Staff profile

I am a psychologist and professor at the School of Education, Durham University. In my research I adopt a dynamic view on psychological constructs, such as ability and personality. A dynamic view builds upon the premise of change and malleability, which can be understood in terms of responses to interventions (feedback and training) as well as development and maturation.

My current research projects focus on the dynamic, process-oriented approaches to personality and individual differences in work and educational contexts. Within this broader framework, I am interested in how our daily experiences shape who we are at a given moment in time and who we become in the future. Fundamentally, in my work I conceptualise the person as an adaptable and flexible being with a potential to change and grow. Studying change and development allows going beyond selection, e.g. based on current personality and other traits. For example, a person may choose a particular job or be selected into a particular role based on their personality traits, e.g. extraversion may be conducive to a leadership position. In the role, they may then have extra opportunities to further develop their trait extraversion; such that they ultimately change and become more extraverted over time. I am interested in both, the short-term underpinning dynamics and the longer-term person changes associated with such trajectory. There are many interesting questions to be answered, such as: How promptly does personality change happen; is it sustained; how does it relate to outcomes of interest at school, work and beyond; How do people differ in their readiness to change and why; How can short-term fluctuations and dynamics be best conceptualised and measured; Do short-term dynamics predict longer-term change; amongst other questions. Related Special Issues that I have edited and co-edited for 

Frontiers in Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/3551/dynamic-personality-science-integrating-between-person-stability-and-within-person-change) and 

Personality and Individual Differences (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/personality-and-individual-differences/vol/136) can be found here. Other research interests of mine include psychometric assessment, feedback processing, and technology-based learning.

I have received a doctoral degree in natural sciences (Dr. rer. nat.) from the Institute of Experimental Psychology at Heinrich-Heine-University of Duesseldorf, Germany, and am an Alumna of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, http://www.studienstiftung.de).

I have completed a five-year degree programme in psychology (Dipl-Psych., equivalent to BSc Psychology, MSc Psychology) at Leipzig University, Germany, majoring in educational psychology and clinical psychology, with a minor in work and organizational psychology. Prior to my position at the School of Education I held an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Accelerated Learning Laboratory at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia. I also worked in research positions at the Center for the Psychology of Abilities, Competencies, and Expertise (PACE Center), Yale University, USA, and the Institute of Differential Psychology and Psychological Assessment at Leipzig University, Germany. 

Fellowships, Awards & Grants

• Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP160103335, International Partner Investigator): Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance
• Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP0987584): Integrating Between-Person and Within-Person Approaches to Personality in the Workplace 
• Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship (Australian Research Council Linkage Project, LP0669552): Flexible Expertise in Senior Executives
• Best paper award at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois
• Dissertation Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
• Dissertation Scholarship of the Saxonian Government, Germany

Affiliate of the Durham University Evidence Centre for Education

Completed Supervisions

Exploring the Role of Psychological Capital and Academic Hope in High School Students: How they interact With Their Cognitive Strategies to Influence Learning Outcomes?

The Power of the Situation: Variability and Stability in Chinese University Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English Classrooms

The Traveller Has Many a Tale to Tell: Personal Change and Language Development as a Result of a Year Abroad.

Information for prospective doctoral research student supervisions

I welcome postgraduate research supervision proposals that are broadly concerned with the cognitive and non-cognitive determinants, correlates and/or outcomes of learning and development in both educational and work contexts. Areas of interest include: personality and individual differences & learning and performance, personality change and malleability, personality dynamics, psychometric assessment of cognitive and non-cognitive attributes, and technology-based communication & learning. 

• Personality and Individual Differences
• Personality Dynamics
• Trait Change and Malleability
• Experience Sampling Methods
• Learning Processes and Outcomes
• Psychometric Assessment
• Technology-based Learning

• EasyPeasy Evaluation
• Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance

• 2018: Reception Baseline Assessment(£15272.00 from )
• 2016: Task Contingent Units of Personality and Adaptive Performance(£21291.98 from Australian Research Council)

