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Processes of Personality Development in Adulthood: The TESSERA Framework
Abstract
The current article presents a theoretical framework of the short- and long-term processes underlying personality development throughout adulthood. The newly developed TESSERA framework posits that long-term personality development occurs due to repeated short-term, situational processes. These short-term processes can be generalized as recursive sequence of Triggering situations, Expectancy, States/State expressions, and Reactions (TESSERA). Reflective and associative processes on TESSERA sequences can lead to personality development (i.e., continuity and lasting changes in explicit and implicit personality characteristics and behavioral patterns). We illustrate how the TESSERA framework facilitates a more comprehensive understanding of normative and differential personality development at various ages during the life span. The TESSERA framework extends previous theories by explicitly linking short- and long-term processes of personality development, by addressing different manifestations of personality, and by being applicable to different personality characteristics, for example, behavioral traits, motivational orientations, or life narratives.
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“For example, the TESSERA framework (Wrzus & Roberts, 2017) proposes that motivation (e.g., intentions, goals) and reflective processes (e.g., self-reflection, self-narration) are the primary mech anisms for inducing personality change.”
From Self and identity in personality psychology (2021) · cites this paper as Wrzus & Roberts, 2017
In the citing paper
“Their self determined plans and activities may indeed result in change in personality traits, albeit usually modest change (Hennecke et al., 2014;Wrzus & Roberts, 2017).”
From Self and identity in personality psychology (2021) · cites this paper as Wrzus & Roberts, 2017
In the citing paper
“The TESSERA framework (Triggering situations, Expectancy, States/State expressions, and Reactions) is the first to explicitly detail specific short-and long-term processes underlying personality trait development (Wrzus & Roberts, 2017).”
From Self‐esteem development and life events: A review and integrative process framework (2022) · cites this paper as Wrzus & Roberts, 2017
In the citing paper
“The Whole-Trait Theory (Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015) and the TESSERA framework (Wrzus & Roberts, 2017) proposed that states are manifesting as an interaction of traits with specific situations.”
From Investigating state and trait aspects of resilience using Generalizability theory (2024) · cites this paper as Wrzus & Roberts, 2017
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wrzus, C., & Roberts, B. W.
- Affiliations
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wrzus, Cornelia
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-06-02
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 253-277
- ISSN
- 1088-8683 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7957
- OpenAlex
- W2415578067
- Cited by
- 559
- References
- 247
- Citations by year
- 2026: 56 · 2025: 49 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 69 · 2022: 64 · 2021: 79 · 2020: 85 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 33 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 4
- FWCI
- 42.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Ego Development and Educational Practices
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Identity, Memory, and Therapy
- Keywords
- personality development, adulthood, expectancy, personality continuity, behavioral characteristics, motivational orientation, life stories
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Individuality, Models, Psychological, Motivation, Personality, Personality Development, Personality Disorders, Personality Inventory, Self Concept
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