Research Goals and Methodology

Our research program aims to identify the internal and external factors that facilitate personality growth. Specifically, we investigate how attachment-related adverse experiences (i.e., breakup or loss)—taking place within approximately five-month intervals—are related to personality growth (PG), and under what conditions (e.g., individual coping strategies) these experiences lead to changes in key psychological domains such as cognition, affect, and motivation.
We further explore how these psychological processes are connected to spiritual practices rooted in the Christian tradition. This integration allows us to examine both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of personality growth.
To this end, we have conducted a prospective longitudinal study spanning approximately 19 months, with data collected at four time points between September 2023 and April 2025, spaced roughly five months apart. Our methodology includes self-report measures as well as statistical and computational modeling to capture the dynamics of personality growth over time.

Personality Growth

 

Nevertheless, what is personality growth? It is a trans-therapeutic and trans-religious issue of utmost societal relevance. It may be understood as enduring adaptive changes in different spiritual and psychological aspects. These aspects include self-awareness, self-esteem, self- and emotion regulation, attachment security, openness to experiences, need adjustment, personal strengths, spirituality, life appreciation, wisdom, character virtues, and agency. As a result, personality growth is a change toward eudaimonia—a type of well-being that involves sustainable stability, virtues, adaptive coping, and responsibility-taking rather than maximizing hedonic pleasure, which reflects corresponding changes in the brain and psyche (see the roots and branches of the tree in Fig. 1).

 

Personality Growth and Adversity

 

Anecdotal reports, philosophical perspectives, and psychological views converge on the notion of growth after adverse or traumatic experiences. Accordingly, personality growth is not merely a recovery or a return to a state of personality that preceded adversity. Instead, it entails becoming a version of oneself beyond the pre-adversity state, with increased life satisfaction.

An adverse experience such as separation may stimulate personality resources that gravitate individuals toward growth in collaboration with situational resources (see Fig. 1). However, the spiritual and psychological aspects of personality growth may not be directly observable but manifest themselves in human flourishing and eudaimonia, as mentioned above (see Fig. 1). As a result, we investigate personality growth after adversity or trauma from a biopsychosocial model (see Weststrate et al., 2021; Jayawickreme et al., 2021; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

 

Figure1 Model of Personality Growth from Adversity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personality Growth in Theology and Philosophy

 

With our interdisciplinary approach, we also wish to pave the way for a deeper understanding of the Christian and other religious ideals of personality growth. Christian theology, for example, assumes that, on the one hand, human beings are created in the image of God and thus participate in certain divine qualities. Christian existence is often described as an inner journey and struggle to liberate oneself from alienation and a corrupted state, which may be derived from the misuse of God-given freedom. This liberation cannot be achieved through a spiritual technique, such as “self-redemption.” However, it can occur by exposing oneself to the fullness of human experience and integrating it in a way that allows for inner growth.


The path of spiritual growth is primarily one of openness to and integration of experiences—especially the integration of adverse and painful experiences of loss and disappointment. Such integration requires the individual to be open to experience and to confront adversity, as painful as it may be (Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

Relatedly, the well-known philosopher of religion and theologian Eleonore Stump (2010) argued in her work Wandering in Darkness that the growth process enables a person to discover “the deepest desires of her heart.” Many people initially live in alienation from their deepest needs, pursuing goals that ultimately do not bring them inner fulfillment and peace. Stump contends that it is precisely the integration of painful experiences that fosters the gradual and never fully complete process of discovering these most profound desires—i.e., to no longer live an alienated life.


In the Christian tradition, personality growth can thus be seen as a process of self-realization. Self-alienation impedes one’s connection to the divine. A religious redeemer can connect to a person in a more profoundly healing way if the person is in touch with the deepest desires of their heart. From a Christian perspective, someone who has found their innermost longings in this way is a person who has undergone spiritual growth. This process is rarely easy—it is often arduous, involving the painful integration of loss and disappointment.

 

The notion of integrating adversity, such as loss, finds resonance in psychological theories like the theory of Personality Systems Interactions (PSI). According to PSI theory (Kuhl, 2000a; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022), a major component of personality growth involves developing coherence in the integrated self (self-coherence) by processing novel and particularly painful emotional experiences and fostering inner alignment. This dynamic process involves repeated switching between personality systems and related cognitive-emotional modes, such as error detection (facing the aversive experience and one’s deficiencies) and the integrative self (placing it in the context of prior experiences and forming an identity) (Quirin et al., 2020).


