Personality Psychology Podcast

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This is a show on the science of how people are different from one another, where these differences come from, how they develop, and why they matter. The podcast's hosts are Lisanne de Moor, MSc, René Mõttus, PhD, and Rebekka Weidmann, PhD, three personality researchers. It is a collaboration of the European Journal of Personality and the European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP), and sponsored by EAPP. www.personalitypsychologypodcast.com

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    • May 14, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 40m AVG DURATION
    • 54 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Personality Psychology Podcast

    #54 Values with Anat Bardi and Laura Parks-Leduc

    Play Episode Listen Later May 14, 2025 45:11


    In this episode, Anat Bardi and Laura Parks-Leduc join Rebekka Weidmann to discuss their research on values. They delve into their unique and shared definitions and research approaches to the topic of values, explaining how values can change and their associations with personality traits. The conversation also highlights well-established evidence about values and identifies areas that remain unexplored.

    #53 Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Personality with incoming editor Matthias Ziegler and outgoing editor René Mõttus

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2025 45:29


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talks with Matthias Ziegler and René Mõttus about the change in editorship at the European Journal of Personality and how they reflect on and look ahead at their time in the role of Editor-in-Chief.  

    #52 Personality and education with Jennifer Meyer and Jennifer Symonds

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2025 52:40


    During this episode, Lisanne de Moor talked with Jennifer Meyer and Jennifer Symonds about the links between personality and education – and the different levels at which to address this topic. They also discuss important real-world implications of the role that personality can play in education.  

    #51 AI and digital personality footprints, with Sandra Matz and Michal Kosinski

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2025 59:17


    René Mõttus talks to Sandra Matz and Michal Kosinski about the use of our digital footprints and AI in personality research and how this can be put to practical use. There is a lot going on in this field, with potentially profound theoretical and practical implications. Both Sandra and Michal are pioneers in this field, and Sandra has just published a book on the subject called Mindmasters.

    #50 A 4th year review with Lisanne de Moor, René Mõttus, and Rebekka Weidmann

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2024 40:31


    In this episode, the three hosts reminisce about the past four years of the podcast—their favorite episodes, honorable mentions, and important lessons learned. They also talk about plans for the future of the podcast. The team's newest addition, Celine Strohbehn, the podcast's social media manager, is also introduced and her involvement with the podcast is described.

    #49 Personality development in early life with Filip de Fruyt

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2024 66:10


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor spoke with Filip De Fruyt about his career-long commitment to studying personality development in early life and the development of maladaptive personality traits in children. He also discusses historical shifts in the field that have allowed for new questions regarding development to emerge and to be studied.  

    #48 The jingle jangle jungle of psychological measures, with Ruben Arslan and Farid Anvari

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2024 58:42


    Much of psychological science is about measurement. Bu are we any good at it? How could we do (even) better? Ruben Arslan and Farid Anvari argue that researchers often act like there was no past, inventing ever new tests without re-using, improving or even referring to what already exists. This unchecked proliferation of tests has left many subfields of psychology fragmented, as research findings are often not comparable to others. But Ruben and Farid also offer a path forward and argue that there is much to be happy about in psychological measurements—it often works surprisingly well. Listen to find out why 0.42 is (not really) a magic number and how scientific debate can inspire a rap battle. Hosted by René Mõttus.

    #47 The relaunch of the journal Personality Science with Jaap Denissen

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 4, 2024 22:42


    In this episode, Jaap Denissen, the new editor-in-chief of Personality Science, discusses the journal's recent relaunch with Rebekka Weidmann. Jaap shares insights into what the relaunch involved, the current initiatives and goals of the journal, and highlights a recently accepted special issue. Learn more about the exciting changes and future directions of this open-access journal.

    #46 Community-engaged research with LGBTQ+ communities with Nic Weststrate

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2024 46:11


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann spoke with Nic Weststrate about how he incorporates different, but less represented methods in his research with LGBTQ+ communities, such as narratives, psychobiographies, and community-engaged work. He also talks about how the field can embrace a “Yes, and” mindset in better valuing different theoretical and empirical approaches.

    #45 Counterdispositional behavior with Evy Kuijpers

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2024 27:08


    In our daily lives, we may come across many situations in which we act in ways that are different from our typical personality. In this episode, Lisanne de Moor speaks with Evy Kuijpers about what counterdispositional behavior is and what the consequences of behaving in ways that are “out of character” are.

