Scientific Wednesday at Psychologists: does a place have personality?

The Institute of Psychology invites you to the first meeting of this academic year in the series "Scientific Wednesdays at Psychologists". On 15 October, Prof. Maria Lewicka from the NCU Institute of Psychology will give a lecture entitled "Does a place have personality? Towards a circular theory of places".

"Scientific Wednesdays at Psychologists" is a series of short lectures held at the Institute of Psychology every Wednesday at 2 p.m. in room 105. Admission is free.

Circular theories are very popular among psychologists. Among the many different theories, we can find numerous circular theories of personality and circular theories of emotions. An interesting attempt to reconcile several trends in personality research is the circular theory of personality meta-traits formulated by Jan Cieciuch and his colleagues. Another popular concept is the circular theory of emotions, whose development and application in environmental research is attributed to the American researcher James Russell.

In her paper, Prof. Maria Lewicka will propose yet another circular theory, integrating both of the above concepts in the form of a circular theory of places. She will show that places not only trigger emotions, but that they can be classified by combinations of the five known dimensions of personality, forming the so-called Big Five. The proposed circle of places can be a starting point for more systematic research into the relationship between people and places – the emotional relationship to a place and the sense of belonging to a place.