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Personality, Identity, and Crime

Independent Research Group

The research group Personality, Identity, and Crime investigates individual differences in prosocial and antisocial behavior, ranging from cooperation, trust, and helping to crime and political violence. Our work is grounded in the assumption that stable personality characteristics, self-perceptions, and moral identity play a central role in shaping how individuals behave in morally relevant situations across time and contexts. Ultimately, our goal is to advance theory on individual differences and social behavior and to inform approaches aimed at promoting prosocial and combatting antisocial behavior, while fostering the integration of psychological and criminological research traditions.

Illustration: © iStock.com/Yana Tikhonova

A central focus of our research concerns how people perceive their own morality and how these self-perceptions influence behavior. People often hold overly positive views of their moral character, which can reduce motivation to change for the better. We examine whether increasing self-knowledge about morality-related traits can instill goals to change and promote more prosocial behavior. This includes exploring intervention approaches that aim to foster prosocial behavior and counteract unethical behavior, and how such processes unfold over time and contribute to personality development.

In addition, we examine individual differences in concrete expressions of prosocial behavior – such as selective helping and trust – as well as antisocial outcomes, including criminal and violent behavior, and their situational contingencies. Our aim is to develop more systematic and theoretically grounded accounts of how personality relates to these behavioral domains.

Across these research lines, we employ innovative methodologies, including intensive longitudinal data collection in daily life and the use of large language models for behavior and personality assessment.


Our Research Culture

We value open and collaborative science, methodological rigor, intellectual curiosity, and a supportive research environment built on mutual trust. As a team, we emphasize transparency, constructive feedback, and close collaboration, and we are committed to responsible open science practices and mentoring at all career stages. To learn more, see the website Team & Values.

Projects

A silhouette contains a compass surrounded by the terms Integrity, Respect, Ethics, Values. Antique-looking background (similar to a world map), brown color.

KNOW-THYSELF: Increasing Self-Knowledge to Promote Moral Behavior

Head of project: Isabel Thielmann (PI); contributors/researchers: M. Burghart, N. Casali, T. Khalaf, A. Seidl
The functioning of societies and the quality of social relationships depend on moral behaviors such as fairness, cooperation, and honesty. Conversely, immoral behaviors – including exploitation, dishonesty, and fraud – carry significant… more

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EPIC: Elements of Personality and Identity Change

Head of project: Isabel Thielmann (PI); contributors/researchers: M. Burghart, N. Casali, T. Khalaf, J. Peichl, N. Popov, A. Seidl, B. E. Yelbuz
Personality traits, self-concept, and identity are central to how people think about themselves, how they are perceived by others, and how they behave in everyday life. In the moral domain, these aspects… more

Colorful figures are surrounded by monochrome wooden figures as a symbol of inclusivity. (A group of colorful game pieces stands in the center, surrounded by beige figures on a blue background, forming a circle.)

The Psychology of Selective Prosociality

Head of project: Isabel Thielmann (PI); contributor/researcher: B. E. Yelbuz
Prosocial behavior is crucial for societal well-being. However, people are often selective in whom they help. From everyday acts of kindness to consequential decisions such as donating after a natural disaster, individuals routinely prioritize some potential recipients over… more

Police officer seen from behind, wearing uniform and yellow vest with police lettering; he is standing next to the police car.

Individual Differences in the Police Force

Heads of project: Matthias Burghart, Hannes Rusch, Isabel Thielmann
Can psychomet­ric testing to assess individual differences usefully comple­ment the existing selection procedures used by state police forces in Germany? – State police forces in Germany receive thousands of applications each year and must select the most suitable candidates for… more

Hands of people from different backgrounds are placed on top of each other, and the people are wearing colorful knitted sweaters.

The Core Tendencies Underlying Individual Differences in Prosocial Behavior

Head of project: Isabel Thielmann (PI); contributor/researcher: Natalie Popov
Human social interactions rely on prosocial behaviors such as helping, cooperation, and fairness, yet individuals vary widely in the extent to which they engage in such behaviors. While past research has primarily focused on single personality traits to explain this… more


Podcast

Identity Insights: The Psychology of Personality

Guest: Isabel Thielmann • 11/2024
In this episode, Christopher Murphy and Isabel Thielmann take a little break from crime to talk about the psychology of per­son­al­ity instead. Isa outlines the various personality traits that make us who we are and, just as importantly, highlights how these traits can be measured in the first place. Thereafter, Isa and Chris talk about how the research being conducted at the MPI-CSL can help to better understand not only personality traits but also how they affect both pro and anti-social behavior. 
Link to Isa's homepage and articles: https://csl.mpg.de/en/isabel-thielmann
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