Meaningful links: Using network analysis to articulate the structure of personality psychology

The current study is presented as an exploratory network analysis of personality psychology using a network composed of 54 source papers and their references. The articles used were papers from the Annual Review of Psychology journal, which dealt with the subject of personality, from 1950 to 2012. References from the source papers were pulled and then mapped onto a network that graphically illustrated the links between different citations. From the network it was possible to deduce, both visually and statistically, distinctively clustered communities, the relative influence of certain psychologists, and the researchers that bridged disciplinary gaps within the field of personality research. By using digital humanities methods such as network analysis it is possible to better understand and articulate the history and growth of personality psychology.