CONTEXTUAL PLASTICITY IN PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT: FROM SPECIES-WIDE TRAITS TO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37472/2617-3107-2025-8-15Keywords:
contextual plasticity, first-year students, higher education, individual uniqueness, personality development, socio-cultural context, species-level traitsAbstract
This study investigates contextual plasticity in personality development, defined as the dynamic mediation between species-level traits and individual uniqueness within social, cultural, and institutional environments. The purpose of the paper is to analyse how universal psychological tendencies are shaped during the transitional stage of early university education, with particular attention to family support, cultural orientation, institutional recognition, and disciplinary microcultures. A mixed-method design was applied, combining correlational analysis of survey data (N=120) with thematic co-ding of interviews. The results show that family support is associated with higher openness and agreeableness, cultural background systematically influences individuality expression, and institutional recognition remains limited, producing what we term the “recognition gap”. Academic specialization further contributes to distinct trait profiles, while symbolic metaphors reveal how students integrate universality and individuality in narrative identity. Overall, the findings expand the authors’ previous research by introducing contextual plasticity as a cross-level explanatory mechanism. The study concludes that personality development cannot be understood without considering the dynamic negotiation between universality and individuality, and suggests practical interventions to reduce the recognition gap and support authentic student growth.
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