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Embodied Cognition and the Structure of Personality: An Exploratory Study of Longitudinal Pathways From Early Psychomotor Function

Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To explore the developmental pathways linking infant psychomotor function with personality in late adolescence through cognitive, social, and self-regulation skills. The broader research question, seen through the lens of embodied cognition, is whether cognition and personality in youth develop from basic sensorimotor and communicative systems in infancy. METHOD: The sample included 9202 participants from a representative UK birth cohort. A structural equation model examined the prospective associations between motor and communicative functions at age 9 months, cognition, self-regulation, and prosociality at 5 years, and the five-factor model of personality at 17 years. The associations between psychomotor function and the meta-traits of stability and plasticity were also explored. RESULTS: Even after controlling for confounders and correcting for multiple paths, there was robust evidence that psychomotor development significantly predicts personality structure, with indirect pathways mediated by self-regulation skills and general or social cognitive skills in middle childhood. While infant communicative function was significantly associated with both meta-traits, gross motor function was significantly associated with plasticity but not stability. CONCLUSIONS: Early psychomotor function may have long-term effects on personality, mediated by cognitive, social, and self-regulation skills. This finding can inform the development of socio-educational interventions and tailored curricula in early childhood education.
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.13011
Language: English
Field: Psychology
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,780
OpenAlex ID: W4407057742
FWCI: 2.279
Cites: 124
Cited by: 2
Related to: 10