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René Mõttus

@renemottus.bsky.social
646 followers 210 following 118 posts

Personality psychology professor. Edinburgh. Tartu. Current effort: whichjob.me About psychology: psychologytoday.com/us/blog/people-… personalitypsychologypodcast.com

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Reposted by René Mõttus
APA Journals @apajournals.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Top download from APA Journals in 2025 examines occupational differences in #personality traits, drawing on Big Five domains and personality nuances. Full article + interactive tool to explore the results ➡️ bit.ly/3NMyk3h @katlinanni.bsky.social @ukuvainik.bsky.social @renemottus.bsky.social
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Reposted by René Mõttus
Personality Psychology Podcast @pepsypodcast.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
New episode alert! 🚨 @renemottus.bsky.social spoke with Elliot Berkman, @kaitlynmwerner.bsky.social and @andero.bsky.social about self-regulation and affect regulation, and how each of the guests' research connects to personality psychology. Check it out!
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Dan Mirman @danmirman.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Two-year post-doc position in my department working on a cool project applying cognitive science (transmission chain experiments and natural language processing) to study cultural evolution: tinyurl.com/bdeju6kw
tinyurl.com
Post-Doctoral Research Associate
The Psychology Department in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences are seeking a full time, fixed term Post-Doctoral Research Associate. This post is available from 1st of Septemb...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
For those submitting a symposium to the ECP22 (deadline soon!): I added details to the submission instructions. www.ecp22edinburgh.org/submission
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
For those coming to the ECP22 in Edinburgh, 2026: You can now book more affordable Summer Stay rooms (75 rooms currently available at a cheaper price) For details: www.ecp22edinburgh.org/accommodation
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Reminder: The submission deadline for ECP22 is December 7th. www.ecp22edinburgh.org/submission
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
🔔 Those coming to the ECP22 in Edinburgh: Consider booking accommodation early! Edinburgh is a very popular place. Here are accommodation tips for ECP folks: docs.google.com/document/d/1... 📝 Submissions & registrations are also open: ecp22edinburgh.org #ecp22
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Small samples
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Why aren't some of the strongest personality neuroscience papers getting widely cited?
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
ECP22 Registration is now open: www.ecp22edinburgh.org/registration
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Reminder: the 22nd European Conference on Personality, ECP22, Edinburgh, July 2026, is accepting submissions until 07/12. Submit a symposium, talk, or poster! We promise you the best research, many smart discussions, social fun, and a fantastic historic city. www.ecp22edinburgh.org/submission
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Early career personality researchers coming to the Edinburgh ECP22: If you want to get a link to a slightly more affordable uni accommodation option later this year, leave your email here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
Advance Accommodation Information
Primarily for Early Career Researchers (PhD, post-doc): If you would like to receive advance information about a limited number of more affordable accommodation options available for the 22nd Europea...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Personality change people: does it make sense to think that to change a broader trait domain (neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness) one could consider starting with those facets/nuances that are furthest from the desired levels? (Most room for change?)
