The dynamics,processes, mechanisms,and functioning of personality: An overview of the field

Personality psychology has long focused on structural trait models, but it can also offer a rich understanding of the dynamics, processes, mechanisms, and functioning of individual differences or entire persons. The field of personality dynamics, which works towards such an understanding, has experienced a renaissance in the last two decades. This review article seeks to act as a primer of that field. It covers its historical roots, summarizes current research strands – along with their theoretical backbones and methodologies – in an accessible way, and sketches some considerations for the future. In doing so, we introduce relevant concepts, give an overview of different topics and phenomena subsumed under the broad umbrella term ‘dynamics’, and highlight the interdisciplinarity as well as applied relevance of the field. We hope this article can serve as a useful overview for scholars within and outside of personality psychology who are interested in the dynamic nature of human behaviour and experience.     

Young infants' vocalizations towards mother versus stranger: associations with the infant–mother relationship

Infants' differential vocal response (DVR) towards their mother and a female stranger at 3 months of age has been predominantly investigated as an index of early cognitive functioning. The present study explored the relationship between DVR and different infant and mother indicators of the developing relationship quality in a sample of 23 mother–infant dyads. Mother–infant interactions and stranger–infant interactions were videotaped during home visits when the infants were 3 months old. At the age of 12 months, infants' behaviour was assessed in the Ainsworth's strange situation. In both assessments, mothers noted the infants' behavioural states on 3 successive days. Results revealed a specific relation between DVR and the emotional atmosphere of the early mother–infant interaction. Particularly, DVR was less pronounced in favour of the mother when the mother displayed emotional expressions defined as rejection. DVR is discussed as an index that may indicate both infant emotional engagement and infant cognitive competencies. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COMT gene polymorphisms,cognitive performance,and physical fitness in older adults

ObjectiveIt is well known that genetic predispositions might influence cognitive performance, particularly in older adults. One gene related to executive functioning is the COMT gene with met/met carriers outperforming val/val carriers in cognitive tasks. Further, it has been shown that fitness is positively related to cognitive functioning in older adults. As both, the COMT genotype and physical exercise have been shown to influence dopamine availability and as changes in dopamine metabolism seem to play a key role in cognitive aging, the aim of this study was to analyze the association of the COMT gene polymorphisms with the relationship between fitness and cognition.DesignWe used a cross-sectional design.MethodSixty-eight healthy older adults between 62 and 79 years of age were analyzed in this study. DNA was extracted from capillary blood samples. Participants performed a modified version of the Flanker Task as an indicator of executive control and a battery of motor and physical tests as indicators of fitness.ResultsHierarchical regression analyses revealed a positive influence of overall fitness and an interactive effect of fitness and COMT polymorphisms on Flanker accuracy performance. Val/val carriers revealed the highest positive correlation between fitness and cognition.ConclusionsOur data suggest that particularly val/val allele carriers benefit from exercise by improved cognitive functioning whereas met/met carriers already perform closer at their optimum level.     

Cognitive Flexibility and Pro‐environmental Behaviour: A Multimethod Approach

While cognitive flexibility has been hypothesized to relate to adaptive, long‐term‐oriented behaviour, empirical support for such a relationship is scarce. In the present article, we examine the role of cognitive flexibility as a correlate of long‐term‐oriented behaviour in the domain of environmental conservation. In a first study (N = 143), we explored potential associations between multiple self‐report scales and performance‐based measures of cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour. Based on its results, we conducted a pre‐registered confirmatory study (N = 264) focusing on the most promising correlations found in our exploratory study. This study generated conclusive support for a positive medium‐sized correlation between cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour. Exploratory hierarchical regression analyses further revealed that cognitive flexibility accounted for a small portion of variance in pro‐environmental behaviour above and beyond the Big Five. While appearing robust on the level of self‐reports, the relationship between cognitive flexibility and pro‐environmental behaviour did not reliably extend to the level of performance tasks, possibly because of their relatively specific scope. These results illustrate the contribution of cognitive flexibility to understanding individual differences in long‐term‐oriented, pro‐environmental behaviour. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Parental reflective functioning and theory of mind acquisition: A developmental perspective

This study investigated theory of mind (ToM) development in 83 children aged 3–5 years and its associations with parental reflective functioning (PRF), using a multidimensional and developmental approach. Results showed that ToM dimensions (i.e., affective, belief-desire, and cognitive) gradually increased with age. All dimensions of PRF (i.e., prementalizing modes, certainty about mental states, and interest and curiosity in mental states) were associated with ToM dimensions, with different dimensions being differentially related to ToM, including age-related effects.     

Tempted to join in or not? Moral temptation and self-reported behaviour in bullying situations

We investigate the relationship between adolescents’ construction of a transgression relating to a hypothetical temptation and bystander behaviour and bullying (offline and online). A total of 331 Swiss eighth graders completed an electronic questionnaire on bystanding, bullying, moral disengagement, and empathy. Moral functioning was assessed in a hypothetical scenario, using different moral judgements (deontic and self-judgement, judging the transgression; paper-and-pencil measure). Cluster analyses were used to identify patterns of moral functioning. For the open situation (deontic and self-judgement), happy transgressors, happy moralists, ashamed moralists, and indifferent moralists were differentiated, and for the transgression (accomplished deed) moralists and happy opportunists. The analyses yielded significant differences between the different cluster groups. Happy transgressors (open situation) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying than unconcerned moralists. Happy transgressors also reported lower levels of helping than ashamed and happy moralists. Opportunists (accomplished deed) reported higher levels of assisting the bullying, offline bullying, and lower levels of helping the victim. The multivariate GEE analyses showed that happy transgressors reported higher levels of assisting the bully and online bullying than the moralist groups (open situation). The study shows that adolescents who construct a favourable interpretation of yielding to temptation in a hypothetical scenario displayed higher levels of both assisting the bully and online bullying, emphasizing the need for incorporating targeted moral education in bullying prevention.