    #44 Loneliness with Marlies Maes, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Marcus Mund, and Susanne Bücker

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2024 45:09


    Loneliness has received a lot of attention—especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann speaks with loneliness experts Marlies Maes, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Marcus Mund, and Susanne Bücker about the definition of loneliness and related but distinct constructs, the rising interest in loneliness, measurement issues, interventions, and more.

    #43 Paper Spotlight with Theo Klimstra and Kate McLean

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2024 21:58


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann spoke with Theo Klimstra and Kate McLean, the two authors of a recently accepted Target Article in the European Journal of Personality titled "Reconsidering Normative Interpretations in Personality Research". The authors summarize their article and speak about how the field can move forward. 

    #42 What makes personality science useful, with Bill Revelle and Bob Hogan

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2024 36:15


    René Mõttus talks to Bill Revelle and Bob Hogan who are well respected personality researchers in the field. They argue that the main use of personality research is to predict what real people do in the real world. Yet, much of academic psychology has not taken this seriously, focusing on abstract ideas and models with little real-world relevance. They discuss why useful personality assessment is not about complex statistics or even measuring traits, but simply adding up questions that best predict important outcomes. They also discuss why we should stop believing in Easter Bunnies, how to reassess your work after forty years, and how to build a successful global company. And many other things.

    #41 Creativity with Rodica Damian and Andreea Sutu

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2024 40:58


    Creative products—paintings, poems, but also innovative ideas like the invention of the wheel—help societies move forward. As such, it is no surprise that formal interest in creativity from psychologists dates back at least 100 years, and the informal interest arguably much longer. In this episode, Rodica Damian and Andreea Sutu, two experts in the study of creativity, discuss with Lisanne de Moor what creativity is, what the personality traits of a creative person are, and if creativity is linked to psychopathology.

    #40 Paper Spotlight with David Hughes and Paul Irwing

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2024 21:59


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor spoke with David Hughes and Paul Irwing, two of the authors of a recent publication in the European Journal of Personality titled "Toward a taxonomy of personality facets". The authors summarize their article and its studies and outline how they developed the facet map.

    #39 Life events and personality change with Wiebke Bleidorn and Chris Hopwood

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2023 42:59


    Many lay people and scientists think that life events can change personality traits. But proving or disproving this has been surprisingly challenging. Wiebke Bleidorn and Chris Hopwood are among the leading researchers on this topic, and they were involved in a recent large study that summarized the evidence so far. They will talk to René Mõttus about the latest research on life events and personality trait change, and discuss possible ways forward.

    #38 How to do the most good? Effective altruism, animals, and future risks with Lucius Caviola

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2023 37:19


    In this episode, Lucius Caviola discusses his psychological research on effective altruism and how people can be encouraged to give more effectively. You can try out effective giving yourself using his research-based donation platform https://givingmultiplier.org/personality. The episode also explores Lucius' research on how we perceive the value of animals and think about future risks. 

    #37 Sense of purpose with Gabrielle Pfund

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 27, 2023 27:14


    Have you ever pondered about your purpose? In this episode, we talked with Gabrielle Pfund about sense of purpose. What does it mean to have a sense of purpose, how can we measure it, and how is it related to important life outcomes? Gabrielle also describes the characteristics of people who are more likely to have a sense of purpose and in what direction her research is headed.

    #36 Personality change interventions with Mathias Allemand, Gabriel Olaru, and Christoph Flückiger

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2023 44:23


    There is a lot of interest in the idea that people can voluntarily change their personality traits. René Mõttus talks to Mathias Allemand, Gabriel Olaru, and Christoph Flückiger about personality change interventions. Why people want to change their personality traits, how can they do it, and how long could the effects last? They also discuss ethical issues related to trait change, and whether most people have already been subjected to a personality change intervention – at school. 

    #35 Personality and aging with Flavia Chereches, Denis Gerstorf, Eileen Graham, and Dan Mroczek

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2023 56:00


    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.

    #34 Goals and motivations with Marie Hennecke and Jana Nikitin

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2023 34:01


    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.

    #33 Paper Spotlight with Emily Willroth

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2023 10:52


    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.

    #32 Narrative identity with Jonathan Adler, Kate McLean, and Monisha Pasupathi

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2023 40:03


    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.

    #31 Attachment, optimism, and honesty with Bill Chopik

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2023 42:01


    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.

