Unfolding personalities: The importance of studying ontogeny
We aim to stimulate an ontogenetic approach to personalities. We explain the importance of studying development for understanding proximate and ultimate aspects of personality and critically discuss, partly by perhaps provocative statements, our current lack of knowledge and potential approaches to...
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Published in | Developmental psychobiology Vol. 53; no. 6; pp. 641 - 655 |
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Main Authors | , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
01.09.2011
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | We aim to stimulate an ontogenetic approach to personalities. We explain the importance of studying development for understanding proximate and ultimate aspects of personality and critically discuss, partly by perhaps provocative statements, our current lack of knowledge and potential approaches to the study of personality development. We first clarify some terminology and argue for a difference between behavioral profiles (BP; at the descriptive level) and personality (at the explanatory level). We then focus on the issue of temporal stability of personality, arguing that based on evolutionary theory, neurophysiological knowledge, and recent findings, personality is probably less stable than often thought. Next we consider the potential influence of genes, discussing gene by environment correlations and interactions and argue that developmental changes in the regulation of DNA expression are probably more relevant than individual differences in DNA sequence. We end by suggesting perspectives for future research. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 53:641–655, 2011. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:DEV20574 Fritz Trillmich and Ton G.G. Groothuis contributed equally to this study. istex:CF57349B4EB0547C2945033EB67FE63B587A6DA7 ark:/67375/WNG-14HBW2LW-P DFG FOR 1232 Dedicated by F.T. to W. Wickler on the occasion of his 80th birthday. ZIF TR 105/23-1 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Feature-3 ObjectType-Review-1 |
ISSN: | 0012-1630 1098-2302 |
DOI: | 10.1002/dev.20574 |