Project Details
Projekt
Reflective, associative, and epigenetic processes of personality development in young and older adulthood – Extension of the TESSERA project
Subject Area
Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
Term
since 2014
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 260006982
The proposed project follows up on the project "Short- and Long-term Processes of Personality Development", which examined changes in explicitly and implicitly measured Big Five traits among younger and older adults. The previous project showed that several predictions from the TESSERA framework on personality development were empirically confirmed, such as that repeated momentary situations, states and reactions predict longitudinal changes in most of the Big Five, both self-reported and implicitly measured. Two central questions remained open: How do different reflective processes affect the amount of trait change? Are effects of reflective, associative, and epigenetic processes less pronounced in older age? The current project addresses these open questions in three studies: The first study examines the stability of reflective processes longitudinally and aims at replicating and explaining (through reflective processes) the dissociation of changes in explicitly and implicitly measured traits, observed in the previous project. The second study manipulates reflective processes experimentally, while the third study applies a socio-emotional training intervention to manipulate reflective processes within-person over time and to examine epigenetic processes. All three studies include age-heterogeneous samples and use multiple methods. The results help to understand factors that facilitate or impede personality development, with implications for both basic research and preventative or therapeutic interventions.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
Co-Investigator
Professorin Dr. Beate Ditzen
