Dynamics of Dispositional Change

性格变化的动态

• 批准号: 0921842
• 负责人: Gerard Saucier
• 金额: $ 88.02万
• 依托单位: University of Oregon Eugene
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-10-01 至 2014-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0921842&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dynamics; Dispositional; Change

Personality traits are associated with a range of important life outcomes related to occupational success, close relationships, mental and physical health, and other domains. For example, people with a moody or fearful personality are more likely to have conflicts with partners, co-workers, neighbors and so on, and therefore are at risk for distressed relationships. Previously, the predominant view of personality regarded traits like "moody" as endogenous dispositions that become stable in early adulthood and change very little thereafter. However, a growing body of recent research has challenged this viewpoint and documented that personality traits can and do change throughout the lifespan, sometimes substantially. The primary goal of this research is to better understand the dynamics underlying personality changes during adulthood. This research is designed to test two broad categories of explanations for personality change. The first concerns social roles, and begins with the observation that across the lifespan, adults move through a variety of evolving social roles as workers, parents, and caregivers, among others. Over time, social roles may dynamically interact with personality traits, with social roles promoting changes in personality and one's traits providing the basis for self-selection into, and identification with, different social roles. The second explanation involves an individual's worldview and values, defined as broad motivational orientations that prioritize desirable end-states across a variety of situations. Values and worldview have the potential to shape and reorganize personality (e.g., pursuit of communitarian values may shift an individual toward a more generous and other-oriented disposition). To test these and related hypotheses, two longitudinal studies will be conducted. Study 1 will focus on young adults who are beginning to take on adult social roles and consolidating a sense of identity and a set of personal values. Study 2 will focus on adults from a broader range of ages. In both studies, participants will complete an in-depth assessment of personality, social roles, values/worldview, and relevant control variables at four points in time, each separated by one year. This will allow the examination of whether changes in social roles or values precipitate shifts in personality traits or vice versa.Broadly, this research seeks a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of personality traits: what makes them stable and what makes them change. While traits are partially rooted in genetic influences, they evidently develop through as yet poorly understood dynamic interactions between genetic and environmental processes. New models, then, are needed that more exactly specify how personality interacts with belief systems and with social environments, which can then direct research that examines how lower-level processes like gene expression and gene-environment interactions lead to important behavioral outcomes. The dynamic processes underlying personality, once identified, will point to transactional sources of change that can usefully inform and be incorporated into public policy and education. Among other possibilities, this might lead to targeted interventions to promote optimal development of key desirable psychological attributes, including civility, altruism, integrity, and achievement orientation.

人格特质与与职业成功，亲密关系，身心健康以及其他领域有关的一系列重要生活成果有关。例如，具有喜怒无常或恐惧个性的人更有可能与伴侣，同事，邻居等发生冲突，因此有陷入困境的关系的风险。以前，人格的主要观点将特征视为“喜怒无常”的特征，这是内源性的性格，在成年初变得稳定，此后几乎没有改变。但是，越来越多的研究挑战了这一观点，并记录了人格特质在整个生命周期中可以而且确实会发生变化，有时甚至大大改变。这项研究的主要目的是更好地了解成年期间人格变化的动态。这项研究旨在测试有关人格变化的两个广泛解释。首先关注的是社会角色，首先要观察到，在整个生命周期中，成年人贯穿各种不断发展的社会角色，作为工人，父母和照料者等。随着时间的流逝，社会角色可能会与人格特征动态互动，社会角色促进人格变化，一个人的特征为自我选择和认同的基础提供了不同的社会角色。第二个解释涉及个人的世界观和价值观，被定义为广泛的动机取向，优先考虑各种情况下的理想最终国家。价值观和世界观有可能塑造和重组个性（例如，追求社区价值观可能会将一个人转向更慷慨和面向更慷慨的倾向）。 为了检验这些和相关的假设，将进行两项纵向研究。研究1将集中于开始扮演成人社会角色并巩固身份和一系列个人价值观的年轻人。研究2将集中于更广泛的年龄范围的成年人。在这两项研究中，参与者将在四个时间点上完成对个性，社会角色，价值观/世界观和相关控制变量的深入评估，每个变量均相距一年。这将允许检查社会角色或价值观的变化是否会导致人格特质的变化或反之亦然。在路上，本研究寻求对人格特质动态的更全面的理解：是什么使它们稳定，是什么使它们改变。尽管特征部分植根于遗传影响，但它们显然通过遗传和环境过程之间的动态相互作用而发展得很遥远。因此，需要更准确地说明人格与信仰系统和社会环境的相互作用的新模型，然后可以指导研究研究基因表达和基因环境相互作用等较低级别的过程如何导致重要的行为结果。一旦确定的人格的动态过程将指出可以有效告知并将其纳入公共政策和教育的变更来源。除其他可能性外，这可能导致有针对性的干预措施，以促进关键理想的心理属性的最佳发展，包括文明，利他主义，正直和成就取向。