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
21 to 24 July 2026
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Keynote speakers: @tuckerdrob.bsky.social @foswald.bsky.social Ellen Hamaker Hands-on workshops by: @tedmond.bsky.social & @ukuvainik.bsky.social (genomic analyses) @dirkwulff.bsky.social (LLMs in personality research) www.ecp22edinburgh.org/programme
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Submissions are now open for 22nd European Conference on Personality (Edinburgh, 2026); deadline 7/12/25. Keynote speakers and pre-conference workshops have also been confirmed. www.ecp22edinburgh.org/submission
European Conference on Personality, Edinburgh, 2026
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Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 11/09/2025
New paper out with @boryslaw.bsky.social 🥳 In which we sketch out how to rethink measurement invariance causally for applied researchers. And provide a causal definition of measurement invariance! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Rethinking measurement invariance causally

Highlights:
It is preferable to work with a causal definition of measurement invariance
A violation of measurement invariance is a potentially substantively interesting observation
Standard tests for measurement invariance rely on strong assumptions
Group differences can be thought of as descriptive resultsConceptual graph illustration the central points of the manuscript. A group variable is potentiall connected to a construct of interest which affects items. Measurement invariance is violated if the group variable directly affects the items, for example by modifying the loadings from the construct to the items, or by directly affecting an itemTo make this less abstract, consider a scenario where students take an exam, R, meant to capture some ability, T, and then are admitted to a program, V, depending on their exam results: R → V. This is sufficient to result in a violation of the statistical definition of measurement invariance. Exam results and admission are not independent given ability because exam results have a direct effect on admission. Even if we know somebody’s ability (e.g., we know it’s very high), learning about their admission status (e.g., they were not admitted) can tell us something about their exam result (e.g., it may have been worse than expected). According to the causal definition, this in itself does not constitute measurement bias, which seems a sensible conclusion here. After all, the scenario does not involve any reason to believe that the measurement process varied systematically by admission status. Admission happens after the exams took place, it cannot retroactively influence the measurement process (and, for example, lead to unfair treatment depending on admission status).
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
I once proposed a simple tool to understand and visualise correlations, TACT. doi.org/10.5964/ps.7... This app makes it even easier to use: apps.psych.ut.ee/TACT/
apps.psych.ut.ee
TACT: Trisect And Cross-Tabulate to understand and visualise correlations
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Since otherwise the stability is confounded with test-specific variance (e.g., facets/nuances, stable item interpretations etc). It's like people define latent traits as the shared variance of multiple indicators cross-sectionally -- here we extend to longitudinal data.
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
I suppose yes, this makes them real in some sense. My follow-up question is: if these "real" Big Five exist independently of their tests, then to study the "real" rank-order stability of the Big Five, we should assess them with different tests at different time-points.
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Personality folks, is there an argument to be made for latent Big Five traits that exist independently of the particular test we happen to use to assess them? (If yes, I will have a follow-up question)
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Now published in Current Opinion, we show why personality research should embrace multi-rater studies and how this can be achieved in practice, even at scale. Often, this is the most realistic way to avoid (reliably) invalid conclusions. doi.org/10.1016/j.co...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
media.tenor.com
a cartoon of a girl with the words " yes please " on the bottom
ALT: a cartoon of a girl with the words " yes please " on the bottom
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Reposted by René Mõttus
Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 14/06/2025
What I really enjoy about Bluesky is how you can serendipitously learn so much stuff. You’ve probably heard of Dunbar’s number — the idea that humans can only maintain X stable social relationships, because *gestures vaguely* brain? Here’s a deconstruction of it.>
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Good thing there is a reference for why this (or any such) number makes no sense.
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Reposted by René Mõttus
moin syed @syeducation.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
Folks, it's time to submit your papers to PCI Psychology. Here is our invitation to you, taken from our editorial osf.io/preprints/ps...
A screenshot from the PCI Psychology editorial
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
What is the best public domain occupational interest test currently available (still relevant for the current job market)?
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
And how that difference plays out in other demographic trends (see number of kids 👀). Personality is up next 😁
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
New preprint: One of the largest studies (N = 67,000) on how sexual desire varies with age, sexual orientation, education, job, number of children, recent birth, and relationship satisfaction, and how the trends differ by gender. doi.org/10.21203/rs....
doi.org
Associations Between Demographic and Relationship Variables and Sexual Desire: Findings from a Large-Scale Estonian Biobank Dataset
Sexual desire plays a crucial role in human well-being and relational dynamics, yet its demographic and relational predictors remain insufficiently understood. Leveraging a uniquely large and represen...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
doi.org/10.31234/osf... Sorry.
doi.org
OSF
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Ah, correct link: doi.org/10.31234/osf...
doi.org
OSF
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Would you recognise your friend from their personality trait profile? Photos can be instructive: portraits of 5×5px (Big Five), 30×30px (NEO facets), or 100×100px (more facets/nuances). You decide. doi.org/10.31234/osf...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
This was a fun conversation with Kensy, the host of the @manymindspod.bsky.social
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
With a PhD in personality research and interested in teaching? Consider applying for a fixed-term teaching job at the University of Edinburgh. elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com
Lecturer
The School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences is seeking to appoint a teaching focused lecturer in Psychology on a full time, fixed term contract until 31st of August 2026.
