Modeling dynamic personality theories in a continuous‐time framework: An illustration

Abstract Objective Personality psychology has traditionally focused on stable between‐person differences. Yet, recent theoretical developments and empirical insights have led to a new conceptualization of personality as a dynamic system (e.g., Cybernetic Big Five Theory). Such dynamic systems comprise several components that need to be conceptually distinguished and mapped to a statistical model for estimation. Method In the current work, we illustrate how common components from these new dynamic personality theories may be implemented in a continuous time‐modeling framework. Results As an empirical example, we reanalyze experience sampling data with N = 180 persons (with on average T = 40 [ SD = 8] measurement occasions) to investigate four different effects between momentary happiness, momentary extraverted behavior, and the perception of a situation as social: (1) between‐person effects, (2) contemporaneous effects, (3) autoregressive effects, and (4) cross‐lagged effects. Conclusion We highlight that these four effects must not necessarily point in the same direction, which is in line with assumptions from dynamic personality theories.