Through this interplay—wherein a person reflects on specific details of adversity and constructs unique personal meaning—personal growth is fostered (Antonovsky, 1993; McLean & Thorne, 2003). However, this process hinges on the regulation of negative emotions as a crucial mechanism. Strong emotion-regulation abilities facilitate access to the integrative self and thereby support personality growth (Baumann & Kuhl, 2003; Quirin, Bode et al., 2011).

 

 

References

 

Jayawickreme, E., Infurna, F. J., Alajak, K., Blackie, L. E. R., Chopik, W. J., Chung, J. M., Dorfman, A., Fleeson, W., Forgeard, M. J. C., & Frazier, P. (2021). Post‐traumatic growth as positive personality change: Challenges, opportunities, and recommendations. Journal of Personality, 89, 145–165.

 

Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Review of General Psychology, 9, 262–280.

 

Lerner R, M, Schmid Callina K (2014): The Study of Character Development: Towards Tests of a Relational Developmental Systems Model. Human Development, 57, 322-346.

 

Mangelsdorf, J., Eid, M., & Luhmann, M. (2019). Does growth require suffering? A systematic review and meta-analysis on genuine posttraumatic and postecstatic growth. Psychological Bulletin, 145, 302–338.

 

Quirin, M., & Kuhl, J. (2022). The concert of personality: Explaining personality functioning and coherence by personality systems interactions. European Journal of Personality, 36, 274–292.

 

Quirin, M., Robinson, M. D., Rauthmann, J. F., Kuhl, J., Read, S. J., Tops, M., & DeYoung, C. G. (2020). The dynamics of personality approach (DPA): 20 tenets for uncovering the causal mechanisms of personality. European Journal of Personality, 34, 947–968.

 

Stump, E. (2010). Wandering in darkness: Narrative and the problem of suffering. Oxford University Press.

 

Weststrate, N. M., Jayawickreme, E., & Wrzus, C. (2021). Advancing a Three-Tier personality framework for posttraumatic growth. European Journal of Personality.

Research

Research Goals and Methodology

Our research program aims to identify the internal and external factors that facilitate personality growth. Specifically, we investigate how attachment-related adverse experiences (i.e., breakup or loss)—taking place within approximately five-month intervals—are related to personality growth (PG), and under what conditions (e.g., individual coping strategies) these experiences lead to changes in key psychological domains such as cognition, affect, and motivation.
We further explore how these psychological processes are connected to spiritual practices rooted in the Christian tradition. This integration allows us to examine both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of personality growth.
To this end, we have conducted a prospective longitudinal study spanning approximately 19 months, with data collected at four time points between September 2023 and April 2025, spaced roughly five months apart. Our methodology includes self-report measures as well as statistical and computational modeling to capture the dynamics of personality growth over time.

Personality Growth

 

Nevertheless, what is personality growth? It is a trans-therapeutic and trans-religious issue of utmost societal relevance. It may be understood as enduring adaptive changes in different spiritual and psychological aspects. These aspects are self-awareness, self-esteem, self- and emotion regulation, attachment security, openness to experiences, need adjustment, personal strengths, spirituality, life appreciation, wisdom, character virtues, and agency. As a result, personality growth is a change toward eudaimonia – a type of well-being that involve sustainable stability, virtues, adaptive coping, and responsibility-taking rather than maximizing hedonic pleasure, which reflects corresponding changes in the brain and psyche (see the roots and the branches of the tree in Fig 1).

 

Personality Growth and Adversity

 

Anecdotal reports, philosophical perspectives, and psychological views converge on the notion of growth after adverse or traumatic experiences. Accordingly, personality growth is not merely a recovery or a return to a state of personality that preceded adversity. Instead, it cultivates becoming a state beyond the pre-adversity with more life satisfaction. An adverse experience such as separation may stimulate personality resources that gravitate individuals toward personality growth in collaboration with situational resources (see Fig 1). However, the spiritual and psychological aspects of personality growth may not directly observable but manifest themselves in human flourishing and eudaimonia, as mentioned above (The roots and the branches in Fig 1). As a result, we investigate personality growth after adversity or trauma from a biopsychosocial model (see Weststrate et al., 2021; Jayawickreme et al., 2021; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

 

Figure1 Model of Personality Growth from Adversity

 

Personality Growth in Theology and Philosophy

 

With our interdisciplinary approach, we also wish to pave the way for a deeper understanding of the Christian and other religious ideals of personality growth. Christian theology, for example, assumes that, on the one hand, human beings are created in the image of God and thus participate in certain divine qualities. Christian existence is often described as an inner journey and struggle to liberate oneself from alienation and a corrupted state, which may be derived from the misuse of God-given freedom. This liberation cannot be achieved through a spiritual technique, such as “self-redemption.” However, it can occur by exposing oneself to the fullness of human experience and integrating it in a way that allows for inner growth.