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
This may be one of the largest personality research projects ever.
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 18/05/2025
Both personality traits and satisfaction may vary with these ...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
German coverage of our work on occupational personality profiles. www.spektrum.de/news/persoen...
spektrum.de
Job: Typische Persönlichkeitsprofile für 263 Berufe
In vielen Berufen haben die Menschen mindestens ein besonderes charakterliches Merkmal
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Reposted by René Mõttus
Personality Psychology Podcast @pepsypodcast.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Episode alert 🚨 Anat Bardi and Laura Parks-Leduc discuss their research on values. They delve into definitions and research approaches, changes in values, and associations with personality traits. They also highlights established evidence about values and areas unexplored.
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Reposted by René Mõttus
Rafael Ahlskog @rafaelahlskog.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Some really interesting contrasts in our new "assumption-free heritability" preprint: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Nature, nurture, and socioeconomic outcomes: New evidence from sib pairs and molecular genetic data
A consequence of Mendel's First Law is that siblings' genetic relatedness varies randomly (with a mean of 50% and a standard deviation of ~4%). We use molecular
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
How do life satisfaction and job satisfaction vary among hundreds of jobs? (Doing a religion job looks good, if you are considering a career change.) New preprint: osf.io/preprints/ps...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
A reminder: the European Conference of Personality of 2026, ECP22, will be in Edinburgh in July 2026. ecp22edinburgh.org
ECP22: European Conference on Personality, Edinburgh, 2026
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Gender differences in personality traits tend to be larger in countries where the dominant language is gendered according to several metrics. osf.io/preprints/ps...
osf.io
OSF
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Fair suggestions
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
A good overview paper of what may well be a big change in many science fields, including psychology -- moving from low-dimensional models to higher-dimensional ones and how this may sometimes mean more parsimony due to simple learning principles and accurate predictions. doi.org/10.31222/osf...
doi.org
OSF
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
I found this paper by @roemerle.bsky.social, @bwroberts.bsky.social and others to be a creative approach to an important question. I hope to see it replicated with not-so-minimalist assessments, though. And adding twins would be a cherry on the cake. doi.org/10.1177/0890...
doi.org
The base-rate and longer-term relevance of year-to-year change in personality traits - Lena Roemer, Clemens M. Lechner, Beatrice Rammstedt, Brent W. Roberts, 2024
Personality traits are assumed to change slowly and incrementally. Recent intervention studies apparently challenge this assumption, showing that personality tr...
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Anything that helps better understand personality -- persons as wholes and their differences. Like a paper that you read and think: holy s**t, this is a game changer for how I think of people and their differences.
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
What is the most creative and inspiring personality research paper from the last few years that I could recommend to students to show how breakthroughs happen?
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
We show how personality traits' familial transmission is usually misestimated (due to single-method biases) and often misunderstood (confusing non-additive transmission that only makes identical twins alike with transmission that makes ordinary relatives alike). Now out in JPSP. tinyurl.com/mrejyhb4
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
That's the X thread back then: x.com/renemottus/s.... This was the logic, now we have empirical results. The last post in the thread was not very thoughtful, though.
x.com
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René Mõttus @renemottus.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
What's the age of your personality? We put out a preprint on personality age, showing it tends to closely match chronological age. Last year, I posted my prediction on X (r ≈ .90), and the results are very close. We explicitly argue against any kind of determinism, though! osf.io/preprints/ps...
Personality age
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