    #30 Personality states with Gabriella Harari, Kai Horstmann, and Whitney Ringwald

    Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2023 42:21


    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.

    #29 Causal inference with Michael Grosz

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2023 39:22


    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.

    #28 Big Five vs. HEXACO with Colin DeYoung, Isabel Thielmann, Luke Smillie, and Reinout de Vries

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2023 64:47


    In this episode moderated by Lisanne de Moor, Colin DeYoung, Isabel Thielmann, Luke Smillie, and Reinout de Vries discuss personality trait and trait models, and debate the evidence for and against two of the most dominant trait models: the Big Five and the HEXACO model.

    #27 Geography and personality with Fritz Götz, Elisa Militaru, and Markus Jokela

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2023 47:12


    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.

    #26 Spirituality and religiosity with Julie Exline

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 5, 2023 39:48


    Julie Exline is an expert in studying spirituality and religiosity. For this episode, Julie talked with Rebekka Weidmann how she came to study spirituality and religiosity, the nature of spiritual struggles, and supernatural operating rules—how people envision or experience God or other supernatural powers.

    #25 Behaviour Genetics with Michel Nivard

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2022 42:06


    Michel Nivard and René Mõttus discuss classical and modern behaviour genetics, and why much of personality genetics is no longer focused on finding personality genes (there are none) but using genes to learn about environment. Perhaps paradoxically, then, genetics is as likely to help with building psychological and sociological theories of personality as biological theories.

    #24 Personality, Doomsday Prepping, Science Denial, and Being Wrong with Adam Fetterman

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 5, 2022 39:11


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor chats with Adam Fetterman about his work on the role of personality and beliefs in shaping people's behavior in contemporary phenomena such as doomsday prepping, science denial, and people's willingness to admit to being wrong.

    # 23 Personality: universalism and cultural context with Moin Syed

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2022 27:02


    Personality psychology is an exciting field of research. However, as we learn in Moin Syed's presentation, this excitement has been dampened by a hyper focus on methodological and definitional issues based on the history of our field. However, personality can be more. Moin Syed talks in his presentation about how our field can earn back its excitement. 

    #22 Interviews at the 20th European Conference on Personality in Madrid

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2022 35:13


    For this episode, we talked to ten researchers at the 20th European Conference on Personality (#ECP20) in Madrid, including Anna Hakobjanyan, Jérome Rossier, Matej Bjurković, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura Buchinger, Markus Jokela, Barbara De Clercq, Verònica Benet-Martínez, Arij Yehya, and Kendall Mather.

    #21 Personality and health with Nick Turiano, Damaris Aschwanden, and Yannick Stephan

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2022 48:04


    This episode's guests were Nick Turiano, Damaris Aschwanden, and Yannick Stephan, three experts in personality and health psychology, who talked with Rebekka Weidmann about the importance of considering personality when predicting important health outcomes across the life span.

    #20 Post-traumatic growth with Laura Blackie and Eranda Jayawickreme

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2022 41:41


    Many people believe that traumatic experiences are often followed by psychological growth. What does not kill us, makes us stronger, right?  Laura Blackie and Eranda Jayawickreme are among the leading researchers on this topic, and they just guest-edited a special issue on post-traumatic personality growth in the European Journal of Personality. They talked with René Mõttus what they have learned about how trauma can change us—or if it even changes us, after all.

    #19 Paper Spotlight with Emily Willroth and Brett Ford

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2022 12:02


    René Mõttus talks with Emily Willroth and Brett Ford about their recently published paper in the European Journal of Personality entitled: "Emotional responses to a global stressor: Average patterns and individual differences"

    #18 Personality and psychopathology with Bob Krueger, Odilia Laceulle, and Johannes Zimmerman

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2022 42:19


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talked with three experts about a dimensional approach to conceptualizing and measuring psychopathology, and the HiTOP model as an example of one of the advancements of this approach.

    #17 Paper Spotlight with Paul Eastwick

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2022 12:21


    Rebekka Weidmann talks with Paul Eastwick about his recently accepted paper in the European Journal of Personality entitled: "Predicting Romantic Interest during Early Relationship Development: A Preregistered Investigation using Machine Learning"

    #16 Self-esteem with Ulrich Orth, Ketaki Diwan, and Lorenzo Filosa

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2022 38:08


    Lisanne de Moor speaks with Ulrich Orth, Ketaki Diwan, and Lorenzo Filosa, three self-esteem researchers, about what self-esteem is, why it has attracted so much scientific attention, some interesting new discoveries, and some outstanding research questions.

