ARP: a short past, a promising future

William Revelle

Northwestern University

 

 

 Our association, the Association for Research in Personality, was founded in 2001 by a group of forward thinking personality psychologists who were “devoted to bringing together the diversity of scholars whose research contributes to the understanding of personality processes, structure, and development." They saw that “personality research is increasingly influential in many important areas, including the conceptualization and diagnosis of psychopathology, health attitudes and behavior, the study of close relationships, politics and public policy, and performance in the workplace" and that there was a need for a “forum for bringing together the wide range of investigators who are responsible for this scientific progress". Sharing a belief that personality is the integrative hub of psychology, they recognized that “Members do not have to define themselves as ‘personality psychologists.’ In fact, many of those who currently are making important contributions to our field – indeed, many who participated in our inaugural conference in early 2001 – were trained in other specialties (e.g., clinical psychology, social psychology, psychiatry, human development, health psychology, I/O psychology, etc.)".[1]

The annual meeting of ARP was, for the first eight years[2] a pre-conference held in association with the annual SPSP meeting. Many of us can remember the excitement of those first pre-conferences and the gratitude we felt for the founding “mothers and fathers"[3]. (Some of us more outspoken personality researchers took to referring to ours as the conference, and the SPSP meeting as the post-conference.) What was exciting was seeing that we were not alone. For although personality is one of the most popular undergraduate courses[4], and has been studied for at least the past 2400 years (Revelle, 2008), most departments tend to have only one or two faculty members who primarily identify with personality. Indeed only 2% of Ph.Ds are awarded in personality. (Perhaps because we are generalists, personality psychologists are frequently found as parts of other programs, be they clinical, I/O, social, or developmental.)

The rebirth of personality

Although thought by some to be a dying field in the late 70s and early 80s much has changed in this new century. There are now at least three competing handbooks of personality (Corr & Matthews, in press, Hogan et al.., 1997, John et al.., 2008), additional handbooks on research methods in personality (Robins et al.., 2007) and individidual differences in social behavior (Leary & Hoyle, in press). Individual differences in personality have become a key area of study for neuro-psychologists (e.g., Canli (2006), for clinical taxonomists (Widiger, 2005), and for developmental theorists (Durbin & Klein, in press).

Personality variables predict important life outcomes such as mortality, divorce, and occupational attainment. As shown by our conscientious executive office, a former president of ARP, and their colleagues, (Roberts et al.., 2007), non-cognitive personality variables are just as important as socioeconomic status or cognitive ability in predicting these outcomes.

Personality research is increasing

Anyone reading our flagship journal, the Journal of Research in Personality, knows that the number of papers being published is increasing. Unfortunately, our hard working editor, Laura King, is about to step down to take over as editor of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences. In addition to these two fine journals, the number of papers being submitted and being published in the Journal of Personality, European Journal of Personality and Personality and Individual Differences is increasing as well.

But it is not just the quantity that is increasing. The quality and breadth of research being done under the rubric of personality is breath taking. If you doubt this, examine the table of contents of any the handbooks discussed earlier. Research designs using the web, cell phones, MRI, EEG are becoming commonplace. Longitudinal life span developmental studies are showing remarkable stabilities and change. Papers and articles routinely integrate animal models with descriptions of normal and abnormal personality. As Dan McAdams says in his article, personality research goes from neurons to narratives.

Editorial leadership

As I have already said, Laura King, the editor of our journal, is stepping down from editing JRP to start editing the personality and individual differences section of JPSP. I am sure that the members of our association join me in thanking her for her hard work as editor and wish her the best at JPSP. In another section of the newsletter is the official call for nominations for the editor of the  Journal of Research in Personality. Please take the time to consider and then nominate possible candidates (including your self) for this very important position.

Personality research is international

As I mentioned in my previous president’s message, personality research is very active in Europe (the European Association for Personality Psychology (http://www.eapp.org/) has about 300 members, most of whom are Europeans) and the rest of the world (the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (http://www.issid.org/) also has about 300 members, primarily from the US, Canada, and Europe, but also from Australia, China, India, and Malaysia.) In addition, the Japanese Society of Personality Psychology (http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/jspp/about_us.html) has about 750 members.

