Personality Psychology Podcast

In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talks with four researchers in the field of personality and aging about common trends in personality change into old age, antecedents and consequences thereof and, most importantly, individual differences.

In this episode, Marie Hennecke and Jana Nikitin talk about their research on goals and motivations. Specifically, they discuss why goals and motivations are important, how they change across the lifespan, and how we can achieve our goals—and even change our personality traits.

What is a good life? And can people have it? A recent European Journal of Personality paper authored by Emily Willroth and colleagues explored this question among U.S. Americans and Japanese, and also asked whether most people have the lives that they want.

In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talks with three experts on what narrative identity is, what important contributions it makes to the field of personality psychology, and what is needed to further advance research on narrative identity.

Personality research occupies itself with not only the Big Five traits but a myriad of other important constructs. Bill Chopik talks in this episode about his research on attachment, optimism, and honesty, and also close relationships (including pets). He shares his experience with cross-cultural and lifespan studies, and important lessons from grad school.

Many researchers like to think of personalities as patterns of dynamic states. Thanks to technological advances, they can now measure the states and build statistical models from these measurements. Other researchers may have remained more sceptical: after all, isn’t personality something relatively stable, by definition? Can state models really help us better understand how people differ from one another in their personality traits? Trying to make sense of this topic, René Mõttus speaks to three experts on the topic: Gabriela Harari, Kai Horstmann and Whitney Ringwald. They discuss what personality states are and how these relate to personality traits, the primary focus of personality research.

In this episode, Michael Grosz talks about what causal inference is, how difficult it is to test in personality psychology, and why he doesn't give up on our field.

Join Colin DeYoung, a neuroscience-focused personality professor, Isabel Thielmann, an expert in ethical behavior, Luke Smillie, who studies extroversion, and Reinout de Vries, a HEXACO model specialist, as they dive into the nuanced debate surrounding the Big Five and HEXACO personality models. They discuss each model’s strengths, the implications for understanding human behavior, and the complexities of measuring personality traits. Expect insights on ethical dimensions, political attitudes, and the importance of evolving personality assessments.

What does geography have to do with personality? In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann speaks with Fritz Götz, Elisa Militaru, and Markus Jokela about studying personality from a geographical psychology approach—what that research field is, how things are measured (and how tricky it is to measure), past interesting findings and future directions.

Julie Exline, a psychology professor at Case Western Reserve University, dives into the psychology of spirituality and religiosity. She shares her journey into the field and the nature of spiritual struggles many face. The conversation touches on balancing spirituality within conservative beliefs and the complexities of emotions like anger towards God, even among atheists. Exline discusses how personality traits shape these experiences and highlights the benefits of non-dogmatic spiritual direction and integrating spirituality into therapy.