• 0000: Associate Editor: Frontiers in Psychology / Personality and Social Psychology
• 0000: Fellow: Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• 0000: Invited Assessor for Research Councils: Australian Research Council (ARC); Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); Medical Research Council (RCUK MRC); Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
• 0000: Invited talks and keynotes: e.g., Dynamic Personality – How does it work at work? Keynote presented at the European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology (EAWOP) SGM “Personality Dynamics at Work” at the Universität zu Lübeck, Germany. Personality Dynamics as Individual Differences: Conceptual Considerations, Methodological Approaches, and Predictive Utility. Invited Talk presented at the Pre-Conference on Idiographics and Nomothetics in Personality Science, 20th European Conference on Personality, Madrid, Spain.
• 0000: Member of Editorial Board: International Journal of Educational Research
• 0000: Partner Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project administered by The University of Melbourne: (AUS$423,456)
• 0000: Reviewer for various journals: e.g., Learning and Individual Differences; Personality and Individual Differences; European Journal of Personality; British Educational Research Journal; International Journal of Educational Research; British Journal of Educational Psychology; Computers in Human Behavior; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Journal of Business Research; System-An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics; Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching

Chapter in book

• Beckmann, N. & Wood, R.E. (2020). Dynamic personality at work. In Handbook on the Temporal Dynamics of Organizational Behavior. Griep, Y. & Hansen, S.D. Edward Elgar. 197-220.
• Birney, P.B., Beckmann, J.F. & Beckmann, N. (2019). Within-individual variability of ability and learning trajectories in complex problems. In General and Specific Mental Abilities. McFarland, D.J. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. 253-283.
• Beckmann, N., Minbashian, A. & Wood, R.E. (2011). Integrating the study of within- and between-person variability in personality at work. In Personality & Individual Differences: Theory, assessment & application. Boag, S. & Tiliopoulos, N. New York: Nova.
• Wood, R.E., Beckmann, N. & Pavlakis, F. (2007). Humour in organisations: no laughing matter. In Research companion to the dysfunctional workplace: Management challenges and symptoms. Langan-Fox, J., Cooper, C. & Klimoski, R. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. 216-231.

Conference Paper

• Beckmann, N. (2022), Personality dynamics as individual differences: Conceptual considerations, methodological approaches, and predictive utility, Pre-conference on Idiographics and Nomothetics in Personality Science, 20th European Conference on Personality (ECP20). Madrid, Spain.
• Beckmann, N. (2021), Personality dynamics as individual differences, Biennial Conference of the German Psychological Society, Personality Psychology & Psychological Diagnostics (DPPD) Section. Germany, virtual conference.
• Wood, R.E., Ren, S., Guan, B. & Beckmann, N. (2021), Negative but productive: Trait neuroticism, situation contingent emotionality, and performance, 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM). USA, virtual conference.
• Birney, P.D., Beckmann, J.F. & Beckmann, N. (2019), What does within-individual variability in performance trajectories tell us about intelligence?, Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID). Florence, Italy.
• Beckmann, N., Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F., Wood, R.E., Sojo, V. & Bowman, D. (2019), Inter-individual differences in intra-individual variability in personality within and across contexts, Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID). Florence, Italy.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E., Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F. & Minbashian, A. (2018), Contingent units of personality at work – A reconciliation of stability and change, 19th European Conference on Personality (ECP19). Zadar, Croatia.