The path of spiritual growth is primarily one of openness to and integration of experiences—especially the integration of adverse and painful experiences of loss and disappointment. Such integration requires the individual to be open to experience and to confront adversity, as painful as it may be (Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

Relatedly, the well-known philosopher of religion and theologian Eleonore Stump (2010) argued in her work Wandering in Darkness that the growth process enables a person to discover “the deepest desires of her heart.” Many people initially live in alienation from their deepest needs, pursuing goals that ultimately do not bring them inner fulfillment and peace. Stump contends that it is precisely the integration of painful experiences that fosters the gradual and never fully complete process of discovering these most profound desires—i.e., to no longer live an alienated life.


In the Christian tradition, personality growth can thus be seen as a process of self-realization. Self-alienation impedes one’s connection to the divine. A religious redeemer can connect to a person in a more profoundly healing way if the person is in touch with the deepest desires of their heart. From a Christian perspective, someone who has found their innermost longings in this way is a person who has undergone spiritual growth. This process is rarely easy—it is often arduous, involving the painful integration of loss and disappointment.

 

The notion of integrating adversity, such as loss, finds resonance in psychological theories like the theory of Personality Systems Interactions (PSI). According to PSI theory (Kuhl, 2000a; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022), a major component of personality growth involves developing coherence in the integrated self (self-coherence) by processing novel and particularly painful emotional experiences and fostering inner alignment. This dynamic process involves repeated switching between personality systems and related cognitive-emotional modes, such as error detection (facing the aversive experience and one’s deficiencies) and the integrative self (placing it in the context of prior experiences and forming an identity) (Quirin et al., 2020).


Through this interplay—wherein a person reflects on specific details of adversity and constructs unique personal meaning—personal growth is fostered (Antonovsky, 1993; McLean & Thorne, 2003). However, this process hinges on the regulation of negative emotions as a crucial mechanism. Strong emotion-regulation abilities facilitate access to the integrative self and thereby support personality growth (Baumann & Kuhl, 2003; Quirin, Bode et al., 2011).

 

 

References

 

Jayawickreme, E., Infurna, F. J., Alajak, K., Blackie, L. E. R., Chopik, W. J., Chung, J. M., Dorfman, A., Fleeson, W., Forgeard, M. J. C., & Frazier, P. (2021). Post‐traumatic growth as positive personality change: Challenges, opportunities, and recommendations. Journal of Personality, 89, 145–165.

 

Joseph, S., & Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Review of General Psychology, 9, 262–280.

 

Lerner R, M, Schmid Callina K (2014): The Study of Character Development: Towards Tests of a Relational Developmental Systems Model. Human Development, 57, 322-346.

 

Mangelsdorf, J., Eid, M., & Luhmann, M. (2019). Does growth require suffering? A systematic review and meta-analysis on genuine posttraumatic and postecstatic growth. Psychological Bulletin, 145, 302–338.

 

Quirin, M., & Kuhl, J. (2022). The concert of personality: Explaining personality functioning and coherence by personality systems interactions. European Journal of Personality, 36, 274–292.

 

Quirin, M., Robinson, M. D., Rauthmann, J. F., Kuhl, J., Read, S. J., Tops, M., & DeYoung, C. G. (2020). The dynamics of personality approach (DPA): 20 tenets for uncovering the causal mechanisms of personality. European Journal of Personality, 34, 947–968.

 

Stump, E. (2010). Wandering in darkness: Narrative and the problem of suffering. Oxford University Press.

 

Weststrate, N. M., Jayawickreme, E., & Wrzus, C. (2021). Advancing a Three-Tier personality framework for posttraumatic growth. European Journal of Personality.

Research

Research Goals and Methodology

Our research program aims to identify the internal and external factors that facilitate personality growth. Specifically, we investigate how attachment-related adverse experiences (i.e., breakup or loss)—taking place within approximately five-month intervals—are related to personality growth (PG), and under what conditions (e.g., individual coping strategies) these experiences lead to changes in key psychological domains such as cognition, affect, and motivation.
We further explore how these psychological processes are connected to spiritual practices rooted in the Christian tradition. This integration allows us to examine both the psychological and spiritual dimensions of personality growth.
To this end, we have conducted a prospective longitudinal study spanning approximately 19 months, with data collected at four time points between September 2023 and April 2025, spaced roughly five months apart. Our methodology includes self-report measures as well as statistical and computational modeling to capture the dynamics of personality growth over time.

