Integrating structure and dynamics in personality assessment: First steps toward the development and validation of a Personality Dynamics Diary
Year: 2018
Type: preprint
Abstract: Both theories and cutting-edge research highlight the dynamic nature of personality and personality pathology, thereby posing significant challenges for an exclusively between-person, trait-based approach to personality assessment. In a series of three studies, we explored the viability of integrating within-person, dynamic aspects into clinical personality assessment by means of daily dairy methods. In Study 1, 314 students filled out a 73-item questionnaire capturing daily behaviors and situation experiences across seven to ten consecutive days. We used multilevel exploratory factor analyses to construct a shortened version, the Personality Dynamics Diary (PDD). In Study 2, the PDD was applied in a sample of 77 psychotherapy inpatients across 40 days, on average. In Study 3, 35 psychotherapy outpatients as well as their therapists judged the clinical utility of a smartphone version of the PDD. Taken together, we were able to construct a relatively brief self-report measure that assesses major dimensions of within- and between-person differences of situations and behaviors in daily life with acceptable reliability. Application in clinical samples provided further evidence for the reliability, validity, and clinical utility of the PDD, but also highlighted possible obstacles in clinical practice as well as the need for further replication and refinement. We conclude that daily diary methods have the potential to integrate between- and within-person approaches to personality assessment. By applying measures like the PDD, clinicians may gain insight into the psychological mechanisms that give rise to, and maintain, a person’s maladaptive dispositions, and ultimately find individualized leverage points for targeted therapeutic interventions.
Source: PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints)
Authors: Johannes Zimmermann, William C. Woods, Sven Ritter, Moritz Happel, Oliver Masuhr, Ulrich Jaeger, Carsten Spitzer, Aidan G.C. Wright
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4232069936