THE CHAIR OF PSYCHOLOGY OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

 












The Chair of Psychology of Individual Differences was established in 1995. Permanent staff members are Professor Andrzej Sękowski, Head of the Chair, Barbara Cichy-Jasiocha, PhD and Martyna Płudowska, PhD. Research projects conducted at the Chair also engage one doctoral student. The main research areas are intelligence, giftedness, creativity, and personality. In the years 1999 to 2018 the Head of the Departament was Vice-chair of the Polish Psychological Association. Since 2018 he has been member of the Presidium of Main Board of the Polish Psychological Association and since 1999 - Editor-in-chief of Przegląd Psychologiczny (The Review of Psychology) - the oldest psychological journal in Poland, edited by the Polish Psychological Association and the Scientific Society of KUL. The Editorial Office of the journal has its seat in the Chair of Psychology of Individual Differences. The staff members are also editorial members of national and international psychological journals.
Studies undertaken by the Chair staff concern, among others, gifted persons, predictors of outstanding achievement, diagnosis of intelligence and achievement, and competence. The psychology of individual differences deals with numerous topics, but it always puts special emphasis on the individual specificity of each human being. Recognition of this individuality is a precondition for respecting the human right to development and freedom. On account of this, the problems undertaken in the research include wisdom, success, and personal life satisfaction. One of the important issues is finding a way of living which would enable a human being to achieve harmony between the worlds of intellect, emotions, and values. Often, the questions posed in the studies serve the purpose of finding an answer to how one can achieve balance between the need for achievement, career-striving, work- and success-orientation on the one hand, and existential and emotional needs on the other.
A second line of research concerns personality and involves cooperation with the authors of the conception of personality known as the Big Five. Research conducted in collaboration with R. McCrea and a team of researchers from several dozen countries all over the world has resulted in co-authorship of publications in the most valued scientific journals in the world such as Science or Personality and Social Psychology as well as in reputed national scientific journals. Also mentioned should be a several-year collaboration with the Chair of Psychology of Individual Differences at the University of Bielefeld. The product of this cooperation are publications regarding scales examining communication and personality styles.
Staff members of the Chair have been Fulbright, Humboldt, and the Kościuszko Foundation fellows. A one year stay in the Institute of Psychology at Yale University has resulted in research conducted in co-operation with Professor R. J. Stenberg on the structure of intelligence. A two-year scholarship at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich provided the possibility of conducting comparative studies, together with Professor K. Heller and his team, of gifted youth in Germany.
The research carried out by the staff members of the Chair primarily has a cognitive value. Its applicational aspect, however, should not be ignored. It ought to be stressed that the Chair of Psychology of Individual Differences has collaborated with the Polish Children’s Fund (Krajowy Fundusz na Rzecz Dzieci). As part of this collaboration, each year psychology classes are organised for the Fund fellows, who are prizewinners of the most prestigious national and international subject contests. At this junction theory meets practice. The conviction that their research has a theoretical and applicational significance is an important motive for the employees of the Chair of Psychology of Individual Differences for taking up new major tasks.
(Prepared by Professor Andrzej Sękowski)