Research

Our research interests lie at the interface between personality development and the development of social relationships from adolescence to late adulthood. Thereby, our current research has three main foci: 1) personality development in educational contexts, 2) personality and social relationship transaction in adolescence and beyond, and 3) developmental sources and consequences from adolescence to late life. In the following, we specify these three foci and present several current and some completed projects.

Personality (Development) in Educational Contexts.

The educational context is one key developmental environment of adolescence and beyond. Past research has demonstrated strong cross-sectional associations between personality traits and academic achievement within the school and university context. So far, little is known about associations with other relevant educational outcomes, about these associations longitudinally and thus, about the potential dynamic interplay between developmental trajectories of personality and diverse educational outcomes during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Our lab has a major interest in understanding trajectories as well as correlates and consequences of personality (development) in the school environment and further educational developments. In this context, we focus in particular on social relationship dynamics and interaction characteristics and the interplay with personality characteristics in adolescence and beyond.

Personality and Social Relationships

In adolescence, a central developmental task is to become more independent from parents while forming new social relationships with peers. A key interest of our lab is to better understand how social relationships and the underlying processes of social interactions are shaped by individual characteristics. In particular, we aim to shed light on the dynamic interplay between interindividual differences in personality characteristics and social relationships. In our lab, we use different methods to investigate the interplay between adolescents’ personality and their social relationships in diverse settings. For example, our video lab allows to assess detailed verbal and nonverbal behavioral data from individuals, dyads, or small groups. In addition, we examine adolescents’ online social interactions and use the experience sampling method (ESM) to study adolescents’ social interactions with family members and peers in their everyday lives.

Developmental Sources and Consequences from Adolescence to Late Life

Lifelong adaptation to new contexts, people, and (societal) expectations represents an ongoing challenge for the development of socio-emotional characteristics, with differential developmental trajectories of self-esteem and personality across the lifespan at the center of our research. In current projects, we are particularly interested in testing the extent to which personality development is differentially influenced by school experiences and educational decisions, and how developmental trajectories of motivation and personality influence outcomes in adulthood, such as career success or voting intentions. A further strand of research in this area focuses on different conditions and sources of personality development. By combining experimental, behavioral and diary data, we examine sources and processes of differential personality development from these different angles.