Alyna Paul
Predoctoral Researcher
Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald
Room: 3.04
alyna.pauluni-greifswaldde
Research Interests
- How and why personality changes across the lifespan
- Role of social environments, person-environment interactions, and important life events
- E.g., social learning, social norms, homophily, and migration
Research Overview
I am interested in how personality characteristics, such as Big Five traits and values, develop across the lifespan and the role person-environment interactions play in personality change. I examine these dynamics across social contexts, including questions such as: How do social learning and social norms shape people’s behavior? What explains homophily, the phenomenon that people are similar to those around them? And what happens when people transition into new social roles and new environments? Some answers, and plenty of open questions, can be found in the publications section below.
Selected Publications
Paul, A. (2025). Refugees (Un)Welcome – Regional Demographic Changes and Individual Attitudes Towards Refugees (No. 1231; SoepPapers). DIW Berlin. https://www.diw.de/de/diw_01.c.989622.de/publikationen/soeppapers/2025_1231/refugees__un_welcome_____regional_demographic_changes_and_individual_attitudes_towards_refugees.html
Short CV
- since 2026: PhD on “Beyond Stability and Maturation: Personality Trait Assimilation as an Underexplored Developmental Process” (Supervision: Prof. Dr. Anne K. Reitz, Dr. Theresa M. Entringer, Funding: Bogislaw scholarship)
- 2025-2026: Research Associate, Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment, University of Greifswald, GER
- 2024-2025: Student Research Assistant, Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Berlin, GER
- 2022–2025: M.A. (Sociology), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GER
- 2018-2022: B.A. (Sociology), University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GER
Teaching
- Seminar: Advanced Personality Psychology (M.Sc. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy; M.Sc. Psychological Research)