The EAPP puts on a biennial conference (aptly named the European Conference on Personality or ECP), as does the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID). Indeed, a number of ARP members were at the European Conference on Personality this July in Tartu, Estonia which was attended by about 300 personality researchers.

At the ECP meeting I met with the EAPP president, Boele De Raad and the incoming president, Frosso Motti-Stefandi, and we discussed how ARP and EAPP could help each other further the field of personality. It was proposed that ARP sponsor a biennial symposium at the ECP meeting, and that EAPP do the same at ARP. This seemed to those ARP directors present in Tartu to be a great idea and we accepted the proposal. We look forward to seeing some of our European friends at the next ARP meeting.

The International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID) also meets biennially, on odd years, while ECP meets on even years. ISSID has tended to hold two out of three meetings in Europe and the third meeting on some other continent (i.e., North America or Australia). ISSID will be meeting in 2009 in Chicago/Evanston. Their meeting will be held immediately after the ARP meeting, which will also be held in Evanston.

Inaugural ARP meeting

As you know, this next July will be the first stand alone meeting of ARP. Until now, we have been a pre-conference of SPSP. July 16th - 18th will be our first independent meeting. It will be held in Evanston, Illinois, near the Northwestern campus.

In another section of this newsletter, Dan McAdams, the program chair, outlines some plans for the conference. Web links to the conference and information about submitting proposals may be found at the ARP website http://www.personality-arp.org/conference.htm.

One of the highlights of the ARP conference will be a key note address by James Heckman of the University of Chicago. Heckman won the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics and has become interested in how personality can predict long term educational and social accomplishments (Heckman, 2007). His work with Angela Duckworth and others (Borghans et al.., in press) and now with Brent Roberts melding an economic and personality perspectives is an example of the growing importance of personality theory and research.

In the call for the conference, Dan and the program committee are soliciting symposia, papers and posters. This will be a change from the prior meetings where all of the symposia were invited. All members are encouraged to consider submitting proposals to the program committee.

The ARP and ISSID announcements are encouraging everyone to come early (ISSID members) and to stay late (ARP members). Brent Roberts and I are working on the final details of registration fees, but the clear intent is to give discounts to those ARP members who want to attend some or all of the ISSID meeting, and to give similar discounts to ISSID members who want to attend ARP. This will be a good chance for of us in ARP to experience an ISSID meeting and for those in ISSID to experience an ARP meeting. For more information about either conference, go to the ARP conference webpage.

Because the next two ISSID meetings will be in Europe (London in 2011), this is your best chance to attend an ISSID meeting without going abroad.

Evanston is lovely in the summer and Chicago is always a great city to visit. The program promises to be very exciting and it should be a great opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. Encourage your students to attend and to join the Association for Research in Personality. I hope to see you all there.

References

Borghans, L., Duckworth, A. L., Heckman, J. J., & Weel, B. (in press). The economics and psychology of personality traits. Journal of Human Resources.

Canli, T. (2006). Biology of personality and individual differences. xv, 462 pp. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Corr, P. J., & Matthews, G. (Eds.).  (in press). The Cambridge handbook of personality psycholog. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Durbin, C. E., & Klein, D. N. (in press). 10-year stability of personality disorders among outpatients with mood disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Heckman, J. J. (2007). Economics of health and mortality special feature: The economics, technology, and neuroscience of human capability formation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(33), 13250-13255.

Hogan, R., Johnson, J., & Briggs, S. R. (1997). Handbook of personality psychology. San Diego: Academic Press.

John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Pervin, L. A. (2008). Handbook of personality: theory and research (3rd ed ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

Leary, M., & Hoyle, R. H. (Eds.).  (in press). Handbook of individual differences in social behavior. New York, N.Y.: Guilford Press.

Revelle, W. (2008). Association for research in personality: the home for psychological generalists. P, 1(2), 1-5.

Roberts, B. W., Kuncel, N. R., Shiner, R., Caspi, A., & Goldberg, L. R. (2007). The power of personality: The comparative validity of personality traits, socioeconomic status, and cognitive ability for predicting important life outcomes. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(4), 313-345.

Robins, R. W., Fraley, R. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2007). Handbook of research methods in personality psychology. Handbook of research methods in personality psychology. xiii, 719 pp. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Widiger, T. A. (2005). Five factor model of personality disorder: Integrating science and practice. Journal of Research in Personality, 39(1), 67-83.