• Birney, D.P. Beckmann, J.F. & Beckmann, N. (2017), Individual Differences in Success: Too soon to give up on intellect!?, 16th Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences (ACPID). Sydney, Australia.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E. & Minbashian, A. (2015), Task-contingent units of personality at work, European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology (EAWOP) Small Group Meeting (SGM) “Studying work as it is: Capturing dynamics in workplace relationships”. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
• Minbashian, A., Beckmann, N. & Wood, R.E. (2014), Emotional knowledge moderates affective mediation of task contingent conscientiousness, Symposium: Interplay of Stable Individual Differences and Mood, 29th Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP, APA Division 14). Hawaii, USA, Hawaii HI.
• Tymms, P., Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F., Elliott, J. & Merell, C. (2013), Does schooling have an impact on short-term memory?, 15th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Learning and Instruction. Munich, Germany, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction, Munich.
• Fisher, C., Minbashian, A., Wood, R.E. & Beckmann, N (2011), Appraisals, goal orientation, and emotions while working, Academy of Management Annual Meeting. San Antonio, Texas, USA, San Antonio TX.
• Beckmann, N., Minbashian, A. & Wood, R.E. (2010), The lost individual: On the structure of personality at the within- and between-person levels of analysis, 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP). Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne.
• Bowman, D.B., Beckmann, N. & Birney, D.P. (2010), A matter of framing? Frame-of-reference effects in personality assessment, 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP). Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E. & Minbashian, A. (2009), It depends how you look at it – on the relationship between conscientiousness and neuroticism, 8th Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences (ACPID). Sydney, Australia, Sydney.
• Bowman, D.B. & Beckmann, N (2009), Frame-of-reference effects in the measurement of personality: Evidence from self- and peer ratings in a management sample, 8th Australian Conference on Personality and Individual Differences (ACPID). Sydney, Australia, Sydney.
• Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F. & Elliott, J.G. (2009), Accuracy feedback in dynamic testing, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI). Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Amsterdam.
• Minbashian, A., Beckmann, N & Wood, R.E. (2008), The effects of work-related situational cues on intra-individual variation in the emotional and motivational states of managers, 29th International Congress of Psychology (ICP). Berlin, Germany, Berlin.
• Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F. & Elliott, J.G. (2008), Accuracy feedback in cognitive ability testing, Asia-Pacific Educational Research Association (APERA). Singapore.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E. & Roberts, V. (2006), Identity relevant feedback and its impact on performance, 26th International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP). Athens, Greece, Athens.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E. & Minbashian, A. (2006), Organisational Behaviour: Science or Scientism?, Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). Rockhampton, Australia, Rockhampton.
• Wood, R.E., Goodman, J.S., Beckmann, N. & Cook, A. (2006), Mediation testing in management research: A review and proposals, Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Atlanta GA.
• Jarvin, L., Beckmann, N. & Sternberg, R. (2005), Does changing the nature of a problem improve a student's ability to solve it?, American Educational Research Association (AERA). Montreal, Canada, Montreal.
• Beckmann, N. (Woide), Beckmann, J.F., Elliott, J.G. & Guthke, J. (2004), Differential effects of performance feedback, 44th National Conference of the German Association of Psychology. Göttingen, Germany, Göttingen.
• Beckmann, N. (Woide), Beckmann, J.F., Elliott, J.G. & Guthke, J. (2003), Individual differences in the ability to benefit from feedback, 11th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences (ISSID). Graz, Austria, Graz.
• Beckmann, N. (Woide), Beckmann, J.F., Elliott, J.G. & Guthke, J. (2003), Effects of Feedback – What a difference feedback makes, 9th International Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Education and Psychology (IACEP). Seattle, USA, Seattle WA.

