of personality, using implicit association test and explicit measures.” Approximately half of the posters were presented by graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, and discussions in front of the posters were very lively. A couple of excellent poster presentation awards will be given, and the winners will be announced soon.
The site for next year’s conference will be Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, with Professor Akira Sakamoto as Chair of the organizing committee.
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