Personality Growth

 

Nevertheless, what is personality growth? It is a trans-therapeutic and trans-religious issue of utmost societal relevance. It may be understood as enduring adaptive changes in different spiritual and psychological aspects. These aspects include self-awareness, self-esteem, self- and emotion regulation, attachment security, openness to experiences, need adjustment, personal strengths, spirituality, life appreciation, wisdom, character virtues, and agency. As a result, personality growth is a change toward eudaimonia—a type of well-being that involves sustainable stability, virtues, adaptive coping, and responsibility-taking rather than maximizing hedonic pleasure, which reflects corresponding changes in the brain and psyche (see the roots and branches of the tree in Fig. 1).

 

Personality Growth and Adversity

 

Anecdotal reports, philosophical perspectives, and psychological views converge on the notion of growth after adverse or traumatic experiences. Accordingly, personality growth is not merely a recovery or a return to a state of personality that preceded adversity. Instead, it cultivates becoming a state beyond the pre-adversity with more life satisfaction. An adverse experience such as separation may stimulate personality resources that gravitate individuals toward personality growth in collaboration with situational resources (see Fig 1). However, the spiritual and psychological aspects of personality growth may not directly observable but manifest themselves in human flourishing and eudaimonia, as mentioned above (The roots and the branches in Fig 1). As a result, we investigate personality growth after adversity or trauma from a biopsychosocial model (see Weststrate et al., 2021; Jayawickreme et al., 2021; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

 

Figure1 Model of Personality Growth from Adversity

 

Personality Growth in Theology and Philosophy

 

With our interdisciplinary approach, we also wish to pave the way for a deeper understanding of the Christian and other religious ideals of personality growth. Christian theology, for example, assumes that, on the one hand, human beings are created in the image of God and thus participate in certain divine qualities. Christian existence is often described as an inner journey and struggle to liberate oneself from alienation and a corrupted state, which may be derived from the misuse of God-given freedom. This liberation cannot be achieved through a spiritual technique, such as “self-redemption.” However, it can occur by exposing oneself to the fullness of human experience and integrating it in a way that allows for inner growth.


The path of spiritual growth is primarily one of openness to and integration of experiences—especially the integration of adverse and painful experiences of loss and disappointment. Such integration requires the individual to be open to experience and to confront adversity, as painful as it may be (Quirin & Kuhl, 2022).

 

Relatedly, the well-known philosopher of religion and theologian Eleonore Stump (2010) argued in her work Wandering in Darkness that the growth process enables a person to discover “the deepest desires of her heart.” Many people initially live in alienation from their deepest needs, pursuing goals that ultimately do not bring them inner fulfillment and peace. Stump contends that it is precisely the integration of painful experiences that fosters the gradual and never fully complete process of discovering these most profound desires—i.e., to no longer live an alienated life.


In the Christian tradition, personality growth can thus be seen as a process of self-realization. Self-alienation impedes one’s connection to the divine. A religious redeemer can connect to a person in a more profoundly healing way if the person is in touch with the deepest desires of their heart. From a Christian perspective, someone who has found their innermost longings in this way is a person who has undergone spiritual growth. This process is rarely easy—it is often arduous, involving the painful integration of loss and disappointment.

 

The notion of integrating adversity, such as loss, finds resonance in psychological theories like the theory of Personality Systems Interactions (PSI). According to PSI theory (Kuhl, 2000a; Quirin & Kuhl, 2022), a major component of personality growth involves developing coherence in the integrated self (self-coherence) by processing novel and particularly painful emotional experiences and fostering inner alignment. This dynamic process involves repeated switching between personality systems and related cognitive-emotional modes, such as error detection (facing the aversive experience and one’s deficiencies) and the integrative self (placing it in the context of prior experiences and forming an identity) (Quirin et al., 2020).


Through this interplay—wherein a person reflects on specific details of adversity and constructs unique personal meaning—personal growth is fostered (Antonovsky, 1993; McLean & Thorne, 2003). However, this process hinges on the regulation of negative emotions as a crucial mechanism. Strong emotion-regulation abilities facilitate access to the integrative self and thereby support personality growth (Baumann & Kuhl, 2003; Quirin, Bode et al., 2011).

 

 

References