Edited book

• Beckmann, N. & Wood, R.E. (2017). Dynamic personality science: Integrating between-person stability and within-person change. Frontiers Research Topic Ebooks. Frontiers.

Journal Article

• Axbey, H., Beckmann, N., Fletcher-Watson, S., Tullo, A. & Crompton, C. (2023). Innovation through Neurodiversity: Diversity is Beneficial. Autism
• Zhang, J., Beckmann, N. & Beckmann, J.F. (2023). More than meets the ear: Individual differences in trait and state willingness to communicate as predictors of language learning performance in a Chinese EFL context. Language Teaching Research 27(3): 593-620.
• Wood, R. E., Beckmann, N., Ren, S. & Guan, B. (2022). Situation contingent negative emotions and performance: The moderating role of trait neuroticism. Personality and Individual Differences 197: 111788.
• Birney, D. P., Beckmann, J. F., Beckmann, N. & Stemler, S. E. (2022). Sophisticated statistics cannot compensate for method effects if quantifiable structure is compromised. Frontiers in Psychology 13: 812963.
• Zhang, J., Beckmann, N. & Beckmann, J.F. (2022). One situation doesn’t fit all: Variability and stability of state willingness to communicate in a Chinese College English classroom. Language Teaching Research 26(3): 504-529.
• Savva, M., Higgins, S. E. & Beckmann, N. (2022). Meta-analysis examining the effects of electronic storybooks on language and literacy outcomes for children in grades Pre-K to grade 2. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 38(2): 526-564.
• Moore, I., Torgerson, C. & Beckmann, N. (2021). Systematic review measuring the efficacy of study abroad in undergraduate language learners on linguistic proficiency gains. Review of Education 9(3): e3306.
• Beckmann, N., Birney, D.P., Minbashian, M., & Beckmann, J.F. (2021). Personality dynamics at work: The effects of form, time, and context of variability. European Journal of Personality 35(4): 421-449.
• Beckmann, N., Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F., Wood, R.E., Sojo, V. & Bowman, D. (2020). Inter-individual differences in intra-individual variability in personality within and across contexts. Journal of Research in Personality 85: 103909.
• Wood, R.E., Beckmann, N., Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F., Minbashian, A. & Chau, R. (2019). Situation contingent units of personality at work. Personality and Individual Differences 136: 113-121.
• Rauthmann, J., Beckmann, N., Noftle, E. & Sherman, E. A. (2019). Personality Dynamics: A new frontier in personality psychology, Editorial. Personality and Individual Differences 136: 1.
• Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F., Beckmann, N., Double, K.S. & Whittingham, K. (2018). Moderators of learning and performance trajectories in microworld simulations: Too soon to give up on intellect!? Intelligence 68: 128-140.
• Zhang, J., Beckmann, N. & Beckmann, J.F. (2018). To talk or not to talk: A review of situational antecedents of willingness to communicate in the second language classroom. System. An International Journal of Educational Technology and Applied Linguistics 72: 226-239.
• Minbashian, A., Beckmann, N. & Wood, R.E. (2018). Emotional intelligence and individual differences in affective processes underlying task-contingent conscientiousness. Journal of Organizational Behavior 39(9): 1182-1196.
• Beckmann, N. & Wood, R.E. (2017). Editorial: Dynamic personality science: Integrating between-person stability and within-person change. Frontiers in Psychology 8: 1486.
• Dobson, E., Beckmann, N. & Forrest, S. (2017). Educator–student communication in sex & relationship education: a comparison of teacher and peer-led interventions. Pastoral Care in Education: An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development 35(4): 267-283.
• Cooper, D., Higgins, S. & Beckmann, N. (2017). Online instructional videos as a complimentary method of teaching practical rehabilitation skills for groups and individuals. Journal of Educational Technology Systems 45(4): 546-560.
• Birney, D.P., Beckmann, J.F., Beckmann, N. & Double, K. (2017). Beyond the Intellect: Complexity and learning trajectories in Raven’s Progressive Matrices depend on self-regulatory processes and conative dispositions. Intelligence 61: 63-77.
• Cripps, E., Wood, R.E., Beckmann, N., Lau, J., Beckmann, J.F. & Cripps, S.A. (2016). Bayesian Analysis of Individual Level Personality Dynamics. Frontiers in Psychology 7: 1065.
• Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F., Birney, D. P. & Wood, R. E. (2015). A problem shared is learning doubled: Deliberative processing in dyads improves learning in complex dynamic decision-making tasks. Computers in Human Behaviour 48: 654-662.
• Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F., Minbashian, A. & Birney, D. P. (2013). In the heat of the moment: On the effect of state neuroticism on task performance. Personality and Individual Differences 54(3): 447-452.
• Fisher, C. D., Minbashian, A., Beckmann, N. & Wood, R. E. (2013). Task appraisals, emotions, and performance goal orientation. Journal of Applied Psychology 98(2): 364-373.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E., Minbashian, A. & Tabernero, C. (2012). Small group learning: Do group members' implicit theories of ability make a difference? Learning and Individual Differences 22(5): 624-631.
• Wood, R.E., Beckmann, N. & Rossiter, J.R. (2011). Management humor: Asset or liability? Organizational Psychology Review 1(4): 316-338.
• Minbashian, A., Wood, R.E. & Beckmann, N. (2010). Task-contingent conscientiousness as a unit of personality at work. Journal of Applied Psychology 95(5): 793-806.
• Beckmann, N., Wood, R.E. & Minbashian, A (2010). It depends how you look at it: On the relationship between neuroticism and conscientiousness at the within- and the between-person levels of analysis. Journal of Research in Personality 44(5): 593-601.
• Beckmann, N., Beckmann, J.F. & Elliott, J.G. (2009). Self-confidence and performance goal orientation interactively predict performance in a reasoning test with accuracy feedback. Learning and Individual Differences 19(2): 277-282.
• Minbashian, A., Wood, R.E. & Beckmann, N. (2009). Contingent beliefs as predictors of within-person variation in conscientiousness at work. Academy of Management Proceedings 2009(1): 1-6.
• Wood, R.E., Goodman, J.S., Beckmann, N. & Cook, A. (2008). Mediation testing in management research: A review and proposals. Organizational Research Methods 11(2): 270-295.
• Wood, R.E. & Beckmann, N. (2006). Personality architecture and the FFM in organisational psychology. Applied Psychology: An International Review 55(3): 454-469.
• Beckmann, J.F. & Beckmann, N. (2005). Effects of feedback on performance and response latencies in untimed reasoning tests. Psychology Science 47(2): 262-278.

Report

• Robinson-Smith, Lyn, Menzies, Victoria, Cramman, Helen, Wang, Yuqian (Linda), Fairhurst, Caroline, Hallett, Sarah, Beckmann, Nadin, Merrell, Christine, Torgerson, Carole, Stothard, Sue & Siddiqui, Nadia (2019). EasyPeasy: Learning through play. Evaluation Report. Education Endowment Foundation.