    #15 Intelligence with Ian Deary

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 45:02


    René Mõttus speaks with Ian Deary, who has published many hundreds of articles on intelligence and personality traits, alongside several books. They discuss the value of robust empirical findings over grand theories and key findings about human intelligence. They also compare personality and intelligence research and discuss their future. And finally, this is the first episode of the podcast where a guest also sings.

    #14 Psychopathology, Authenticity, Sustainability, and Veganism with Chris Hopwood

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2022 51:10


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann talked to Chris Hopwood about his research on personality and psychopathology, and also his work on authenticity and realness, sustainable behavior, and veganism.

    #13 Personality science and helping people to change, with Patrick Hill

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2022 45:32


    Patrick Hill has studied many topics, including purpose in life, gratitude, health, and personality change. In this episode, Patrick spoke with René Mõttus about the influence of personality on life outcomes, interventions to change personality traits, and several other topics.

    #12 Diversity and inclusiveness with Alexandria West, Hrag Vosgerichian, and Khatuna Martskvishvili

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2021 41:11


    At the 2021 EAPP Day, we conducted a live panel discussion with Alexandria West, Hrag Vosgerichian, and Khatuna Martskvishvili and discussed how we can bring more diversity and inclusiveness into the field of personality research. Thank you all for attending! 

    #11 Adolescent personality with Jenny Wagner, Eva Bleckmann, Larissa Wieczorek, and Naemi Brandt

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2021 37:25


    Lisanne de Moor spoke with Jenny Wagner, Eva Bleckmann, Larissa Wieczorek, and Naemi Brandt about their research on adolescent personality. They discussed personality development, and school and relationships as influencing factors. In addition, they discussed major recent accomplishments in the fields as well as the next steps forward.

    #10 The past, present, and controversies of personality trait psychology with Jeff McCrae

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2021 44:52


    René Mõttus spoke with one of the most influential personality psychologists in recent decades, Robert "Jeff" McCrae. They discussed the history and achievements of personality trait psychology and some of the key questions still awaiting an answer. They also spoke about an early "conspiracy" among the Big Five enthusiasts to promote the trait model and the most controversial aspect of the Five-Factor Theory – lack of direct influences of life experiences on personality traits.

    #9 Narcissism with Mitja Back, Carolyn Morf, and Joshua Miller

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2021 52:55


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann talked with Mitja Back, Carolyn Morf, and Joshua Miller about narcissism—what it is, how it manifests in people's lives, whether it changes, and common misconceptions about narcissism.

    #8 Morality and moral development with Jessie Sun

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2021 48:11


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talked with Jessie Sun about morality and moral development, and how to conceptualize and measure it in research. In addition, they discussed some of Jessie's past, ongoing, and upcoming research, and the major challenges she sees in moving forward.

    #7 Personality development with Ted Schwaba, Eva Asselmann, and Chris Soto

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 27, 2021 37:44


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann talked with Ted Schwaba, Eva Asselmann, and Chris Soto about their research on personality development across the lifespan, the importance of personality for life outcomes, and the emerging study of social, emotional, and behavioral skills.

    #6 A chat with Joanne Chung

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2021 42:01


    In this episode, Lisanne de Moor talks with Joanne Chung about how she became interested in personality psychology, her past, present, and future work, and creating spaces and recognizing different voices in our work as personality scientists.

    #5 Subjective well-being with Susanne Bücker, Rich Lucas, and Samantha Heintzelman

    Play Episode Listen Later May 27, 2021 44:01


    In this episode, Rebekka Weidmann talked to Susanne Bücker, Richard Lucas, and Samantha Heintzelman about subjective well-being across the life span, factors that can change the well-being of people including the pandemic, and typical misconceptions that people might hold.

    #4 Personality in the work context with Joanna Sosnowska

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2021 36:20


    In this episode, Joanna Sosnowska and René Mõttus discuss dynamic models of personality and their usefulness for describing and understanding the psychology of workplace. The discussion is partly based on a recent paper Joanna and her colleagues published in the European Journal of Personality, as well as an upcoming special issue co-edited by Joanna (to be published in July in the European Journal of Personality).

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